Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

To the best of my memory, I never ate at this Shoney's. Our go-to was always the Two Notch location where I had many a plate of spaghetti and hot-fudge cakes.

The chain struggled after dropping the Big Boy branding, and dug themselves further into a hole with a disasterous side-trip into the hotel business. (Does anyone know if they ever owned any of the nearby Airport Boulevard motels?).

This building is their original 1970s style and has probably been around at least that long. The newer stores such as Manning & Aiken have a completely different look. That store (Aiken) may have actually closed as well, as the Post & Courier story on the closing lists only Myrtle Beach, Sumter, Manning, Hartsville & Florence as the remaining South Carolina locations.

So what next? Mexican, or Asian buffett?

(There seems to be some confusion about exactly when this location closed, but I believe it's a hat tip to commenter george011210.)

I hope everyone has been enjoying their Summer: I know I have!

As the season winds down, I hope to get back to more regular posting.

I was not really aware of this Biscuitville, and in fact have not been to the chain at all, despite having the taste for a sausage biscuit every now and then.

The State says this location opened in March of 2024, so it lasted a bit more than a year. The story didn't give any reason for the closing, but it is located rather close to a Bojangles where biscuits also feature heavily on the menu.

The back yard is rather nice with a good bit of greenspace and their own retention pond, which is more attractive than most with a good stand of reeds or cattails taking advantage of the opportunity.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

Tati's, headquartered on Broad River Road, were in the process of rehabilitating the old Dentsville Rush's location, but operations seem to have stalled out. I have not seen any progress on the work there over the last several months, and I have not seen the Tati's food truck parked in the parking lot lately either.

At first it seems like this Fatz is well situated, being highly visible from the Interstate, and right next to Gaffney's most famous landmark, but on further consideration, it is quite a long distance down a frontage road that by the time you get to the Interstate exit, you have half forgotten that you were going to get off. Locating in an outparcel of the Hamrick's right at the exit might have in fact been better. In the event it is all moot since the whole chain shut down as we have discussed before, but perhaps not moot at the time as this location apparently closed well before the others, and the note from management hints at some issues.

The building has obviously attracted unwelcome attention, and may be beyond salvage at this point. I'll have to see how it looks the next time I'm in the area, which most likely won't be for a year or more.

Here is the building in happier times.

Not straying too far from yesterday's post, I noticed that the West Main Lizard's Thicket in Lexington is under renovation, and closed for now. There did definitely appear to be work going on, so I think this one will legit be back, which is not always the case when a place closes to remodel.

I noticed this vacant Sonic last weekend in Lexington.

According to The State, it closed around the end of December 2022 in order for the chain to open a new store nearby at 461 Columbia Avenue, a somewhat larger piece of land.

As of yet, there is no new tenant here though it is listed (with a nice picture of the store in operation).

UPDATE 30 September 2025 -- Apparently the building has been sold, and some sort of upfit is in progress:

Also, here is the new Sonic location:

UPDATE 6 February 2026 -- To be an ice cream parlor apparently:

Ratio, the Peruvian tapas restaurant which is a follow-on in this space to Mangia! Mangia! and Shag Bistro has announced that they will be closing after service on 28 June 2025.

The State has the story here.

They are open Wednesday through Saturday, so you have, I believe, 9 more days to catch them.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Margaret's was on the North side of Garners Ferry out past Mr. Bunky's, and I took these pictures in 2018. It appears from the Yelp reviews (which are pretty positive) that the place probably closed in 2020, and in the event I never got to try it out.

In general I have had a fairly positive impression of Hooters. The chain kind of epitomizes the Breastraunt class of chains, is open late, has good scenery and a decent burger. I did feel the Two Notch Store had gone downhill some the last few times I went there. The chain itself filed Chapter 11 in March with the original plan being to reorganize without closing stores. That didn't work, and apparently now they are moving to a franchaise model with the original founders involved somehow.

Anyway, I don't believe I ever visited this store, which moved here from Broad River Road (which I don't recall visiting either), though I have eaten at the neighboring Applebees, where the view isn't as good, but the burgers are a bit cheaper.

(Hat tips to commenters Larry & MJ)

UPDATE 15 June 2025: Folks in the comments have pointed out that this locathion, like the Two Notch one started out as a Hops brewpub, so I have added that to the post title.

Lita's Treats moved to this location from the Dutch Square food court in 2021. On 8 May a car drove into their storefront, closing them down temporarily. Luckily neither anyone in the store nor the dirver was hurt, which definitely was not a given. According to Lita's Facebook page, the damage is more extensive than they originally thought, so it's not clear when they will reopen, though they plan to. In the meantime, they have a store on Killian Road.

WIS has the story.

(Hat tip to commenter Dennis)