Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Eat Boogie's Grill

That was the memorable exhortation that adorned the west wall of this vanished Gervais Street "soul food" restaurant when I was in middle and high school.

In fact, the place was so well known from that slogan, that I thought I would be able to find out more about it than I did. Here is the meager information I was able to come up with from old phonebooks:

Boogie's Grill apparently started in 1966, first showing up in the January 1967 Southern Bell phonebook at 509 Childs Street, a place I had never heard of, but which is in a neighboorhood west of Bluff Road.

Sometime in 1972 they moved to the iconic 2124 Gervais Street location, listing there in the December 1972 phonebook.

By 1977, they were back in the same Bluff Road area, listing at 1717 Zion Avenue in the January 1978 book.

As far as I can tell, they never bought a yellow pages ad, and in fact, dropped out of the yellow pages entirely after leaving Gervais Street.

2124 is on the block of Gervais betwen Harden and Pine Streets. There is currently no building at that address -- I think it must have been at one of the curb cuts between Holman's Barber Shop and the next building up (which looks as though I should probably do a closing on it). This surprised me a little bit, as I had been sure, before looking it up, that it was further down Gervais towards Millwood.

Surely someone out there has a picture of Boogie's and the west wall sign?

And to drift the subject a bit, how about that mural of the USS Enterprise blasting phasers down at a planet that adorned the west wall of a nearby building on the other side of Gervais Street?

This has already been discussed a good bit on Have Your Say, but:

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce.. Looks like another Columbia Burger King has closed shop. This one was on Devine Street, just before it intersects in a triangle with Fort Jackson Boulevard and Cross Hill Road. It's certainly a less tony section than the bulk of Devine, and a number of businesses have come and gone in the general area over the years. It is, however, also just across from where the upscale Whole Foods will be going into the former Family Mart / Kroger, so it will be interesting to see what eventually ends up here. Or, it could just be those poor registers saying "Cannot Locate Fileserver" for years..

(Hat tip to commenter Frank)

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I've written here before about The Shops At Columbiana Crossing though not by name. It's a fairly new strip mall behind Columbiana Mall, and when it showed up here before, it was for D's Wings.

Great Wraps was several suites north of D's in a much smaller space. I've never really tried a "wrap" (other than burritos, I suppose), but I don't think it would be for me as bread is a big part of the sandwich experience. Nonetheless they seem very popular lately, though in this case, perhaps not enough so to brave Harbison area traffic.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Here's another place I never visited. Inasmuch as I was aware of it at all, I figured it was probably too fancy for my tastes.

I hadn't realized how poorly focused my picture of the door sign was until looking at it on a normal sized screen. I believe it says something to the effect that they are closed for renovations and will re-open in November. If so they only have a few days to meet the posted deadline. I have to wonder if the sign isn't wishful thinking however, as the phone has been disconnected, and the web site is bringing up a default "no page" page. The only hopeful reason I can think of for those two omens is if a change in ownership is involved along the way...

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

UPDATE 30 November 2011: Added the street address to the post title having forgotten to do so initially.

UPDATE 24 January 2011: Added Ruff's Hardware to the post title based on the comments. I remember the Ruff's at Richland Mall, but don't believe I ever went to the Main Street one.

UPDATE 17 Feb 2013: Took the "(temporary?)" tag off the post title as it is plainly not coming back at this point. (Hat tip to commenter Justin for pointing that out).

This link has a picture of the original Ollie's storefront, and gives their motto Everything But Subs, as does the store's web site. That strikes me as rather curious, because you don't get people in by telling them what you don't have, and I like subs. On the other hand, the menu has a number of things I definitely would eat though in the event I never knew the place was there.

As noted by commenter John R, the next incarnation is to be a chicken emporium: Wing Nuts.

(Hat tip to commenter John R)

I'm not absolutely sure I ate at The Bistro, but I do remember specifically some years ago reading an article in The State or Free Times about a new pizza place and driving to Lexington to check it out. The restaurant definitely had an enclosed patio where I sat, so I'm thinking it was The Bistro.

In the event, I really didn't care for it. I felt that there was something to the pizza sauce that wasn't to my taste -- too sweet, if I recall correctly. (I feel the same way about The Pizza Joint).

The place is in a kind of an interesting little mini-mall with The Flight Deck restaurant which I may have to check out one day.

(Hat tip to commenter O'Reilly)

UPDATE 9 November 2011: Added Brix Bistro to the post title based on the comments, which led me to dig up this 2001 Free Times Review which is, I believe, the one which sent me over there in the first place.

I liked this San Jose pretty well though I did not go there too often.

I recall being very proud of myself one time here when a young lady of my acquaintance simply refused to put on her bib as requested by her mother. Nothing worked until I took it and put it around my neck, netting me a shocked Hey, that's mine! look coupled with the immediate indication that I should give her bib back at once. I did, and she immediately put it on and kept it on for the rest of the meal...

The food here was the standard Mexican-run Mexican restaurant fare you see all over South Carolina. I did like that they had pico de gallo available as a side item for spicing up the salsa, which Pancho's down the street does not (or did not last time I was there).

The closing sign is interesting in that it suggests they may come back at some point. That raises by implication the issue of why they are leaving in the first place. Could this site be destined for some new building and they couldn't get a lease renewal? And it is hard to think of another space in the general area that isn't either too close to Pancho's or too close to Casa Linda. Note also that the other address name-checked on the sign is the former Santorini Grill.

(Hat tip to commenter Mrs. SK)

UPDATE 3 November 2011: Added Pizza Inn to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 17 February 2012 -- Well, it's confirmed that Pasta Fresca will be moving here. Also, they have pulled the whole front addition off of the building:

UPDATE 6 March 2012 -- Construction continues:

UPDATE 5 April 2012 -- And still continues:

UPDATE 16 April 2012 -- It looks like they are adding a patio:

UPDATE 7 May 2012 -- Construction is basically done now for the Pasta Fresca move (and note the new Pasta Fresca logo). I talked briefly to the owner, and he indicated that the menu will have the same dishes they have at the current location but add some new appetizer and meat dishes. They are shooting for a mid-May opening:

UPDATE 25 January 2023: Update tags, add map icon.

When I did the closing for Rudy's Upper Deck, commenter Bobby P. wondered how much longer the adjacent Subway would be able to make it. Unfortunately, the answer turns out to be "not long". I don't go to Subway too often as the booths and atmosphere don't really suit me, but they do make a decent sandwich.

This makes it three vacant storefronts in a row (Subway, Rudy's and Fast Cash Advance) at The Shoppes At Meeting Place, and at least one more non-contiguous one.

(Hat tip to commenter Peter)

UPDATE 18 January 2012 -- Some sort of work is going on here:

UPDATE 5 April 2012 -- Open again, yet still closed the day I drove by:

UPDATE 17 June 2022 -- This place is closed again, this time apparently for good. Also updating tags and adding map icon.

Continuing on yesterday's Garners Ferry Road theme, commenter Gary Lemons sends in the above 1969 yearbook ad for Chicken Coop restaurant. I've done a little research on the place but didn't really find out much. The official address was as I've given it in the post title, and the restaurant first listed in the November 1963 Southern Bell Yellow Pages, and last listed in the January 1983 directory. During that time, they never bought a Yellow Pages ad, but a twenty year run shows it wasn't really necessary.

As far as I can tell, the building is long gone and the vacant lot pictured is the old Chicken Coop site. The parcel is on the South side of Garners Ferry almost across from the new Richland County recreation area. Although it is currently undeveloped, this LoopNet listing shows an artist's conception of the new strip mall which is to be built on the site.

I have to admit I had no idea that this little place existed, despite driving past there a number of times over the past few months, and I have to wonder if the location was a factor in the place closing. In theory, it is visible from Garners Ferry Road, but in practice, this strip sits behind Ruby Tuesday and is not very conspicuous. Even if you are taking Patterson Road to the Wal-Mart across the street, Ye Old Fashioned would be on the side of the strip away from Wal-Mart...

Judging from the still extant web-site, The Old Fashioned is a Charleston institution, with this location being their first venture out of the Low Country. I have to say that the menu looks pretty good, though I probably wouldn't have driven all the way over there for lunch.

(Hat tip to commenter ginagate)

UPDATE 18 December 2011 -- Now open as Anthony's Old Fashioned Burger & Fry Co.:

UPDATE 8 January 2020 -- Updating the post address to remove the 7490 Garners Ferry Road address. The 7457 Patterson Road address seems to be the official one, though I have seen both. Added map icon.