Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I'm guessing at the closing date here, but given that commenter Zach reported this in early January, I'm guessing that they probably closed out the year & month and then folded with the New Year. Since there was still a "hiring" sign in the window, I wasn't sure until I got out of the car and peeked in the (heavily tinted) windows that they were actually closed. While the furnishings were still inside, it looked pretty clear from the state of things that they were not set to re-open the doors.

I have seen this new-ish chain in a number of locations lately, including several spots on the coast, but I have never gotten around to eating in one.

(Hat tip to commenter Zach)

UPDATE 18 Janurary 2022: Commenter Beth reports that in fact they are still open, so I have revised the post title with "Open". Always good to be wrong about bad news!

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.

This Waffle House was our go-to for Christmas dinner for a number of years. In the event this year we had to go out to Clemson Road. Google claims this location is "temporarily closed", but I wonder if someone isn't trying to consolidate this lot with the neighboring Circle K to get a space large enough for something to rival the new Quik Trip across the street.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

I wonder if Barberitos is struggling? As I noted here and here, both Midlands locations of the chain closed some time ago. Personally I liked this Fernandina Beach location better than either of those as it had ground beef as a topping which for some odd reason the SC locations did not (ground turkey is *not* the same thing). My only issue here (as with all locations) is that the chips were so fragile you couldn't really dip with them.

There was also a location a bit further up A1A towards Yulee FL, which also seems to have vanished in the same time-frame as this one. My guess is they were the same franchaise, which according to some google reviews was new ownership after the initial pandemic closure.

I have put 1519 for the street address here as both google & yelp agree on it and it is on the front door. However the actual number painted on the glass on the west side is 1515 for some reason, as you can see.

Here is one where I just kept misplacing the pictures over and over. I observed back in 2013, when the first photos were taken, that this McDonald's on the Charleston Highway near the junctions with I-26 & I-77 still had the boxy kids' play area architecture. Since I like that look and knew that the chain was phasing it out, I took some pictures. And, indeed, at some point after that, they remodeled and dropped that look completely. The problem was I kept taking pictures of the new look and forgetting to do anything with them while they were still near the top of the stack. Finally when I did the Lazy Llama closing I took some more and remembered before I lost track again.

I have to admit I have not really eaten at a McDonald's in years, but they do now have a quite good cup of coffee.

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'm not sure if Lazy LLama is a chain, but there do seem to be a number of coffee shops around the country with that name, or slight variations. This one was in the old Piggly Wiggly plaza on the Charleston Highway at Fish Hatchery Road. The plaza is called Cayce Crossing, and the store name has "Cayce" in it, but the street address is actually West Columbia.

Interestingly, the follow-on operation is also a coffee shop with an animal name: Koffee Koala.

Also, I just checked the map icon to see if it were correct, and the image Google Maps brings up tells me that not too long ago, Lexington Dry Cleaning was in this slot, so I am adding it to the post title as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Robin)

This closing is a bit surprising. I know this Starbucks doesn't have a drive-through, but I thought that there was plenty of foot traffic in The Vista especially during the Holiday Season. On the other hand, Google has marked the place as "temporarily closed", and the branding and furnishings are not gone. On the third hand, the door has a real-estate type keybox on it now.

Anyway, at least for now, you'll have to walk up a block to Panera.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

Ten Ten was in Magnolia Pointe down from the old Piggly Wiggly. The first marquee sign I have for them says Chinese Restaurant, but a later one (and Google) says Ten Ten Oriental Restaurant and some sources say Vietnamese Restaurant, so perhaps there was a change of focus or ownership at some time in the last few years. At any rate, they are now closed and we will have to see what becomes of this storefront.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

Main Street Public House has closed, and will be replaced during the holidays by a pop-up concept: Miracle Cocktail Bar.

After that, Prohibition Columbia restaurant & bar will open in the space, a new location for Charleston's Prohibition. ColaDaily has the story here.

I hate to admit it, but I was not even aware that Main Street Public House existed, though it definitely looks as though I could have found something to my liking on the menu.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)