Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

If you look closely at the three pictures above (especially the last one), you can see China Max in operation at the (second) Richland Mall food court.

Commenter MrBO sends in the next two pictures, showing that China Max has now moved shop from the food court to Harden Street. I believe this leaves the food court completely empty, possibly leading some of the call center folks to actually try the pizza at the Barnes & Nobel cafe.

This is another in a long series of blows to the mall, which would be bad enough, but management adds to the problem by adopting an air of defeat, as in, for instance, turning off the elevator fountains and pool, retiring the Christmas singing bears and more recently, closing off the upper level entrance and walk-through for Belk's:

(Hat tip to commenter MrBO)

15 July 2014 -- added an additional picture, though it doesn't really add much value.

Commenter Bobby notes that this McAlister's Deli at the corner of Sparkleberry Lane and Graces Way will be moving down Two Notch soon to set up shop by Hobby Lobby.

If I am reading this historical listing right, then the property has been sold once in the last couple of years already. (If there's a more current listing, google is not making it obvious to me).

As I think I have mentioned before, I have never really warmed up to this chain, possibly because you have to go to the counter to beg for drink refills.

(Hat tip to commenter Bobby)

UPDATE 27 October 2014 -- The move is now complete:

Here's an older house set up as a restaurant on Lexington's South Lake Drive. I try to keep tabs on local pizza, but this one is not really local to me, and I'm afraid I had never heard of it before they closed up shop. The place kind of sits on a little hill, and I think it would have been nice to eat on the deck and look over the comings and goings on the road.

According to their sign, they are moving, but to where is not clear. Commenter Brian notes that the main chef has moved to All Star Pizza Company at 2001 Augusta Road.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

UPDATE 20 May 2018: The State says this will open as the second location of Cafe Strudel on 21 May 2018.

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Commenter Dennis scooped The State in reporting that Cafe Caturra in Trenholm Plaza would be closing to reopen as a Tazza Kitchen, and in fact the place has now closed, and is in the process of being revamped with the marquee letters being taken down today. I first knew this spot as Ed Robinson cleaners, and most recently it was the location of the UPS Store before it moved across the plaza.

I don't know exactly what it was, but I never warmed to Cafe Caturra. It seemed like the kind of thing I would like, and was conveniently located, but on the few occasions I went there, I didn't find anything that really hit the spot. The menu for Tazza Kitchen has some promising items (the guacamole sounds good!), but it also seems to have a number of similarities to Rosso by the Post Office.

(Hat tip to commenter Dennis)

UPDATE 11 July 2014: Tazza Kitchen is now open as partially seen in these rather bad pictures:

This little Mexican hole-in-the-wall got mixed reviews on the online sites, but seemed to have something of a following as a more authentic cusine choice than the standard Columbia mini-chains.

The LoopNet listing and indeed the roadside sale sign mention the slot is still a "fully equipped restaurant", and you can still see elements of the prvious decor through the windows. To me this says that a) the equipment was owned, not leased and b) the end came unexpectedly.

UPDATE 15 February 2022: Adding map icon.

I wrote about this building a while ago while it was in the process of becoming It's All Good Grill. As of now, it looks like that operation is on temporary hiatus.

Until commenter James reported this place closed, I had no idea it existed. And it's not closed so much as simply not open -- there's no signage indicating, well, anything.

(Hat tip to commenter James)

UPDATE 29 October 2014 -- there is still no sign on the door or any formal indication that the place is closed, but they have started taking out equipment. For instance, the Touch Tunes console is gone.

I also note that the vines covering the porch wall have loads of fruit on them now, and it almost looks like it should be edible though I have no idea what it is. Can anyone identify it?

Also, based on the comments, I have added Doc's Gumbo Grille to the post title.

At one time this corner storefrong in Capitol Centre was one of my favorite restaurants Cucos Mexican Cafe. I believe it's been more since then than the two businesses I currently have on the post title, C & V's Sports Cafe and Elements, but that's all that google is coming up with for me now.

Anyway, I noticed on my last drive through that it is empty again, and is due shortly to become a Bingo hall.