Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

[In happier times, 9 March 2014]

Well, this one hits closer to home than most as Uno has been one of my go-to places over the years to a greater or lesser degree.

I first got acquainted with Pizzeria Uno (the actual name of the place seems to have been given in different ways in different places) in the Georgetown section of Washington DC back when I was often working projects in that area. We were generally on some sort of deadline, and working late, and I knew that Uno would be reliably open until, I believe at that time and place, Midnight, so I would break out the rental car and head on over when I got back to the hotel (No Metro to Georgetown..)

I had no idea the Lexington location existed until well after it opened. Before I started this blog, Lexington was as remote to me as Columbus, and I had no clue what might be found in its untracked wilds. In the event, one of my cousins mentioned it and eventually I tracked it down. For a long time, like the Georgetown location, it was regularly open late, in this case until 11PM, and I would generally find myself there about once a week 9:30 or later. It got to the point that one of the waitresses would put in my order when she saw me come in the door. Then they moved the weeknight closing back to 10PM, and I was generally unable to get over there from Forest Acres. In retrospect, this was Sign #1 and it should have tipped me off.

I still went every now and then on the weekend until the pandemic hit, and it took longer than a lot of other places for Uno to reopen dine-in, and when they did, they were closing so early (8PM in some cases) that once again I was unable to make it over there. They never did get back to an 11PM closing, even on the weekends though they were open until 10PM then by the end.

As I mentioned in Have Your Say, I was actually there Saturday 23 April, the penultimate day of operation. At the time, there was no sign of anything wrong, and the staff were joking around with each other as they started winding down for the evening.

I really enjoyed the deep dish Chicago pizza, and they had some of the best iced tea in the area.

Here is the announcement on Facebook and here is an article in the Lexington Chronicle. Additionally, this Franchaise Times article gives some background on the chain including the observation that:

“I think the company got too far away from pizza,” said Erik Frederick, CEO of Uno Pizzeria & Grill.

I think there may be some truth to that as a lot of the menu (which I never sampled) was standard casual dining.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Hat)

UPDATE 28 June 2022 -- Some post-closing pictures:

UPDATE 14 August 2022: *Well!* -- This building has been razed! That surprises me some, and suggests that Uno could probably have continued for longer, but someone made them, or the property-owner a better offer:

UPDATE 16 May 2024 -- The Habbit Burger Grill is now open on this site:

I was unfamiliar with this healthy eatery on Two Notch near Popeye's, but I do note that the storefront has featured here twice before as both Jimmy John's and Quiznos. I was a little surprised that they featured pizza, next door to a Papa Johns, but I suppose they had a dine in space to make that make sense.

As you can see, the interior is being actively torn down, so that may mean that the next idea for this spot is already on the way.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Hat)

UPDATE 1 March 2023 -- Now The Baked Potato Factory:

Bricks And Stones is in Woodberry Plaza, along with Big Lots and behind the former Fat Boy. While I was not aware of them, the menu looks pretty good, and perhaps I will try to sneak in there over the next few weeks.

Commenter Robin reports that their facebook put the closing down to inflation, COVID and staffing issues, like all too many places lately. Commenter Andrew sends in this ColaDaily item about the closing as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

This is the fifth closing I have done for this building, and there would have been six except I totally missed doing one for Levi's Lake House.

I don't know what it is about the spot -- It seems like a good location, and a good building, but nothing seems to stick. This may be the Lexington County 2360 Decker.

(Hat tip to commenter Steve)

I only ate at Milardo's once, probably about two years ago. I was not enthused about the place as both the pizza sauce and the garlic knots were unexpectedly sweet. It might have been nice have a second go some evening and eat on the roof, but in the event, I never got around to that.

It looks like they are setting up for a follow-on operation: Player 1 Up.

Before we picked out The Parthenon as our favorite, my father and I used to go to the location of The Villa which was in the building that now houses Pawley's Front Porch. After that, I kind of lost track of it, as Bush River Road was a good distance to drive at that time. I did get out to that location once later, and found the food and service to be good, but for some reason I just felt antsy in the dining room with no windows anywhere and I did not go back.

Recently they have announced that they are closing and that 22 December 2021 will be the last day, and reported in this ColaDaily story. As of this writing, that is next Wednesday, so you still have a few days to catch up with them if you like.

(Hat tips to commenters Heath & Ed)

I used to go to this Pizza Joint location fairly often when they were open late on Thursdays for Service Industry Night, but when they stopped that, I kind of drifted away. I had noticed driving by several times lately that they were not open when I would have expected it, but I put it down to covid + staffing, and didn't think much about it until commenter Larry noted that they had had a fire there.

Looking at the place last Sunday, I am happy to report that repairs are obviously underway, so hopefully they will be back soon. The building must be surprisingly durable as it has been a number of different operations since starting life as a Hardee's.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 18 January 2023: The place has been sold, so I have removed the "Temporary" notation from the title. The next tenant, according to The State will be a breakfast/brunch place: The Vicious Biscuit.

As far as I can reall, I have only eaten at Nicky's once, when I was in need of a late-night pizza. I don't remember anything specific about it other than it was fine.

The place has recently announced they will not renew their lease for this location, although the Lexington store will remain open. Asked for further information, they responded Frankly, as you can see at the link..

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

I'm not sure how long, Yummy II has been here, but quite a while I while, I think. Initially I thought there was a real estate sign in the window, but in fact it is simply a placard for the construction company which is doing the asbestos removal and interior demolition.

Google has Yummy II marked as "termporarily closed" so I am going with that in the post title, but the absence of any "See you soon!" type of sign is not a good omen.

(If there is still a Yummy I, I don't know where it is.)

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 9 September 2020: I have taken the "Temporary?" notation off the post title as it appears from the comments while that was the hope for Yummy at the start of the crisis they are now gone and this is to become a Kudzu Bakery. I have been in the Litchfield & Georgetown locations of that chain a few times and recall both of those spaces as larger than this. Also commenter Thomas calls out the previous occupant in this storefront as Little Caesars, so I have added that to the post title.

UPDATE 23 March 2021 -- Kudzu Bakery is now open in this spot:

This little building on Sunset in Lexington ceased being a Domino's in January of 2019, and by May of that year, Little Caesars had moved in. Given the mess of 2020, and how many times I have personally ordered carry-out or delivery pizza (which I normally never do), I am surprised that the place has already closed.

Some commenters have pointed out that it is directly next door to a Mellow Mushroom, and that's true, but on the other hand Mellow Mushroom was closed for a long time during the first stage of the crisis, even for takeout.

(Hat tip to commenter ED).