Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Commenter Trevin reports that Ichiban in the old Ryan's / Fire Mountain building on Garners Ferry looks to have closed, and unfortunately that is the case. You can see some of the classic signs of a closing at the front entrance: freebie newspapers that haven't been taken inside, and a vendor note. Judging from that note, the place has been closed at least a week.

(Hat tip to commenter Trevin)

I first wrote about this location doing a closing on the Ryan's that previously occupied the spot. That closed in early 2009, and by early 2010 (if not before) Hibachi Grill P&G Buffett was open in its old spot.

I don't know what the issues with the building are -- it's not that old, but apparently P&G are doing major work on it, and the restaurant is closed during the construction. (And this is not one of those hopeful "closed for remodeling" deals where you know it's never coming back -- the work has actually started and is ongoing).

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 16 July 2013 -- Took the "temporary" tag off the subject line as the location has opened as a new business, Ichiban Hibachi & Sushi Buffett:

UPDATE -- Ichiban has been doing some billboard advertising:

UPDATE 28 January 2020 -- As mentioned in the comments for the Ryan's incarnation of this building, the structure has now been razed. It's a bit of a shame because it wasn't a bad looking building:

UPDATE 21 March 2022 -- This place is setting up to be a Slim Chickens:

UPDATE 2 February 2023 -- Slim Chickens is now built and open, and Starbucks is built:

Well, you can't say they didn't make an effort at this Wal-Mart outparcel on Garners Ferry road. This building originally opened as a Fire Mountain Grill, which was explained to me once by a friend with contacts in the food industry as the brand Ryan's corporate used to move back into markets where they felt the Ryan's brand had been tarnished by the local franchisees.

I always felt that Fire Mountain was a bad name since it invoked images both of volcanic tropical islands like Hawaii and of heat and spiciness, none of which had anything to do with the food served. At any rate, they ran it as that for a few years, then transitioned it back into a Ryan's, which didn't last long at all.

The building looks quite impressive, especially when viewed end-on and from below, as when you walk in from Garners Ferry. Currently it's for sale. The sign doesn't mention that you get all the fixtures, but that seems to be the case -- they are still in there at any rate.

As an aside, and appropos to nothing, I parked in the lot at Aldi across the street from Ryan's while taking these pictures. I decided as long as I was parked there, I would go in -- What a weird and unpleasant place!

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