Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Continuing yesterday's Mexican theme -- I have often noted this El Monterrey on Broad River Road, just North of I-20, and thought to myself that it was in an awful location: very close to the I-20 interchange (which is busy, and backs up) but without access to a traffic light.

That turns out not to be exactly true, as I found out when I stopped to take these pictures. In fact, the back of the parking lot has a cut-through into the Economy Inn parking lot, and thence to Briargate Circle, which does have a stop-light. It even looks as though they got enought business from the hotel side (or expected to get enough business from the hotel side) to set up the back of the restaurant with a second facade.

Apart from the access situation, I was never tempted to stop here because in my experience the local Monterrey chain comes in behind the Casa Linda, San Jose and La Fogota chains -- nothing drastic, just not one of my preferred marquees. (And if I was in the general area, I would probably hit El Chico anyway).

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 8 April 2014 -- Well, this place tried to open as La Reyna Del Sur, which I take to be a nightclub concept. Literally it means "Queen of the South", and is also the title of a famous Telemundo telenovela (and the novel it is based on). Just from the picture of the lady in question, it appears she was from *very* far south. At any rate, the sign went up, but the club never opened, and now the building is for sale:

UPDATE 21 July 2016 -- As commenter Andrew mentions, work is going on here. Judging from the interior, it will not be a restaurant, but some sort of office with a front reception counter:

Also, I'm taking the El off the original post title of El Monterrey Restaurante Mexicano Bar & Grill to make it match the sign and fall in the Alphabetical Closings with the other Monterrey locations.

Or has the Broad River Road / River Drive construction been ongoing since the late 1800s?

UPDATE 9 April 2014 -- And two years later, *still* not done!

UPDATE 19 January 2018 -- I should update here to note that the work is indeed finished, and has been for a while:

Here's another Qdoba gone. I know the chain has also lost two stores on the Grand Strand in the last few years, so I have to wonder how well they are doing overall. I have to admit that I have not been impressed the three or four times I have stopped at a Qdoba. In particular, the burritos tend to fall apart quite easily and spectacularly, something that almost never happens at my favorite chain in this category, Moe's. (Barberitos is pretty good too, though we have none locally). On the other hand, commenter mamarose who reported this closing says that the Five Points store is doing quite well.

As of 21 August 2012, the electronic billboard near the Rosewood / Garners Ferry intersection was still advertising for the Woodhill location.

(Hat tip to commenter mamarose)

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I knew a man Bojangles and
He'd dance for you..

But not apparently make chicken anymore.

I've had biscuits at a Bojangles's drive-through a few times in the unhappy event of being up that early, and they were pretty good. I can't speak to the chain's mainstay though, as I'm definitely not a chicken person (some are..), but the store on Two Notch at O'Neil Court seems to get pretty good traffic. Perhaps the nearby Church's Chicken at 2436 Taylor was a factor here.

UPDATE 19 September 2014 -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this is now an Asian BBQ place:

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 23 February 2024 -- This spot is now occupied by a Starbucks:

Also updating tags and adding map icon.

We've talked about this move in various places here over the past few months, but clothing store Hamrick's has finally made the move from the now totally defunct (for retail) MarketPointe Centre into the old Circuit City building across I-20 at 1950 Bush River Road.

As you can see, construction has already started at the old location to refit it for the expansion of the existing SCDOR offices at MarketPointe.

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This should be some sort of lesson to me as I had several daylight pictures of this place, but a few weeks ago I decided they weren't very good, and deleted them with an eye to getting some better ones at some point. That's not the first time I've done that sort of thing either. I should learn!

However I did manage to hold onto the two nighttime pix of the place which are presented up top.

Commenter Joe Hinson remarks on the "old style" of the demolished building, but when I tood the night pix, I was thinking how modern it looked. In part I suspect that's because I remember at least one other version of the store here, and probably two.

The initial building sat much closer to the road than the most recent one, and was, I think, still in the classic McDonald's "walk up" style. It was something like this retro building from Starke Florida:

I believe this version was the first McDonald's in Columbia, and indeed, the 1970 phonebook lists 4801 Garners Ferry Road as "No. 1", with 1303 Charleston Highway as "No. 2", 2907 Two Notch as "No. 3", and 1729 Broad River Road as "No. 4". (4336 Wildcat Road was listed as the office location). Certainly it was the first McDonald's I had ever encountered, and it played a big part in my elementary school days at Satchel Ford. This was because, while we normally got our burgers at Bell's on Forest Drive, when report cards came out in Richland One, this McDonald's always ran a promotion such that if you had all 'A's & 'B's, you got a free hamburger.

Now, in those days, I was a pretty good student, and I always had all 'A's & 'B's, *except* for handwriting for which I always had a 'C'. In my mind, handwriting was not a "real" subject, and I always had my father make that case to the window clerk, and it always worked. In retrospect, I know he didn't relish the idea of arguing with some guy over a burger, but he was proud of me, and a great dad, so he did it every report card period without demur. I believe that mascot "Ronald McDonald" debuted in this era. Initially he was a pantomine clown with an overbearing boss whose tasks for Ronald always turned into a series of pratfalls..

The second McDonald's here, I think was a non-descript 70s building that did emphasize inside dining more than walkups, but had no play area. We didn't go to that one often because by that time, there was one more or less at the corner of Decker & Trenholm which was closer and involved fewer traffic lights. (And Bell's was gone by then). I believe it was at this point that the restaurant was set further back from Garners Ferry.

I'm not sure when the play-area, boxy looking remodel came in, but I think it was while I was living out of town in the 80s or 90s, by which time I was essentially never eating at McDonald's anymore. (Lately they have learned to make a very good cup of coffee, and provide wifi so that I finally have been back some).

(Hat tip to commenter mamarose)

UPDATE 1 September 2012 -- I found another set of daylight (well, twilight..) pictures of the building:

UPDATE 12 September 2012 -- Construction has started is moving at a pretty good clip:

And here's a yellow pages ad from the walkup days:

UPDATE 18 September 2012 -- The frame appears complete, and hiring has started:

UPDATE 9 November 2012 -- As mentioned in the comments, this store is open again:

Normal posting resumes tomorrow.

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for a Road Trip?

Yep, it's that time of year again! I've got my house sitters lined up, and the car almost packed.

Posting will probably be nonexistent for the next 3 weeks or so, though I will try to keep on top of the spam and comments. Get out there and enjoy some of this Southern Summer!