Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Henry's (part of a local chain) sat at the corner of State & Frink streets in Cayce, in the building which hosted a number of former restaurants, including B & B Corner Bar & Grill and 2108 Bar & Grill.

According to stories in The State & Coladaily & on WLTX, the state's liquor liability insurance regulations were a big factor in the closure. However commenter Tom points to this WIS article which may point to specific reasons their insurance might be in question.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Which Wich was in this Main Street storefront which was the last location for The Basil Pot.

I never went to this location, but my experiences in two other locations for the chain were subpar. The fact that my order was wrong is a one-time thing, but not having fresh-brewed ice tea is a deal killer. Anyway, the place is now setting up to be a Substation II, which is also not one of my favorites.

The street is currently torn up all the way from the Capitol to Blossom street because apparently it was to easy to drive on and had too many parking spaces, so they are fixing that.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

The Harbison Panera Bread has closed in advance of its move to the 2nd & Charles plaza. The new location notably has a drive-through which the Bower Parkway one did not.

Here is (an oldish) State story on the move.

My experience is that this location, along with Garners Ferry & Percival has not been stellar. I find Killian to be the best run of the local stores.

I ate at I Heart Mac & Cheese off of Killian twice. The first time was with my niece, and she said the signature item: Mac & Cheese was good. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was also good, though I would have preferred bacon strips to bacon bits. Both my sister & I thought the service was a bit slow & disorganized for the small number of people dining.

I went back later on my own several months afterwards, and I found that the service this time was *incredibly* slow and disorganized. I was the only customer, and it still took me 40 minutes to get my sandwich. Also, as I recall there was no drink station, so I had to beg for refills in the interim. Anyway, at that point I took it off my list, decent sandwich or no.

For some reason I cannot get to The State's web page now, but google idicates that here is the story of this place opening, and here is a story on the closing.

The State says that Yamato was established here in Columbia in 1975 and moved into this building sometime during or after 2000. From what I have been able to tell, the original location was 736 Saint Andrews Road in St. Andrews Shopping Center.

There doesn't seem to be a reason for the closing given either by the restaurant, or by The State, but folks in the comments have speculated on SC ongoing restaurant liability insurance problems. I will note that the opening of Miyabi some years back just a block or so away on the same street can't have helped.

(Hat tip to a commenter Andrew [not the usual one])

Well, that was quick, dang it!

I had some inchoate plans to finally get to Rockaway either for supper last Friday, or lunch last Saturday, but in the event the news of the closing spread so quickly, and the crowds were so thick that the club ran out of supplies several days in advance of their announced 21 January closing date.

Rockaway Athletic Club was one of those places I would think about two or three times a year and decide: Oh yeah, I've finally got to try that place out, but in the event I managed to go decades without ever stopping by and having the famous Pimento Burger, and now it's too late.

The State has the story, as does The Free Times.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

There is some confusion on the street address of this former Taco Bell on Decker. It was apparently previously listed as 2632 (and I have pictures with that address posted in the window), but is now 2652.

Charlie's Wings was the follow-on in this spot to Feel Goods. I'm not exactly sure when they closed. The last post on their Facebook page is from 2019, but they have Yelp reviews into 2021, so I'm going to put that in the post title.

The reason that I noticed Charlie's was gone is that a new operation is now open in the space, a "Korean style Chicken" restaurant: 92 Chicken.

It's definitely not ice cream weather tonight, but summer is coming -- eventually!

Ice Cream Taco was in this little strip mall on Sunset which has seen a number of things come and go over the last few years. I don't seem to have a closing for the previous operation in this suite, but as of 2014 when I did a cloing for Alibaba's, it was apparently recently vacated. According to The State, Ice Cream Taco opened here in March of 2022, and I actually learned something from the article. My assumption had been that the store name referred to some sort of frozen novelty served in sugar tacos rather than sugar cones, but in actuality, the place serves regular, hot, tacos -- and ice cream.

In November, they relocated to 2708 Emanuel Church Road.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

It seems like Dunkin' as a chain is doing a lot of remodeling now, and the Forest Acres location is now caught up in that. I haven't parked to see if there is a sign with an ETA for re-opening, but it looks like there's a way to go.

I will say that this place has been a bit flakey for a while -- often the lobby would be randomly closed when I would stop by though the drive-through would be open. I suppose it's staffing issues.

It's possible they moved to another part of the store -- I was just running in and out, but it appeared to me last week that the Starbucks in the Sparkleberry Square Kroger was gone.

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- Apparently they closed their existing kiosk to remodel and make a larger in-store space, whic is now open: