Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I believe the first tenant in this spot after it was built was Bruster's Real Ice Cream, but Hibachi Express has been there quite a while now. I hope it will be there in the future, but the place appears pretty well gutted by the Saturday morning two-alarm fire.

The restaurant was open at the time, but luckily all the crew and customers are safe. So far the cause of the fire is unknown. You can read about it at The Post & Courier or The State or see video at WLTX or WIS.

(Hat tip to Mr. Guy)

As reported by The State, the Clutch Coffee chain has been bought out by Dutch Bros coffee (which is apparently quite large, though I had never heard of them), and the local Clutch outlets will be closed to remodel & retool before coming back as Dutch Bros locations.

This one, in Lexington is by the former Sonic location, which itself is apparently retooling to become an ice-cream shop.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

I believe I have only been in a Captain D's once, at a family event, where I ended up getting the corn-on-the-cob side item since I am not a seafood lover.

At one time, Captain D's & Shoney's were under the same ownership, and they tended to locate the two restaurants close to each other. This was the case on Two Notch and Garners Ferry, and was also the case here. In the event the Shoney's pairing with this Captain D's was closed in 2012, razed, and rebuilt as a Cook Out.

This store soldiered on for 13 more years after its partner succumbed, so that is some stick-toit-iveness.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

I first knew this place as Frank-N-Stein, a monster-themed casual restaurant. That was followed by The Stadium Steak House and the first Columbia establishment to bear the name Twin Peaks, though the view was a bit more liberal there than at the current holder of the name.

I want to say Millennium came in sometime in the '80s -- at any rate they had been there quite a while.

Now the place, like seemingly every other address within miles, is to become student housing.

You can read about it in The State or The Post & Courier.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

UPDATE 22 January 2026: Actually the place had not been there as long as I thought. As several people point out in the comments, the Millennium name reflects the fact that the Buffet opened around that time.

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)