Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, today was the final call at El Burrito on Harden Street. In the event, I think I only ate there once or twice. It was good, but somewhat out of the way, and I tend to go to places with parking lots. Still, 16 years is a good run for a restaurant, especially in Five Points, and they went out on top of their game.

The Free Times has an interview with owner Suzi Sheffield which talks about the early years and the history of the building (which was originally a twin to the much remodeled Schiano's on Forest Drive).

Apparently it is still up in the air whether the developer who bought this and neighboring buildings will raze and build or just re-purpose.

UPDATE 12 July 2017 -- Finally got around to take some post-closing pix:

Well, this is a surprise. I had not eaten at Harper's more than four or five times over the years, but it was always perfectly fine. In fact, the last time I went, probably just a year or two ago after an absence of a dozen years or more, it seemed a good deal more upscale than I recalled. The dedicated parking lot was also a nice touch, as parking in Five Points can be a hassle.

Judging from the WLTX story flagged by commenter ED, the chain itself is OK, and continues in Charlotte & Greensboro, so there was apparently some issue specific to Columbia here.

It will be interesting to see what happens to this site.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

UPDATE 12 March 2019 -- Work has started on the remodel for Home Team BBQ:

UPDATE 5 April 2020 -- Here are some additional pictures of Harper's I have just run across. They date from 1 February 2015:

This was the follow-on operation to J. Patrick's Southern Kitchen on State Street. I'm not quite sure when it closed as I can't find it in my phonebooks. After two similarly themed closings, perhaps this is just not a good location for a down home restaurant.

For some reason I haven't had a Sandy-dog in years. Ever since I started working from home again, I figured one day I would drive down to main for lunch and do it, but someshow there always seemed to be a deadline or some urgent problem that would make me reluctant to go that far. I guess if I want to do it now, it'll have to be Broad River and on a weekend..

According to The State this Sandy's had been open since 1989. I believe that before that, it may have been a Hardee's though I'm not sure. It was some sort of fast food at any rate. This closing is a bit curious as in March 2016 The State was reporting that after a student housing scare they had just put a good bit of money into the building and planned to stay for the long haul, while by December 2016 they had sold the property to the USC Development Foundation.

You can see a good picture of the place in operation here.

UPDATE 18 April 2017: Added "Hardee's" to the post title. Apparently this was the Hardee's franchaise that later moved to the corner of Blossom & Assembly.

UPDATE 14 March 2019 -- Now a Dominos Pizza:

UPDATE 22 January 2020: Update tags.

UPDATE 19 June 2021: Update tags again.

Driving back from Sandhill the other day I noticed some construction debris and a new sign at this latin nightclub at the apex of Percival & Old Percival Roads. Judging from the sign, the new name will be or is Nuvo Rest Bar, and judging from the fact that the event sign is in Spanish, I guess it is still a latin club, but maybe with a more hip-hop flavor.

UPDATE 29 March 2017 -- Commenter Homer mentions he thought they had been closed much earlier than the "March 2017" I put in the post title. I was sure I had seen it open recently, but apparently I was wrong. They list in the Feb 2014 phonebook, but not the Feb 2015 one, and there's a user post on their Facebook page from 2015 asking if the phone number had been changed, so I changing the date to 2014.

UPDATE 28 March 2019: Add map icon.

I noticed the other weekend that 3 Point Cafe & Grill, the follow-on to Buck's Cafe, on River Drive had now closed and that a new restaurant was in its place: Dimp's Cafe & Grill. That makes three restaurants into this spot since it was remodeled. Hopefully this one will stick around for a while.

UPDATE 21 September 2021: Adding map icon.

I like Applebee's pretty well. For a late night burger, it's one of the better options, and they usually actually cook them "well done" when I ask.

We used to go to this particular Applebee's store fairly frequently for Sunday lunch years ago. Then there was a period where it had a 'B' or 'C' rating and fell off our list. They fixed that, but we had mostly moved on. The last time I can specifically recall eating here, was during one of the most torrential downpours I had ever seen. We asked for, and got, permission to leave through the side door as it was much closer to the car.

Speaking of rains, I believe this store was badly beset by the October 2015 flood, so it rather surprises me that they have closed it after recently putting so much money into it to get it open again. According to the note on the door, which I will post when I get my daytime pictures uploaded, this store has the same ownership as the one out Two Notch towards Sparkleberry (and which I eat at probably once a month or so) and the one on Killian Road, and those are still open.

Appropos to none of this, specifically, one of the more funny and surreal dining experiences I ever had was at an Applebee's in Florence when the kitchen had stopped talking to the servers and only the bartender was on speaking terms with both sides and ended up passing orders and tense communications back and forth.

(Hat tip to commenter JB2)

UPDATE 21 March 2017 -- As mentioned, the daylight pix:

UPDATE 18 May 2020 -- Crafty Crab Seafood is now open in this spot:

I think the my problem with O'Charley's is that I have never been quite sure what it is. I mean, it's not a fine restaurant, it's not an Italian, Mexican, seafood or hamburger restaurant; it's not homecooking or a diner -- there's a lot of things it isn't but no hook to hang its hat on. In that way, it is rather like Ruby Tuesday (hmm, even the lyric is appropriate..).

That said, I did used to go to O'Charley's from time to time when I was working in Augusta. There was (perhaps still is) one just off the Bobby Jones Expressway in what is Augusta's "Harbison" area. They had a chips & salsa appetizer with in-store-made salsa that was quite good, and the burgers were decent. When this store opened at Columbia Mall and I was in town for the weekend, my sister, father and I would eat Sunday lunch there from time to time. After the store moved to Sparkleberry, I only stopped by once, and found that the chips & salsa appetizer was off the menu, and furthermore, they were out of burgers -- I left without eating anything, and didn't go back.

According to The State the chain closed this store because it was underperforming, and near the end of its lease. If the concept couldn't perform here, or or in Harbison, it's hard to think where it could, although so far the Lexington store is still with us.

The first picture was taken several years ago. I was admiring the way the sign looked at night and stopped to take some pictures, but in the event they didn't turn out well because the lighting made the sign over-exposed and the rest under-exposed, and I didn't want to set up a tripod and try for bracketed exposures for HDR as I would be a highly visible person doing something very questionable looking on a busy road. The rest of the pictures were taken after the closing, although I will need to go back eventually and get out of the car for some closer looks.

(Hat tip to commenter JB)

UPDATE 27 March 2017 -- A few more and closer:

UPDATE 8 October 2019 -- Now a Chipolte & Tropical Smoothie Cafe:

UPDATE 19 August 2022: Add map icon and upate tags.

Well, this place never seems to stick. I noticed driving I-26 the other week that it seemed to be dark during a time you would expect a nightclub to be in full operation. A stop by a few days later confirmed it. You'll notice the phonebook by the door, which is a prime indicator, and one I have seen many times over the years. That dates the closure to prior to February 2017, but not any more precisely.

I will say one problem this place has never had is parking -- the lot comprises huge tracts of land.

UPDATE 31 August 2022: This place appears to be undergoing gradual demolition. Perhaps they are trying to get the asbestos out first or something, but it has been gutted.

Also adding map icon.

Update 29 March 2023 -- Well, the place is razed:

Well, this one surprises me!

I have been to this Bruegger's location a good many times during the past year or so. On weekends, I like to start my day (way after you start yours..) sitting with a cup of coffee and a good bagel while I surf the net on my laptop. During the initial stages of recovery from the great 2015 October flood, the Forest Acres Bruegger's was without potable water due to the Columbia waterworks imbroglio so I could not get coffee there (though they did drive in bagels from this and the Lake Murray store), and I spent a number of weekend mornings here. Last October or so when Forest Drive started having wifi problems, I would come back to this store or Lake Murray for my weekend routine if I had the time (or go to Panera if I did not, although their bagels are not very good at all -- I don't think they boil them).

Anyway, whenever I was here, it seemed to be doing a good business, and since I come later than the morning crowd, I always assumed they did even better earlier in the day. Commenter Brian, who reported the closing, heard second hand that it was an issue with the unexpectedly high price for renewing the lease. I don't know anything about that, but I will say that while the strip mall is perfectly fine, it is certainly not upscale, at least to my eyes.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

UPDATE 9 August 2017 -- the follow-on Poke Bros. is now open: