Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Here's another place that came and went without my being aware of it at all.

According to The State, Black Bean Co. was a charleston based mini-chain which

specialize[d] in healthier versions of sandwiches and salads and bowls.

They were bought out by another Charleston chain gogogreens, which rebranded the Charleston store and closed the Columbia location. For some reason after three years, they don't seem to have either sold the location or done anything with it.

17 June 2022: Updating map icon, adding a few pictures from the grand opening:

Another casualty of Covid-19, World of Beer closed their Vista location on 16 November according to The Free Times. Hopefully there is some light on the horizon, as this can't go on much longer.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf & then commenter Dustin)

UPDATE 8 December 2020: Add missed hat tip to Lone Wolf

I noticed today that the Marble Slab in The Vista is closed. The last reviews are from four months ago, so it's pretty clearly another COVID-19 story.

I do think the window sign is a bit misleading. While I'm glad to hear the Woodhill location is open, I suspect the wording has made more than a few people driving by, park and then be disappointed on walking up to the door.

UPDATE 28 June 2022: This place is now closed for good. I need to get some updated pictures.

UPDATE 3 February 2023 -- Here is a picture. The signage is still up for some reason:

Sabor Latin Steet Grill was the follow-on operation to breakfast & lunch spot Le Peep which closed in April of 2019. Sabor opened in July of 2019, as reported in ColaDaily, giving it a run of something less than a year.

Although the pictured Family Box seems to hew towards standard Mexican items, my understanding is that Sabor had a fuller menu with items from other Southern countries, and I had it on my mental list to eventually visit. Unfortunately, the restaurant was caught up in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and was not able to last from its 21 March 2020 temporary closing into the coming (hopefully!) full reopening period. The Free Times has that story:

The Vista location of Sabor Latin Street Grill, a fast-casual restaurant chain out of Charlotte, closed late last month amid the coronavirus’ impact on area restaurants.

Mark Gardner, former general manager with the restaurant, confirmed to Free Times that the restaurant closed on March 21, and that the closure is now permanent. The restaurant had employed 22 workers.

“COVID-19 … just hurt sales too much,” Gardner explains.

Numerous restaurants throughout the area have grappled with takeout-only offerings since Gov. Henry McMaster closed South Carolina restaurant dining rooms on March 17 in an effort to enforce social distancing. Gardner says the Columbia Sabor gave takeout a shot, but it wasn’t successful enough to justify continuing.

“We tried that the first week, but the sales just weren’t there,” he says.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

The Carolina Strip Club steak-house was the follow-on operation in this spot to Bull Market & Taverna, something I was not aware of when I drove by, or I might have stopped and gotten pictures from the other side of the building as well for comparision.

According to The Free Times, the owner put the closure down to building issues and wants to try again in West Columbia:

“I love doing business in Columbia, I was just having some major issues with the building,” Segal explains. “I couldn’t afford to put all that money into it with all the problems.”

So far, I do not see anything about future plans on their Facebook page.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath Roberts)

I think I can confidently predict a rapidly forthcoming vacancy at Gervais Professional Suites.

I've been in this building at least once, back when it was Doc's Gumbo Grille, but as I view Sushi as Superman views Kryptonite, it never even occurred to me to visit TakoSushi. I see from the various writeups on the closing that they had a Southwest component, which I might have guessed from the Tako, except that sounds very like a Japanese word when spelled that way. While I have not been inside, I have admired the very visible and shiny ventilator for years. I also notice that the Yin/Yang mural is a Blue Sky creation.

According to the Takosushi website and statements to the press, the restaurant considered the building to be unsafe. The State says the owner disputes that, and says that any interior damage would be the tenant's responsibility to fix. Here are two more takes from ColaDaily and WLTX

In a sign of the times, I could not get close enough to the front door to get a good picture of the posted notice (though you can probably read it on the click-through) because there is already someone sleeping in the doorway.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

UPDATE 12 November 2020 -- Now Crabby's Cajun:

I went to Nonnah's several times years ago, hoping for something like Kamanski's in Charleston. In the event, I decided they liked cake way more than I did -- I prefer pie, cheesecake, custard and other non-cake desserts. I guess it's been more than ten years since I was in -- at any rate they were still on the other side of Gervais at the time.

The State has the story, and I particularly like the Behind Our Reporting postscript. Welcome to the club, guys!

(Hat tip to commenters Dustin & Sidney)

UPDATE 24 November 2019: Added commenter Dustin, who I had missed, to the hat tip.

The WordPress blog editor has a button called "Save Draft", which is, I suppose, appropriate to this post, as The Casual Pint is no more.

The Free Times noted the opening on 22 July 20 2016 of

the fastest growing franchise in the craft beer industry

and also noted the closing on 2 November 2019.

The only remaining SC location for the chain is 217 Saluda Springs Road in Lexington, which looks to be on the block behind the Mellow Mushroom.

Here is a State story on the Dupree Building of which The Casual Pint was a tenant. It's a nice looking place. I should have checked the entrance to see what's upstairs.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Rocket Fizz is a franchaised soda & candy operation that to some extent puts me in the mind of The Candy Cottage at The Hammock Shops and a place that used to be on Centre Street in Fernandina Beach (which, gradually over the course of several years, transitioned into an all things Celtic shop..).

The place opened in August of 2018, and here is an article republished from Coladaily about the opening, with lots of nice pictures which make me think it would have been more at home on Market or King Streets in Charleston..

As far as I can tell with all the newest reviews being dated "seven months ago", the place seems to have closed in January 2019. I suspect that there wasn't a lot of Winter foot traffic, which may have factored in.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)