Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

While the restaurant proper was apparently not harmed, a major fire on Saturday night 26 October took down the offices, pits & distribution center for this longtime Midlands barbecue staple, forcing the chain to close at least on a temporary basis. According to the video links provided by commenters Logan, Dustin & Andrew, the cause of the fire is still unknown.

I have only eaten at Piggie Park once, but I thought it was pretty good, and figured I would be back some day. Hopefully that will still happen. The place has had a somewhat controversial history with the founder's politics being out of step with the modern South, but his heirs looked to have worked past that, and while various locations have featured here from time to time the chain has remained a local constant.

The pictures above were taken on 25 March 2012, well before the fire. You can see the news reports of the blaze here, here & here.

(Hat tip to commenter Logan)

I don't know anything about Belly's other than that it is a barbecue place, and is currently listed by Google as "Temporarily Closed". Their Facebook hasn't been updated since 2023, so there's no clue there, but according to commenter Beth reporting on some other Facebook traffic, they may not be coming back.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

Continuing yesterday's barbecue theme..

I don't see any work going on here, but the signs claim they will be back, so I'm marking this closing as "Temporary" and we'll see what happens.

I've only eaten Maurice's at the flagship store once or twice, and it was fine. I've never been to this location, and I have to say it's a bit of a bear to get in and out of. In the event, I decided to go on past and park in the Firefly parking lot.

(Hat tip to commenter Arthur P)

UPDATE 30 August 2024 -- Now Hard Bean Coffee:

Also removed "Temporary" from the post title.

The only time I have eaten at a Dickey's was in Huntsville Alabama some years ago, and as I recall, it was fine. This location sounds to have been a bit different, and I have actually been to this place before to take pictures for a closing, only to find out that they were "just closed for some reason". Looking at the Google reviews, it appears that that was absolutely typical for this place, and they make interesting reading.

This time it appears they are definitely gone for good, but I don't expect the suite to stay vacant for long, as it is a street-visible storefront next to a busy Kroger.

(Hat tip to commenter Trevin)

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- As reported in the comments, this is now setting up to be a Firehouse Subs:

UPDATE 6 October 2024: Took out the Starbucks picture which wasn't meant to be on this post.

This location of The Southern Belly opened in the 2015 timeframe, and apparently ran concurrently with their Rosewood location for a while. There was no media notice of this closing, and google still thinks they are open.

Their Facebook page, however, suggests that they were "Gone With The Wind" as of 11 December 2022.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

This barn-esque building is across the street from Step Saver Gas on the cut-through from I-95 to US-76 in Florence. I became aware of it through driving to the beach that way from time to time, and when I first noticed it, it was one of those SCDA flagged stores that featured local produce and products. I wanted to stop and check it out, but it always seemed like I was in a hurry and in the event I never did before it was gone. Apparently the name was Greenacres Country Market, and there is a site with some nice pictures of it here. It appears they were also a bakery.

Recently I noticed that the signage for that operation was gone and that the building was operating as a soul food & barbecue restaurant which doubled as an event space. Apparently that didn't last too long, and the building is now listed for sale.

The situation with Urban Cookhouse seems a bit odd to me and I suspect something went wrong. The Devine Street location (which was the only SC location at the time) closed around 30 June, and the place advertised a new "temporary" location in Five Points, which guessing from their Facebook Page was for catering only. There have been no posts to the page since 14 July, and no answers to questions people are asking there about the new location and opening date. Unless I missed an announcement somewhere, I think this place will not be coming back as a dine-in location.

Here is some (old) information from The State.

(Sorry that the pictures are poor, it was really too late in the day, and I meant to go back, but have not yet).

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 19 August 2021 -- Here are some better pictures:

Here is 741 Saluda, so I am still a bit confused about the status of things:

I noticed this evening that PK BBQ, the follow-on in this convenience store endcap to Kotas was gone.

A little google-work reveals that they have moved to the new Piggly Wiggly complex at 760 Highway 378. I have been meaning to get out there, as I believe that is another former Bi-Lo that I haven't yet done a closing for.

UPDATE 22 February 2021 -- Here is the new location:

To the best of my memory, I've only eaten at a Maurice's Piggy Park once, last year at the Charleston Highway location. I thought it was fine, but the chain seems to have hit a rough patch in the last few years with several locations closing. COVID-19 can't have helped, but I don't know if it were the deciding factor here.

This one is on US-1 in West Columbia to the east of the I-26 interchange and across from the Wal-Mart. I see from google maps that it is next to a Ruby Tuesday I had forgotten about, and which I did not check to see if it were open.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

UPDATE 9 March 2021 -- Now a Take 5 quick oil change operation:

Bone-In was the only restaurant in the Bull Street stadium complex, for which big things have often been promised. They announced in early February of 2020 that they were terminating regular meal service, but would still be open for special events. By the end of the month that had changed to being completely closed, though they would still be doing catering.

I took these pictures on 13 September 2020, and while I was driving around the State Hospital area, I noticed a burnt out looking building and a WLTX news crew. Apparently someone set the old Babcock building on fire Saturday morning. Last I saw, they are now looking for persons of interest.

(Hat tips to commenters Beth & Heath).