Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I wondered at the time about Nick's opening in this old Taco Bell as it seemed quite close to their flagship location on Two Notch.

In the event, it appears the Decker location is now independant (though seemingly with a similar menu). Feel Goods is the new name.

UPDATE 16 April 2015: Added first two pictures of Nick's in operation.

I wondered at the time about Nick's opening in this old Taco Bell as it seemed quite close to their flagship location on Two Notch.

In the event, it appears the Decker location is now independant (though seemingly with a similar menu). Feel Goods is the new name.

UPDATE 16 April 2015: Added first two pictures of Nick's in operation.

Commenter Megan reports this Lexington Hibachi spot as closed around the start of the month.

But you can still get some dogs..

(Hat tip to commenter Megan)

UPDATE 8 September 2016 -- It appears the follow-on operation, Clean Eatz is now in operation:

Commenter Jason reports this Beef 'O' Brady's location on Hard Scrabble has been closed since January.

I believe the only BOB I have ever been in was the Pawleys Island location (which is now DeRoma's pizza), and I thought it wasn't bad. It did strike me as somewhat like the lamented Bennigan's chain though, in that it was hard to see anything you could really characterize as "Irish".

(Hat tip to commmenter Jason)

UPDATE 11 January 2016 -- As mentioned in the comments, this place is open again:

UPDATE 11 March 2025: As mentioned by commenter badger, this Beef O' Brady was closed again for an ownership change, but as of yesterday, should be back. The State has the story here and here.

(Also adding the map icon)

I noticed an odd ad for Al Amir in the Free Times the other week, the wording of which was unusual enough that I suspected that one of its Main Street locations, at University Corner across from the the old Towers was gone. Driving by the other night proved that to in fact be the case. The spot is now occupied by another Middle Eastern restaurant, Sahara on Main. I thought I had a good shot of Al Amir here, but all I can locate now is a shot where you can barely see it in the corner, so I'll just go with these pix of the new storefront.

The other Al Amir on Main, The Epicurean by Al Amir at 1734 in the old The Elite Epicurean location is still there.

A Three Hour Cruise..

I'm not too familiar with Gilligan's, but I know there was at least one other in Litchfield Beach which closed last year and is now an ABC store. This one was in Lexingtion on North Lake Drive just east of the Books-A-Million strip mall.

I think that clearly this building and the old Zorba's On Two Notch shared the same design. Whether that means this was originally a Zorba's or that they were both originally something else I'm not sure.

(Hat tip to commenter John Barrs)

UPDATE 24 February 2015: Updated the closing date in the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 19 August 2016 -- This is now Mr. D's Steakhouse, now owned by the mayor of Lexington, Steve MacDougall. Here is The State story of the restaurant's opening, and here is The State story on MacDougall going from manager to owner.

Bentley's Beach House was the follow-on operation in the old Dam Bar & Grill spot.

It looks like the next tenant is already lined up with a sign announcing Mari's Lake House, thus continuing the "water" and "house" theme the location has going on..

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

UPDATE 27 January 2022: Adding map icon.

The Island Cafe & Deli was for many years a dependable choice for lunch and dinner at Pawleys Island. Landolfi's is my favorite restaurant in the area, but the Deli had a nice front porch for outdoor dining, and sometimes you just want a grilled cheese or burger with black bean soup instead of pizza. Apart from those options, the menu had a number of quirkily named signature items like the Aristotle Salad or the Strom Thurmond, which the description assured us was "an illustrious member of our menu" and featured "young turkey breast".

Some years ago the place had a bad fire and was closed for an extended period, and I believe that after that, someone once drove a car through the front window. Given that history, I was very surprised when I went down in December for the candles to find the place closed.

It appears that the next tenant will be Rustic Table.

Well, I find this closing a bit surprising, especially given that a lot of Richland County offices will be going into Decker Mall just across the street.

For some reason I've always associated Sonic with small towns and bygone days, probably since the first one I was aware of was in Hartsville sometime back in the 1970s, but nowdays they seem to be a chain on the move with national television campaigns (rather silly ones, I must say) and expansion into head-to-head competition with McDonalds and the rest of the "sit down" fast food chains. I don't think I've had the burgers, but I stop for a milkshake once or twice a year, and they're pretty good.

The closing signs here are a bit disingenuous, as in fact the Forest Drive location:

has been open for over a year in the old Hardee's location.

(Hat tip to my sister)

UPDATE -- To become a Tokyo Grill:

Also adding map icon.

UPDATE 16 June 2025: Updating tags.

What can I say?

The curse of 2630 Decker Boulevard continues.

UPDATE 4 December 2015 -- Now open as Bosheen Mediterranean Cuisine: