Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The Woody moved from the Vista to this Main Street corner in 2020, and continued in operation after the passing of founder Woody Windham last year. Unfortunately with the new SC liquor liability laws, the family is unable to keep the doors open past October.

They say they hope to open in a new location as a real restaurant, but there are no firm plans for that yet.

In the meantime, the upstairs neighbor, Hendrix, will be taking over the space to open a pizza restaurant.

You can read about the closing in ColaDaily, The Post & Courier, The State, and on WLTX.

It seems to me that South Carolina's nightlife scene has been greatly altered almost surreptitiously & through the back door.

This is one of those places that I was never sure if it were still open or not. It certainly appeared not, but there are reviews up until a few months ago.

At any rate, it appears to be closed now, joining a long line of former restaurants in this building on the spur of Bush River Road sometimes known as Old Bush River Road.

This is quite a way from my usual rounds, so I was not really aware that Social Grill existed until commenter Robert mentioned that they were closing down for a QT to be built on the lot. 9 March was their last day, and looking at their Facebook, they have already had an auction for the restaurant equipment.

The owners plan to open a pizza restaurant called Cheesy Pint in the former B's in the Publix Plaza on North Lake Drive.

(Hat tip to commenter Robert)

This building is the former home to The Ballistic Cener, TJ's and Videos & Beyond, the last of which closed in 2011.

I don't recall anything being here between that and Michael's, but I could be wrong. At any rate, Michae'ls was here by 2019. Judging by the Google reviews, they had decent food, but it tended to come a bit slowly, and they weren't filling up the whole space (though room rentals were available).

I can't pinpoint the closing time from the reviews, but commenter Gypsie suggests it has been around a year by now. As she also notes, there is some sort of construction or gutting going on with the building, so perhaps we will see something new soon.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

McCary's Bar & Grill (the sign suggests McCary's Sports Bar & Grille, but the Facebook page doesn't support that) shares a parking lot with the phone & loan building that featured here last week.

Judging from the Google reviews, this place probably closed around September of 2023, though given their last Facebook post was 22 June 2023, and there was a shooting there on 28 June 2023, it's possible they did not re-open after that.

I'm not sure how long ago this incarnation started, but the building has been a bar as long as I can recall. The reviews suggest there was not much Irish about it beyond the logo and name at this point, so possibly the ownership changed sometime in the past.

UPDATE 6 December 2023: Adding Kentucky Fried Chicken to the post title based on comments from KC & Brandon.

UPDATE 18 September 2024 -- Open again as The New McCary's Bar & Grill:

I just ran across these pictures of Tabu at 700 Gervais Street, and realized I hadn't seen that locomotive in a good while. I believe the spot is now occupied by Tsunami, though I could be behind on that as well.

There's not a lot of information online, but the place is referred to in the past tense in this 2016 State article, so it was definitely gone by then. This Free Times article suggests that the club shared ownership with the now demolished Pure Ultra Lounge on Berryhill and featured an Urban playlist.

I thought I had some daytime pictures of this place, but in the event I can't find them. The nighttime shots are suboptimal because of a big streetlight in the wrong place, but they'll have to do as a placeholder.

The New Brookland Tavern has been in this spot seemingly forever, with very few changes over the years. I Believe the last time I was there was to see The Explorers Club, which whould have probably been August 2011. At the time I recall thinking that the place was pretty ragged, and judging by the stories about the place moving, it doesn't sound like it has gotten any less so.

The building has been sold recently, and the Tavern's lease expires at the end of the year, so they plan to have the final shows in December, and hopefully find a new home in the new year.

You can check out upcoming shows for the final season here.

The story has featured several times in local media. You can read The State stories here & here, and the Free Times story here.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

UPDATE 2 October 2023: Added a (still not great) daytime shot.

I don't see much information at all online about Flight 302. Judging by what I can find, it was a nightclub/venue near the airport, and judging by the timing of their last Facebook post, closed around two years ago.

You can see a video of a DJ performance at the club here.

According to the permits on the door, the building is currently being remodeled to become a daycare center.

Kandy Shop was an alternative club in the Margarette H. Miller Cosmetology Center which apparently only lasted a couple of months. As I was driving by recently, I noticed that it was gone, and now the venue is another night operation Club 1509.

The Weekend seems to have been a dinner & dance club in this Spring Valley area strip mall best known for Big Lots. You can see some google photos of it in operation here.

Based on the vague "a year ago" dates on the google reviews, I'll say it closed in early 2021. According to the window signage, the next tenant is to be an even venue probably called Suite Sixty.

(Hat tip to commenter Dan R)

UPDATE 22 February 2022 -- The Suite Sixty signage is up: