Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

Boeshreen is the follow-on operation to Northeast Market & Coffee House in this much restauranted storefront on Decker. I ate there once, and found the food to be good though the layout was a bit confusing, and I couldn't make it a regular stop because there was no fresh-brewed ice tea.

I noticed recently that they have added Sammi's Deli branding to their operation (after also adding a sno-cone setup). It may be time to stop in again.

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.

Well, I took my eyes off the old Popeye's location, and missed two closings.

South Carolina Dream Wings was the follow on to Jade Palace which closed in early 2018. South Carolina Dream Wings opened shortly thereafter, and I'm not sure when they closed.

After that, and without ever getting around to changing all the signs, Uncle Ozzy's opened. It was, in a complete change for this spot, a schnitzel operation. The Free Times highlighted it as a Bite Of the Week location, proving once again Yogi Berra's observation that It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future:

The location has had a long and varied history, but Ozzy gives you a good feeling that this could be a place that sticks around for a really long time.

[Update: Uncle Ozzy's closed suddenly after Free Times sampled its Hunterschnitzel on Sept. 12.]

Looking at Uncle Ozzy's Facebook page, it appears that the owners had a falling out.

To the best of my memory, I ate at this Rush's sometime shortly after it opened, which is the only time I have been in one of their stores. I'm not sure why that is, as it was fine, and I was impressed with the state-fair-like presentation of the fries in a paper cup.

I admit to being a bit surprised at this closing, as I figured with the county takeover of Decker Mall, they would have a steady lunch business of civil servants crossing the parking lot for a bite.

The State says however that it was a 40 year old building that had age and maintenance issues and:

“At some point you just have to let it go.”

The stonework facings are definitely of another era, though not quite as distinctive as the old Popeye's buildings.

This closing makes two vacant restaurant buildings on the Decker Mall property, which seems odd. As I said with the county office workers (and law enforcement) nearby, I don't see why the site couldn't support a new restaurant, though perhaps either building would have to be razed and rebuilt.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

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)

I'm not going to attempt the metal umlaut in the post title, but Yogen Früz is a froyo franchaise operation which is still in operation, though this closure leaves the nearest store in Florida or possibly Virginia. I guess it's not too surprising that if an ice cream or froyo shop is going to close, the start of colder weather is a trigger [this was wrong: see note below].

This location is on the same "block" with the former corner Starbucks (and in fact you can somewhat see it in those pictures), and across from the centeral traffic island/venue at Sandhill.

King's Pizza was the follow-on operation in this spot to Charlie's Wings & Seafood. They opened sometime in the spring of 2019, and apparently closed in September. At one time, a number of other locations for King's were mooted, but they may have tried to build out too fast, and I don't believe any, with the possible exception of a co-branding with Planet Pizza came to pass.

Leash The Kraken!

I thought I had done a closing for The Kraken the first time it closed, a few years ago, but I cannot now find it, so either I'm just wrong, or it got lost in the database crash a while back.

Anyway, I'm afraid I know very little about the place other than it had a cool name and was in a neightboorhood I don't normally associate with restaurants.

Here is a take from The Free Times and one from The State.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

While I was getting the Save A Lot pictures, I noticed that the pizza joint in the same strip has now been (partially?) reflagged as a King's Pizza.

Their (officially claimed) Yelp page gives the name as King's Planet Pizza and has a link to the main King's web site, which curiously does not list the place as a location (though it does still list Marshall Street, which I think has fallen through). Does anyone know if the Columbia Mall location has come to pass?