Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Il Focolare Pizzeria suffered some unwanted fireworks the night of the Fourth as a kitchen fire did enough damage to shut them down for an unknown period of time while repairs are made. When I drove by, it looked like the damage did not extend to the exterior walls or roof of the building, but as you can see from the pictures in the various links below, the cooking area is rather frazzled.

Il Focolare Pizzeria started in 2019, and replaced another pizza spot Citta del Cotone.

You can read about the fire at the restaurant's Facebook, in The State or on WIS.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

I was unaware of this newish pizza joint until commenter Heath mentioned that it was closing. It's down the section of Sumter Street north of Elmwood, someplace I hardly ever go. Apparently a co-owner made himself notorious on social media recently and that hurt business, or at least that's the take at The State. Well, I don't do social media, so I missed all that, and anyway apparently that gentleman is no longer involved with the restaurant, so I decided I would check it out before it closes on Saturday.

It's a very small place, with only one lowtop table that I would pick as a favorite, but there is also some bar and hightop seating. You order at the counter, but they do bring the food to the table. They are fancy enough that they don't have pepperoni as an ingredient, so I ordered the Pizza Margherita (pictured above). I thought it was pretty good. The crust could have been a little crisper, and I whould have preferred a basil leaf on each slice, but it was quite tasty. I could never be a regular here because they do not have fresh brewed tea, but they do have some beer, wine and bottled drinks.

Here are stories on the closing from The Free Times and Cola Daily

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)