Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It appears that China Dragon restaurant on the corner of Farrow Road and Beltline Boulevard is gone. When I took these pictures, it was after the return date stated on the vacation sign, but the phone had not been disconnected, so I held off posting. Now the phone is cut off and when I drove by this evening, there were a couple of cars there with people who seemed to be looking at the property (though there is no "For Sale" sign).

I never ate at China Dragon but the building has been there forever, and stuck in my mind as a kid because of the rocky exterior. Since we went down that way so seldom, I had a poor mental model in my mind of exactly where it was, and would always be surprised when I saw it again.

The building design is clearly the same as this much restauranted building on Decker Boulevard, so going by the comments there, it was probably originally a Popeye's Chicken.

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I've written about D's Wings a couple of times before. The short version is that it's a local chain with a surprisingly large menu (including good grilled cheese sandwiches and raw fries!) that has gone through a rough patch over the past couple of years.

I think this location, on Columbiana Drive just past Columbiana Center, closed at about the same time the Blythewood and Clemson/Sparkleberry stores did, which was around October last year. I don't know the ownership structure of the chain, but I would speculate that there are several owners because other D's locations (Beltline & Parkland Plaza for instance) continue on.

If you've followed this blog for a while, you've come to know one of my photographic weaknesses, and I indulged it fully the evening I finally stopped by this location.

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(The State 15 April 1973)

To the best of my memory, I had never been on Atlas Road until last month when I was looking for that huge flag that flies by I-77 in-between Bluff & Shop Roads. After finding Atlas Road back there, I recalled some comments in "Have Your Say" to the effect that Boozer Lumber had been located there, so I went back later to take a look.

I had heard of Boozer Lumber over the years but really had no idea where it was or how big a place it had been. The complex is huge, and appears to have taken in at least three related Boozer enterprises. I didn't notice any "for sale" signs on the lots, and the company web page seems to imply that the site is still owned by it. It will be interesting to see what happens to the property in the future.

I've never seen the appeal of birds as pets. Herman the parrot was fascinating to me as a kid, but in my mind he was a pet store fixture -- I had no desire to take him home. Parking your car under the wrong tree will illustrate possibly the main reason I feel that way, but different squids for different kids. Parrot Phernalia was a store for those who do like birds, and I would notice it from time to time as I would cut over from Bush River Road to Harbison Boulevard and I'm pretty sure I saw it open very recently. This real estate listing suggests the storefront was built in 1970, so I'm sure it has been other things as well, but I don't recall anything from before Parrot Phernalia (certainly there was nothing with a more memorable name..). Anyway, I guess Polly will have to look elsewhere for her cracker!

UPDATE 9 June 2009:

I turns out this place has moved and is still in business, and sounds like a really nice place (though I still have no desire to have a bird!) -- by all means read The State story found by commenter Kc.

Also, I've added some of the building's previous incarnations to the post title line.

Mimi's Cafe was a very nice little restaurant on the edge of James Island. The building itself wasn't much and parking was impossible, but the setting was extraordinary with the porch and deck looking out over a beautiful salt-marsh. It was a great place to have a meal (with an excellent creme brule for desert!) and then just sit for a while and soak in the atmosphere.

I had seen a report somewhere that Mimi's was closing and that a new restaurant was going into the building, but I figured that if the food were even half decent, there was no way to ruin the location and I planned to go by for lunch on my recent trip to the Holy City.

As it turns out, there is a way to ruin that location -- a kitchen fire. (One of that story's comments suggests the headline: Boathouse Parking Problem Solved...).

Obviously I ended up eating lunch elsewhere!

I hope they can rebuild though the city notice suggests a rocky start.

After Vacation Part 1 a few weeks ago, I'm down in Charleston for the Piccolo Fringe.

I saw The Upright Citizens Brigade tonight and it was a very funny show. They will be playing again during the week, and I recommend you come down and see a few shows. Tickets are available through Publix or ticketmaster.com. The whole fringe schedule is at The Have Nots site, and of course I will be catching the holy city's own national quality improv troupe as well.

Anyway, posting will be light to nonexistant for the rest of the week, though I will try to pop in often enough to keep comment spam down.

This one is a bit of a surprise. Since this location outlasted the Columbia Mall location by several years, I figured it was safe. On the other hand, Columbiana Drive has lost both a D's and a Smokey Bones recently, so there may be some stress on the area I'm not aware of -- the only thing I can think of is that it's a pain to get to either from Harbison (two lights from I-26, I think) or Lake Murray Boulevard (a left turn if coming from I-26).

Not being a great rib fan, I never visited this location, but it looks to have been a nice building. The left side appears to have a second story -- was there seating up there or just office space?

(Hat tip, um, just about everybody, but I think Tom was first).

UPDATE 19 September 2022: Editing tags and adding map icon.

Here's another one of Columbia's many seafood restaurants that I'd never been too. LulaBelle's was at the corner of Bower Parkway and Park Terrace Drive, across from Wal-Mart on one side and Ryan's on the other. The interior and exterior clash a bit. The outside is made to look plain and weathered, but the inside decor appears to have been quite nice. The fishing skiff is rather an Oliver's Lodge touch (now that in it's original incarnation was a weathered old seafood place!). I have the feeling that even though LulaBelle's was pretty new, it wasn't the first operation in this building, but I can't bring anything else to mind right now.

This closing must be very recent as several cars pulled in while I was taking these shots.

(Hat tip to commenter O’Reilly)

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Since the times I've needed to rent industrial equipment are few and far between (birth through now seems to be "between"), I'm not sure exactly when this site, off of Fontaine Road between SC-277 and Two Notch Road emptied. I can recall driving by and seeing all the stock arrayed around the place, but not really when I stopped seing that. Doing some googling around, I see that the whole site is available for $450,000. There's also a nice aerial view (that you can click larger) of the place in operation. It's sort of interesting that although SC-277 is built to Interstate standards, and in effect is an Interstate, Fontaine Road doesn't have Interstate exit type businesses. I think this kind of lot on a metropolitan Interstate exit would have something pricy on it.

UPDATE 8 Feb 2010: Hertz moved to I-20 & Fairfield Road and is still around: See the comments. I've added (moved) to the post title.

I was out at Sandhill today -- the first time I had been there during the daytime for quite a while. I took the opportunity after having coffee and a snack at Panera to walk a circuit of the place (except for the Bi-Lo wing) and see how things were going (and get a bit of much needed exercise). There are quite a few empty storefronts, but most (that I haven't already done closings for) seem to have been never occupied rather than closed. Shane's Rib Shack is the exception. I'd say its closing is pretty recent because all the branding, fixtures and decor are still in place. Of course, given that the Beltline location closed recently, I suppose I'm not really surprised this one has gone as well.

UPDATE 8 Sept 2010 -- well it's now an Al Amir bringing that local chain back to the Northeast & Clemson Road: