Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I first wrote about Empire Grill in a closing for College Corner. Even at the point I took the first picture above for that post, I had to wonder what was going on, as the signage for the new place made Open Late a big selling point, and .. it was never open late.

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This almost vacant site on Airport Boulevard at the south-west corner of the Airport Boulevard/I-26 interchange was definitely a restaurant, and not that long ago -- certainly into the late 1990s. As I recall it was bought up and razed for some sort of road construction.

I remember eating there a few times for late night fare, and was 100% positive that it was a Denny's. However, I can't verify that in either the 1997 phonebook, or the 2005 one, and I'm not getting any definite google hits for a Denny's on Airport Boulevard (except in other cities).

I'm not a big fan of Denny's -- somewhere there must be one with exceptional service and food that looks like the pictures, but I haven't found it yet. They have their uses though -- I'm reminded of this web comic (though it is for another late night institution). I remember working a project on Fort Benning and the only good part of my day being when we hung it up at midnight and being able to have a grilled cheese sandwich on the way back to the hotel..

Anyway, whatever they plan to do on this lot, it seems to be taking them a long time to do it.

UPDATE 24 April 2013: Added a street address, took the question mark off of Denny's? and added the Kettle Restaurant based on the comments.

I've written about Denny's before, and about how I am not a big fan, though I confess I've had my share of 2AM suppers at various locations over the years after insane work schedules. I knew about the old Two Notch Denny's, the one that used to be on Airport Boulevard, and the Denny's "Diner" that is still on Harbison Boulevard, but I didn't know about this place at all.

Wilson Boulevard is what North Main Street is called after it gets close to crossing over I-20, and as it happened, I had some business in the area recently and noticed this closed restaurant as I was driving by. The shape of the sign suggested a Denny's, and sure enough a quick google verified that. I don't have a closing date, but it can't have been too many years ago. On the surface, the I-20 location, near to a truck stop, and with lots of parking seems like it could have supported a restaurant. I don't ever recall seeing a sign from the highway though. Perhaps they didn't advertise well enough, or perhaps people don't want to eat at Denny's unless they have to, and the interstate corridor through Columbia has a number of better alternatives.