Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This little storefront next to Mr. B's has been a number of things over the years.

In 1999, it was apparently a pool hall called Rookie Billiards, which applied for a beer and wine permit, unsuccessfully.

Most recently, it was Gardenia's Restaurant, and appears in this year's phonebook. I don't know when exactly it closed, but there are still chairs and tables inside.

Commenter Andy pointed out that this Internet cafe just to the right of Publix in the Lexington Place strip mall had closed.

I admit that that's far off my usual beat, and I wasn't even aware it existed, but he says

Judging from their still extant web site, they went beyond the standard Starbucks/Atlanta Bread/Panera wi-fi model in that they also provided on site printers and computers. I have found such places to be very helpful when I'm away from home and need to print out work documents, driving directions etc..

The name apparently came from the fact that there were three owners. I hope the association with "Three Bean Salad" (which I have always hated) didn't hurt them..

(Hat tip to commenter Andy)

UPDATE 3 April 2011 -- It's to be a yogurt shop:

(Hat tip to commenter Elisabeth A)

I noticed this place in Eastover on the west side of The Sumter Highway just past Horrell Hill last week. This former restaurant and pool hall has obviously been there quite a while, and has just as obvioiusly been out of business for many years too. (In addition to the clinging vines, most of the roof seems to be gone as you can tell in some of these shots). I suspect from the "Video Games" signage that it was last open during the video poker era, but not until the actual end of that era as it does not seem to be listed in the 1998 phonebook.

I got Rivers Variety Store and The Locker Room from the signs. Googling the phone number, (803) 783-5440 brought up the Jerry Thompson name.

UPDATE 21 Dec 2010: Added Laundry to post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 31 January 2023 -- This building has been razed:

Also adding map icon.

I eat at Groucho's from time to time -- most often at the Forest Drive or Pawleys Island locations. (Curiously, I've never been to the Five Points original store). I never made it to this location, on Broad River Road at Intersection Center.

This particular strip of Broad River, with easy access from the Diamond Lane in the back, used to have quite a number of fast food joints. Some like Sandy's and Church's are hanging on. Others like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have moved. Others like Taco Cid have simply closed.

The care someone took to line the old signs up with the checks on the floor is rather touching.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 22 November 2011 -- It's now an Indian grocery as shown in this not very good pic:

UPDATE 28 August 2023: Updating tags and adding map icon.

I wrote about the Main Street location of Baker Brothers a while ago. I finally got around to looking for the Lexington location last time I was on Sunset. Of course it was a) nighttime and b) freezing cold, so these are night shots from the car. However you can see that the space has not yet been sold or leased and there is still a good deal of gear inside -- lots of chairs in particular.

When I did the Main Street closing, a number of commenters said that it was quite a good place, making me sorry I never got around to it (or this one). It looks like partaking would be a bit difficult now. According to their web site their current restaurant tally is:

Texas: 12
Iowa: 1
Indiana: 1
Kentucky: 1

making Bowling Green our closest option..

Back in the 1970s, Shoney's was a big deal, and we ate there quite often. At the time, they were afilliated with the Big Boy chain, and they always had "Big Boy" comic books as free premiums for the kids. I can't recall any of his specific plotlines at this remove, but he (Big Boy) and his girlfriend Dolly, always had some sort of food related adventure in the front of the comic leaving the back for puzzles and mazes.

We ate most often at the Two Notch location (now vacant) but I think we did come to this one from time to time.

After dropping the Big Boy tie, Shoney's coasted pretty well for a while, then started getting into trouble and closing a lot of stores. At one point they tried to diversify by getting into hotels (Shoney's Inn) something for which apparently they didn't have the necessary skill set, and that hurt them some more.

I believe this one closed well before the Two Notch one, and has been a Lizard's Thicket for quite a number of years now.

UPDATE: Closing date changed from "1970s" to "late 1980s" based on commenter Weston's info.

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

I have to say that the Pizza King looks like a really stern monarch. If you didn't order the anchovies on your pie, you would eat it and like it..

I don't actually remember seeing this place in operation, and I normally keep an eye out for pizza. Either it closed while I was living out of town, or given the odd location (Fort Jackson Boulevard where Crowson Road follows Gill Creek past K-Mart) and lack of apparent parking, my eyes just slid over it.

I know Pizza King can't have been the first operation in this building -- That illuminated arrow looks like it dates back to the 60s at least.

UPDATE 12 August 2014 -- This building is to become the new location for Utopia:

I've written about this idiosyncratic little building behind the Five Points Food Lion before, when it stopped being Gilligan's (after having been Ribby's and a number of other places).

Probably only in Columbia could you call a place The Cock Lounge -- so the next owners did. I'm not sure how long The Cock Lounge lasted. I did the Gilligan's post on 14 December 2008. At the time, the Gilligan's signage was still up, but I did see a guy working on the building's roof, so the conversion may have already been in progress.

I finally noticed TCL was open and got some pictures on 15 April 2010. It was definitely open through 24 July 2010.

By 22 November though, all The Cock Lounge signage was down (except for the lolipop sign) and the beach mural had been painted over with the name of the new operation: Your Mom's House.

(And yes, I have restrained myself from making several name related jokes..)

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This isn't quite the post I thought I would be making. Here's the thing: I remember a local restaurant that was on this side of Rosewood Drive for many, many years. It was on my "someday" list though I didn't get to it and it was torn down after I moved out of town. The only anecdote I can remember about it right now was that in the late 80s, or maybe the 90s, USC had a famous football coach (whose name I can't remember, let's call him Freddie) commit to come coach the Gamecocks. The whole town was in a commotion, and this restaurant put up on their signboard: Freddie heard about our food!.

Then, of course, the Chicken Curse struck, and he reneged on the deal and decided not to come to Carolina -- leaving the restaurant flat-footed for a couple of days with a very ironic sign.

Anyway, I was pretty sure this was the spot, but the only thing I can see before the old building was torn down to put up the Eckerd's which became Rite Aid is a pool hall called Charlie's which tried several times (apparently with success in the end to get a liquor license).

UPDATE 7 Dec 2010: Updated post title to Charlie's Cue & Cushion based on the coments.

UPDATE 10 August 2020: I have not noted it previously, but this Rite Aid closed as all the others did, and is now a Walgreens. Also added map icon, added Rite Aid to the title, updated tags.

Commenter Duane sends the first picture above of Caffe Espresso on College Street.

I remember going there several times, and like its successor Cool Beans it was in the foyer and upstairs of the old house at 1217, next to Nice & Natural. I guess I probably don't go to Cool Beans often enough to say for sure, but in retrospect, it seems to me that the biggest difference between the two operations was that Caffe Espresso had the upstairs windows open more often, as seen here. That, and WiFi..

(Thanks to Duane!)