Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I've still never had a Nathan's dog though it's on my list somewhere. This one was co-located with the Pitt Stop in Ballentine. Looking in the new phonebook, I don't see any other locations listed though I am pretty sure there is still one slightly out of the area at an I-26 interchange heading for Charleston.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 30 August 2021: Updating tags, adding map icon.

As commenter Andrew noted, another McDonald's is undergoing an upfit. This one, at the corner of Saint Andrews & Ashland Roads is apparently not going to be razed and completely rebuilt like the Forest Drive store.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 26 March 2018 -- Open again:

Well, here's the latest McDonald's to undergo the chain's current style makeover. This one is at East Forest Plaza, the Wal-Mart anchored strip at the Forest Drive/I-77 interchange.

In general these upgrades have been going pretty quickly, so I don't expect them to be shut for long.

I do have to say that I have found this store to be hard to get in and out of from Forest Drive. I've gotten coffee there a few times, but have kind of crossed it off my list.

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As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this Landmark Square Wendy's is being remodeled into the style of the Assembly Street store (though not as tall).

Now, I have only eaten in this Wendy's once, when I was working out on Bluff Road and didn't have time to go all the way to Panera. My observation at the time was that they seemed pretty unclear on the concept of exchanging food for money, or at least on implementing that concept, which a new building won't help.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 21 February 2018 -- Open again:

As mentioned several times in Have Your Say, the Burger King at Columbiana Mall is closed "temporarily". There's not any explanation on the sign making that claim, and apparently it has been several months. Ordinarily after such a length of time, I might write off the sign as wishful thinking, but in this case the equipment clearly has not been stripped, so who knows.

Almost as soon as I got inside to take this picture, somebody pulled the fire alarm, and everybody headed for the exits.

(Hat tip to commenter Deb)

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- As mentioned in the comments this spot is setting up to be an American Deli so I'm taking the "temporary" off the post title:

UPDATE 6 February 2019: Change the location from "Columbiana Mall" to "Columbiana Centre". Add location icon.

As mentioned by commenter Andrew, here is another McDonald's undergoing upfit to the new style. This one is on the Charleston Highway adjacent to the recently closed Church's Chicken. The setup with two signs seems a little unusual to me, but perhaps I just haven't been paying attention.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 7 February 2018 -- As mentioned in the comments, this store is open again:

This is the second Sonic in Columbia that I am aware of closing. The Decker location closed in 2015. I like the idea of drive-ins with carhops, but in the event I never seem to end up wanting to eat in my car. I do get a milkshake every few years.

(Hat tip to commenter Toby)

As commenter Jason notes, this McDonald's on Sunset Boulevard near the I-26 interchange has closed for remodeling. This is something a number of the local McDonald's have done recently, including ones on Garners Ferry, Hardscrabble, Two Notch and Decker.

I don't expect this

but you never know.

(Hat tip to commenter Jason)

Well, this is the end of an era. Edna's on River Drive predates me into this world by something over a year, so has been a Columbia institution longer than I've been alive. Of course, it has been an institution in a part of the town we used to think of as far away, so if we ever ate here growing up, it was long enough ago, and infrequently enough that I can't remember it. I'll have to try to remedy that before 31 March.

This kind of walk-up, no inside dining restaurant used to be common. In fact that's the way I recall Bell's and the original Garners Ferry McDonald's. Nowdays it is much less common, though you can still see remnants of the style, now worked around, in Zesto and Dairy Bar. I love the common-sense practicality of the cement blocks shorter customers can stand on to bring them up to window level.

Edna's also had an affiliated located at 2200 Two Notch Road, in a building that is still there, and a third location off Forest Drive, which was razed some years ago.

Here is a nice appreciation of Marie Rose Tyner, who ran the restaurant for many years and passed in the summer of 2015.

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I have to admit I was not even aware this little Two Notch spot existed until I saw MizTerry's comment that it had closed. I have to admire the slogan, as whatever else you might want to say about it, it is undisputably true. As it happened, it was easier to get in and out of this lot than I expected as there were breaks in the traffic due to the lights up and down from this spot and because of the fairly wide suicide lane. I gues that doesn't matter now though, unless I want a tattoo..

(Hat tip to commenter MizTerry)