Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, it took me quite a long time to get the interior shot here, largely because every time I would come in the door of the food court, a sample tray holder from the Asian restaurant would make a beeline on me. I really appreciate that kind of hustle, but it makes it difficult to inconspicuously take a picture when you are the sole focus of someone's attention! I finally recently got a bit of a zoom from the back end of the court. You can see the boarded up section where Chick-Fil-A used to be just to the right of China Max.

I was actually in the place to look at lawnmowers at Sears, and I note that they seem to be giving up on the mall. The mall stays open until 9PM, but Sears turns out the lights at 8PM, at least during the week. It certainly surprised me.

UPDATE 13 August 2013: Forgot the hat tip to commenter Trina.

UPDATE 28 January 2021: Adding full address, tags and map icon.

Well, while this was not unexpected (as commenter Jay raised the flag months ago), it was still a shock when I drove downtown the other night looking for some Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes.

I guess that over the years I have eaten at this IHOP dozens of times. It was kind of like riding in an airplane to go in there: You were always sitting closer to someone else than you really wanted to be -- the positive spin would be "intimate", but the place was *tiny*, and you never knew quite what sort of conversation you would be overhearing. Still I enjoyed my visits. The waitresses seemed to keep an eagle eye out for my glass needing a refill, and the fare was basic enough that it was always pretty good.

The State has an article on the tear-down and rebuilding of this IHOP. Apparently it has been there since 1968, which sounds about right to me. The new building will be bigger and have a patio. From going by the site, it appears to me that they will be extending their site onto the vacant lot on Assembly between the IHOP and the neighbooring law office.

This was the last classic look IHOP in the Columbia area. The other one was torn down in the early 2000s and not rebuilt.

(Hat tip to commenter Jay)

UPDATE 21 January 2014 -- Laissez les bon temps rouler!:

Somehow I never made it to this Monterrey in all the years that it was there (and they were considerable) despite the fact that I often visited the adjacent Sounds Familiar and comic store.

I believe with this closing, the chain is down to the one in the Vista and the one on Knox Abbott.

(Hat tip to commenter J.P.)

UPDATE 12 February 2020 -- Now El Paraiso:

This Subway was in The Vista Lofts on Gervais Street just above the train cut, a building which lost another restaurant Mezza fairly recently.

I'm guessing that they closed shop at the end of July as that is a logical time as far as leases and bills go, but I don't know for sure. At any rate, all the signage is down and the interior is stripped. The only clue that it was a Subway is the drink cup on the floor.

(Hat tip to commenter Joe)

UPDATE 17 July 2014 -- It's now Black Bean Co.:

UPDATE 17 June 2022 -- Updating tags and adding map icon.

Apparently this was not the last Krystal in South Carolina, but it's pretty close. It looks like the other few that are left are clustered along the Georgia and North Carolina border areas with none in the Midlands, Pee Dee or Low Country.

This store, on US-17 Business near to Inlet Square Mall is not in an obviously bad location (though a Five Guys did open nearby a couple of years ago) but is in a little strip that doesn't seem to prosper. In particular, a Moe's failed a few storefronts down, something that seemed unlikely to me at the time, and one end unit has cycled through quite a few entertainment concepts (comedy club, karakoe..) in the last few years.

UPDATE 7 June 2023: Adding map icon.

Milano Pizza was one of the follow-on operations to the old Piggly Wiggly in the building at 3724 Covenant (which is basically at the corner of Covenant & Bethel Church). After The Pig moved out, the building was subdivided with a Dollar General taking the biggest slot on the left of the building.

The right side of the building, like Gaul, is divided into three parts. Tobacco World tried and failed to open in the middle suite, and Milano opened in the front one. (The rear suite has never shown any signs of life).

Since I like pizza, and it's fairly close, I had put Milano on my mental list to visit, but somehow it never seemed to come together. I do however, drive past the building almost daily, and it seemed to me that the hours were becoming rather erratic lately. I was never quite sure if it was actually closed, or not, but the most recent time I stopped by, I took a look inside and saw that the fish tank was gone, so I'm pretty sure the place is closed though no sign or note has been posted.

UPDATE 3 September 2013 -- Well, it's official:

(Hat tip to my sister)

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Are there any driving directions less useful than: "Take the exit with the Waffle House"?

Anyway, you don't see Waffle Houses closing too often, though I do have the one from Bush River Road here. On the one hand, I would have thought the closeness of this Waffle House to SLED would have guaranteed it a steady late-night business. On the other hand, the site is not like their usual Interstate exit locations.

Personally I like the fact that Waffle House never went to "Belgian" waffles, which seem to be the rage elsewhere now. I like a lot of litle holes for syrup rather than a smaller number of larger holes. And yes, that is the kind of thing you think about in a Waffle House booth at 3am.

(Hat tip to commenter Johnathan)

UPDATE 5 January 2022: Adding map icon and updating tags.

UPDATE 10 February 2025 -- Now King Smoke & Vape:

This little Irish pub was tucked away at the bottom of the hill in the little strip mall fronted by Dunkin' Donuts. In fact, it was so tucked away that while every time I saw it, I meant to try it out sometime, it would always slip my mind completely when I actually was looking to go somewhere.

I noticed recently when I was looking at Golden City, that it had, so to speak, changed its stripes and is now Kwagga.

Here's another closed Monterrey on the west side of the metro area.

Afton Court seems to be something of a hard-luck street over the last several years with the closing of Ritz Camera (though technically on another street) and more recently Bailey's.

I like the use of steps on this lot, including a set descending towards the adjacent movie theater.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

UPDATE 30 August 2017 -- Now Don Tequilas: