Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Clean Eatz is more than a restaurant that offers healthy food. We are heart-driven to change livez through clean, balanced food, thought-provoking education.

That certainly sounds ambitious, even if I'm not quite sure what it means, but this location of the chain, next to the former Brueggers, has now closed.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

Kairos was part of the first wave of tenants in this new building which was constructed after the razing of the old Ruby Tuesday.

I ate here probably a dozen times or so over the several years it was open. Originally they had a few tables on the sidewalk in front of the store which I liked to sit at in good weather, but at some point they lost those, and nobody working there seemed to know anything about it.

I was rather ambivalent about the concept itself. I believe someone here called it "bowls of goo" a few months ago, and that was kind of an issue. I found that if I just treated it as a bespoke salad, it was good, but trying to go beyond that was just too much thrown together that should probably have been separate.

The place closed without warning (as restaurants tend to do) in mid-December, and the WLTX story is here.

(Hat tip to Mr. Hat)

Here is another local spot I was unaware of.

Crossings Deli at the intersection of Farrow & Parklane Roads closed around Thanksgiving, and is now soul food venue LeeBoy Kountry Kitchen.

Crossings farewell message is here.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

Cafe Strudel opened in this Lexington restaurant space in May of 2018, replacing (after a hiatus) Kovachi's.

The Cafe Strudel brand, which included this store and the original State Street location in West Columbia, was recently purchased from its founders by the Foundry Hospitality Group which will be retaining the original flagship and bringing a yet to be specified new concept to this spot.

Considering the the original location has been up since 1997, you might think I could have managed to stop by sometime in the last nigh unto 30 years, but in the event not yet.

You can read about the closing on ColaDaily or in The State.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

Crafty Crab was one of Columbia's influx of crab-themed restaurants over the past several years, and replaced Tin Lizzy's Cantina in this Vista storefont. The recent Google reviews are interesting and share several themes, possibly pointing to the ultimate fate of the place, though I don't see any media articles on the closing.

The strip itself is quite busy: There was too much traffic to park and get a good shot of the place.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Commenter Payne mentions that this restaurant in Mills Corner just to the left of the old Pig/IGA has closed.

Other commenters in Have Your Say mention that there are still a number of Chen's restaurants in the area, though it is not clear if they are connected. For what it's worth, I believe the Egg Roll Station on Crowson is officially a Chen's.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

I was never particularly interested in going to TakoSushi, as the menu didn't sound up my alley, but there are a number of them about, so apparently it works for them. Although in the event, not in Forest Acres, I guess. The State has the closing story here, and say that the place was open for a little more than a year, after replacing Baskin Robbins, which closed in 2022.

The storefront is already in train to be a Jimador Real, which I assume is a smaller version of an El Jimador, though I don't really know.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

These (not particularly good -- I was on my way somewhere else) pictures are from 20 May 2023, the grand opening of The Dales Biergarten and Bottle Shoppe, which will be closing on 17 October with a bit over two years under its belt. Taking over from wedding venue The Springdale House & Gardens, The Dales aimed to be

a family friendly Biergarten and retail shop.

.

The closing sites staffing issues, and the usual recent liability concerns.

You can read the venue's announcement here and stories from The State & Post & Courier here & here.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

This location of Pelican's was in the old Winn-Dixie plaza at the corner, and was apparently some sort of bank at one time.

I had noticed that it was no longer sporting the Pelian's colors, but hadn't gotten around to checking it out. Apparently this location shares ownership with the Rosewood one, and closed in early May, which is not what I would normally expect, as that is just as the SnoBall season is really starting.

The place as been redone with really odd orange awnings above, and black below to block out the Pelican's branding. It seems, somehow, to also have acquired a new set of windows on the side nearest Decker.

When I mentioned that Old Chicago in this plaza had closed, I neglected to say that the across-the-parking-lot neighbor, Flapjacks Pancake Cabin had also closed. You will remember that this location was a former Western Steer which then became a strip-club. At the time there was speculation that the (then) new Wal-Mart was pressuring the city to de-zone the club to make the area a bit more family friendly, and it appears that Flapjacks didn't exactly leave under their own steam either. This Facebook is all rumors, but it appears that the plaza owners have non-restaurant plans for that wing of the property.

In the event, Flapjacks was there for about ten years. Here is the Sun News on the place moving in. (Notice that the original plan for the Old Chicago spot was a Quaker Steak & Lube, which never happened).

The chain still exists, and now appears to be restricted to Tennesse. For now, you can still see their Garden City page here.

That does beg the question on the location. Google & the street address say this is Murrells Inlet, but to me it is pretty clearly Garden City.

UPDATE 7 October 2025: Found a picture of the lighted sign and added it up top.