Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Last year, a work friend of mine and her husband were driving from DC to Florida with a sidetrip to Clemson, and would be coming through Columbia on I-26. She suggested we meet for lunch, and wanting to give her a fairly straight shot off of and onto the Interstate, I suggested Al Amir on Saint Andrews road with Harbison as the connector.

"You can't miss it," I told them, "the restaurant is kind of below street level, but just go to the strip mall with the coffee kiosk in the front of the parking lot!"

The punchline is, of course, that when I got out there to meet them, I saw the kisok was gone, and they confirmed when they finally got there that they had had a Dickens of a time with my directions, and that point in particular...

Now, the kiosk, or another similar one under the name of Loveland Coffee, is coming back.

I may well buy a cup there -- but I don't think I'll include it in my directions!

I've driven by Jamestown Coffee Company a good many times on my way to Pizzeria Uno, but on my way there, it would be a bad time to stop because I was about to have a meal, and on my way back, it would be closed.

Now they have moved from their Lexington-ish location to downtown Columbia. As story in The State details, they have reopened inside Cromer's on Huger Street.

The story mentions losing their lease as the precipitate cause, but you have to wonder if the drive-through espresso kiosk across the street wasn't a factor as well.

(Hat tip to commenters Andy & Matt)

UPDATE 16 October 2013 -- The old location of Jamestown Coffee is now Tropical Smoothie Cafe:

Here's another Columbia area Burger King getting a facelift.

This King used to be a regular Sunday lunch destination for our family. I particularly recall going there during the odd "Buy a burger, get a Neiman" promotion BK had during the 1970s. The location on the corner of Two Notch and Toronto gave the store a "sneak up" route which consisted of turning onto Dubard from Beltline and then onto Toronto, a route we kids always insisted our parents follow. Or I did, at least. Later we "moved up" to Quincy's for Sunday dinner, and I have hardly set foot in a Burger King in years.

UPDATE 15 January 2013 -- As of the evening of 14 January, this place was open again:

This is another former Shoney's which has been converted into a Lizard's Thicket.

I'm a little hazy about the time period, but it was still open in the 1976 phonebook, and closed in the 1985 one, so I'm going with "1970s".

Our preferred Shoney's location was the Two Notch one, but we did go to this one from time to time. For most of that period, it was still Big Boy affiliated, and we always got the "Big Boy & Dolly" promotional comics, and if we were lucky, the "Hot Fudge Cake". Mmm!

UPDATE 10 September 2020: Update tags, add map icon.

Given that the San Jose Mexican restaurants are still around, I suspect their supply operation has moved rather than closed, but I noticed this warehouse for sale in an industrial park off of Bluff Road the other day (the park is where you see that huge flag flying on the side of I-77).

Judging from the reviews and menu, I think I might have liked The Tap Room though I rarely eat in the Rosewood Area. The building is somewhat interesting as it is on a steeply sloping lot at the corner of Rosewood and South Holly. From the Rosewood side, it looks like a two story building at street level, but from the South Holly side, you can see the third level below Rosewood.

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

Over the last year or so, there's been some question whether Ya Food in the Walmart plaza on Two Notch was trying to change it's name, or emphasize the hibichi identity, but a few weeks ago, a commenter (whose comment and name I have unfortunately misplaced) pointed out that it was now entirely closed, and indeed that seems to be the case.

Like the Burger King at North Main & Sunset, this Two Notch Road King (next to the Post Office) is remodeling, and is closed while that takes place.

The influx of new burger chains to Columbia seems to have sparked a good deal of revamping at McDonald's and Burger King.

(Hat tip to commenter Javier)

UPDATE 5 December 2012 -- Open again!

I really like the sign here at the former WECO Billiards. It has a similar aesthetic to Varsity Billiards and Red Wing Rollerway.

This site for the current owners of the building (note the clever URL) says it was built originally as a grocery. It was still operating as a billiard hall in the February 1997 phonebook, but by the time of the next one I have here at home (February 2007), the listing was gone. Since then it appears to have been a thrift store, and now houses a number of operations as detailed at the previous link.

I believe I went into this Yumilicious on Forest Drive once last year. While in theory I liked the idea, in the event every single variety of yogurt was either low-fat or no-fat, so I ended up going across the street to Baskin Robbins.

The closing sign mentions that the Lexington store is still open. Or, if you would rather stay in Forest Acres, 32 Degrees is still in Trenholm Plaza.

And no, I'm not going to try to figure out how to put the dots over the 'm' :-)

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 9 January 2013 -- It's now a Chiropractic clinic called The Joint: