Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As I was driving down Decker the other day, I noticed that the little corner Mexican restaurant in Decker Plaza, Santa Fe Mexican Grill has rebranded as La Poblanita.

I was wondering if the name meant something like "little poblano pepper", and I guess the root is the same, but wordreference says:

In Mexico there is a state (and a city) called Puebla. The name given to people (or things) from that state is "poblano or poblana". La Poblanita is a diminutive of "poblana". So, La Poblanita is like saying the little woman (or girl) from Puebla. Cheers.

P.S. Be mindful that Puebla is a relatively common name, and there are many towns in the Spanish-speaking countries (I think mostly in Spain) with that name.

so I guess the winsome senorita in the restaurant logo is that eponymous lady.

As I was heading out to my vacation last month, I noticed this closed Arby's in Manning, not too far from the I-95 interchange. I'm pretty sure it was not closed around Easter, or I would have noticed it then, but by this point it had obviously been closed several months.

That actually makes it rather unusual, as chains which are still around tend to get their signage down pretty quickly from closed stores. In this case the signage is still up, even on the drive-through, and the furniture is still inside.

UPDATE 9 February 2018 -- Now a Cookout:

UPDATE 17 February 2018 -- Better pictures of the new Cookout:

UPDATE 17 February 2023: Update tags, add map icon.

There are certain restaurants I want to like more than I do. El Burro Loco in Myrtle Beach is one -- I go by every five years or so to see if it is finally any good. Bocci's in Charleston was another.

Since it was conveniently located next to the original location of Theatre 99, and near to The Market, and since I like Italian, I used to check it out every so often. I think every time I did, it was a really mediocre experience, including the last time, around Christmas 2013 when I waited two hours for an unexceptional pizza. They did have really sharp matchbooks though.

I had come from Pizzera Uno to the Pastime Pavilion in Lexington to see a movie. In point of fact, I was hoping to still find the latest Mad Max move showing though it was dropping out of first run at the time. I had done a quick google before leaving home, noting that the time and place for Max would make it convienient to a restaurant I hadn't been to for a while.

It all went well until I got to the theater and found that I should have taken time to click on the movie descriptions as well as times as the movie turned out to be about a dog.

Anyway, as I was walking back to the car in sort of disgusted amusement, I noticed the plaza's Marble Slab Creamery was closed. There were no explanatory notes or signs, but cleary the place had been cleaned out even though the marquee was still up.

This secluded Cayce spot has featured here before (albeit apparent
ly with the wrong street address) and 2108 State carried on with the Lizard Man tradition.

I'll admit this corner is so far off my radar that it never even crossed my mind to stop here when I wasn't in direct visual c
ontact with the place, but apparently it was pretty good. There Facebook page i
s still up for now, and if you should want to buy the building, LoopNet has you covered.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandon Barkley)

UPDATE 12 April 2017 -- As reported, now a Henry's:

I have only eaten at any Sonny's once, and this was the one. For some reason, several years ago when we were staying in Fernandina, nothing would do for my niece but that she have some corn on the cob. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think she had been quite kid-finicky in restaurants on the trip and it was a chance to get her to actually eat something if we could find a place. In the event, it seemed that Sonny's was the only game in town for supper corn that evening, and we hied thither. I'm finicky myself so I had the salad bar, which was pretty good, and my niece did get, and eat, her corn, so all was well.

I know I would have noticed if the place, past Sadler Road on the way to the bridge, had been closed during my last trip in October 2014, and Tipadvisor page and pictures suggests the place probably closed in December of that year.

I passed many other Sonny's locations in my most recent Florida trip, so apparently the chain as a whole is doing OK.

Now the chicken you can't get here goes well with the tacos you can't get next door.

(Hat tip to commenter John Barrs)

I remember I was at a conference once in San Diego and a group of us walked into the Gas Light District looking for restaurant that someone had heard of that specialzed in garlic. Well, I like garlic and it was an excellent meal, but I recall thinking it was too bad that Columbia (much less Fayetteville where I was then living) could never support such a place.

I had a similar thought when I read the opening press for Columbia's bacon bistro Sizzle: Can Columbia really support a bacon restaurant?. Unfortunately, the answer appears to be: no, and arrived before I got around to checking it out.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 2 December 2015 -- This storefront is already open again, this time as a Southern Belly location:

As you know, I don't wish failure on anyone, and certainly the crew at this Cross Hill Market burger joint seemed nice enough and I'm sorry for their jobs, but to be frank, I couldn't figure out how they lasted as long as they did.

I ate here twice, probably about a year apart, the last time in April or May of this year. When I had decided to go, I picked the place because it was a very nice Spring day, and I knew they had patio seating. In the event, by the time I got there, the sky had clouded over, and the temperature had dropped too much for outside seating to be comfortable.

Taking myself inside, I remembered why I had not been back after my first time. The interior was sort of dark and cave-like, not cheery at all, and everything seemed kind of industrial and not homey. In addition, the burgers were quite pricey and I felt like I was paying Red Robin type table service prices for counter service. And while there was certainly nothing wrong with the burgers, I would not count them in the running for Columbia's best. Also, given the location, I wondered after both times why I hadn't just gone to Smash Burger across the street, something I'm guessing a lot of people did.

(Hat tip to commenter Elizabeth)

UPDATE 30 January 2016 -- As commenter MrBO notes, Midwood Smokehouse is now open in this spot:

There's already been a good bit of discussion on this in Have Your Say but Utopia Food & Spirits, a local music venue and restaurant across from Cross Hill Market, has closed after suffering extensive electrical damage on 20 June.

Although I posted about their move from Rosewood to this location, I'm afraid the place was not really on my radar, but they seem to have been doing good work providing a showcase for local bands. Unfortunately repairing all the damage was just too expensive given the current economy.

The Free Times has the story here.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)