Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I never actually ate at Rancho Grande, but I was aware of it as we would drive by on the way to visit relatives, and they mentioned eating there from time to time. I'm pretty sure the building started life as a national brand steakhouse, possibly a Western Sizzling.

Hartsville has urbanized to a surprising extent this millennium, but when this was built, the area was still quite rural and I'm sure the out-of-town location was chosen because it is at the intersection of US-15 Bypass and US-15 Business, something quite important before the Interstates.

The restaurant's Facebook page indicates that it closed around 17 May 2017, though I am unable to explain the wreath on the door which would otherwise indicate a post-Holiday-Season closing. The page also directs patrons to Neuva Villa which is apparently owned by the same family.

Well, I find this a bit surprising: I go by Boozer Shopping Center fairly frequently, but somehow I entirely missed a new restaurant in there until it had already closed.

It appears that down-home/soul-food joint Hungry Moments started sometime around April 2016, and lasted at least until March of 2017, when the last Yelp review appears. The reviews are mixed, but it seems if you hit it at the right time, you could get a good old-fashioned Southern meal.

I also apparently missed the previous tenant in this slot, Generations Bakery & Catering.

UPDATE 20 October 2018: Added picture of Boozer marquee.

Well, the door sign is true and misleading at the same time.

I have to say I was not really aware of either incarnation of The Garden Bistro, but The Free Times says the closing was announced on 12 September 2018.

I've never been quite sure what to make of this odd little strip of retail and services on Assembly. I don't think I've ever been inside any of them. I do have it in my mind one of the former tenants was big in bringing down the Blue Laws.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

As I have mentioned before I have a number of problems with Which Wich, the biggest of wich is I can't frequent a place that doesn't have fresh brewed ice tea.

Regardless of my issues, it does seem that this shopping center has problems keeping restaurants.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

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I noticed on one of my recent drives to the beach that the Golden Chick in Manning had closed. It appears to be very recent, and there is no closed sign posted, though some attempt to cover the logo has been made. If you look at the roadside marquee, you can see Sign #1 in play, which was apparently the only warning given.

Looking at Yelp it appears this store opened in 2014, which I believe is about the time the one on Beltline did. The reviews are mostly good, I'm not sure what happened, unless it was just a bit too far from I-95 to get the traffic it needed.

I did another closing for Firenza on a store on Bower Parkway that never actually opened.

This one, in the Lowes plaza in Lexington actually did open, but not for too long. The State pegs the Grand Opening as 9 January 2018, with various free pizza promotions, so that was a run of about 9 months.

I had to check online to make sure I had the right place as there is no sign on the door, and all the fixtures inside look to be at the ready for the next day of customers (It was raining hard enough that I didn't get any pictures of the inside). It appears from looking at the company web site that this was the only store in South Carolina, and that the closest location is now in Charlotte.

So far Mod is the only one of this current wave of "fast" pizza places that I have tried. It's starting to look like perhaps a number of them built out too fast.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

Longtime Leesville barbecue landmark, Jackie Hite's will be closing down on 23 September 2018.

According to The State's encomium for Jackie Hite on his passing in 2016, the roots of the restaurant go back to the 1950s, and

On Hite’s passing, High said it is not necessarily the end, but “it’s sad to lose the old hands that did it right, the old fashioned way ... whole hog over coals. There’s a big difference between whole hog and butts only.

“Jackie Hite was (one of) the last in all of South Carolina to barbecue a whole hog over wood. He would start the pig on Thursday and lay it out on Friday for a pig picking at the restaurant,” says High. “And when I would go out for barbecue on my own, I would always choose Friday night for Jackie Hite’s pig picking.”

Now, according to WLTX the family has elected to wind the buisness down on the anniversary of Mr. Hite's passing, but there's still time to get out there once more.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

I was downtown today, and decided I would have lunch at Barberitos. I had forgotten about feeding the meters, but scrounged up enough coins to last me until I got some change from my meal and walked around the corner, to find the place is now a Jersey Mike's (somewhat visible in the first shot).

I had done a closing for the Lexington location, and I should have checked on this one earlier. In retrospect it makes sense it would close as well, since they were apparently under the same ownership (both electing to offer ground turkey rather than the ground beef of other Barberitos locations).

The last Yelp review is 1 November 2017 and mentions that the place was already closed, so I'm guessing it did close the same time as Lexington.

It's too bad, I consider Barberitos a step above Chipolte & Qdoba, though below a well-run Moe's.

Hampton Street Diner opened on 3 December 2017 in the former location of Nathan's. By the time I got around to the Nathan's closing, most of the Hampton Street Diner upfit was already done, so I am repeating those pictures here.

The State had this story about the (then upcoming) opening of the new restaurant.

Although it looked like a good place to try a burger, I never did make it by for lunch, and the last time I drove by, there was signage to the effect of either new management or new ownership, so apparently there was a major change at some point.

I do like the parting sentiment that while not everything works out, life goes on.

(Hat tip to commenter Frank)