Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, I had to go out to mail something the other day, and decided I might as well check out the Steak n' Shake in Blythewood.

There has already been some discussion of this in various comments, with commenter Sidney putting this down to the classic real-estate trifecta: Location, location, location!. I'm sure that has something to do with it, but I believe the chain is having trouble in general. In particular, I know they exited Myrtle Beach last year and were having lots of problems even before the current mess.

The linked article says they closed 107 restaurants that "could not deliver excellent customer service" in 2019, so something is going on. Wikipedia says they adopted a new franchaise model in 2018, so perhaps that is not working out for them. Apparently some restaurants will re-open as counter-service only operations -- I do not know if this one will be among that group.

I have never eaten at a Steak n' Shake -- Columbia's only other one closed years ago, and has been razed -- but it has always been on my list to try someday. Oh well.

(Hat tip to commenter Shut it Down)

Carolina Cafe in Westland Square on Sunset Boulevard, which had been in this location since 2014, closed in early December so the owners could concentrate on their downtown business at 925 Sumter Street in Cornell Arms, according to ColaDaily.

The new owner already had plans for the spot, so the storefont did not sit empty for long, and is now open again as Sunshine Cafe & Catering, though the marquee sign has yet to be fully adjusted. ColaDaily noted the opening:

Sunshine Café, located at 2250 Sunset Blvd. in the Westland Shopping Center, will still offer beloved menu items like fresh-baked bagels and paninis, similar to the previous restaurant. However, owner Shutondia Culcleasure said Sunshine Cafe will be incorporating a “sweeter side” to the menu.

“We’ll have a variety of cheesecakes, red velvet, German chocolate, just a whole sweeter side to the bakery,” she said.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I was not aware of the tea-derived drink called Kombucha until I saw the news of this place closing. From the Coladaily article on the opening of The Favored Life in March of 2019, it sounds like an interesting process:

For those who are unfamiliar with the fermented drink, Gramblin described the process the tea undergoes to become kombucha: “First you start with sweet tea, and you put it in a fermentation jar. I use a ‘scoby,’ which [stands for] a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast – you have to grow it,” she said. “You stick them inside the gallon jar, and that eats the sugar out of the sweet tea, and outputs CO2. It takes all the sweetness out and replaces it with that fizzy taste.” She then removes the scoby, strains the liquid, and adds flavor with organic juices. The whole process takes approximately two weeks.

I like tea, but I'm not sure about fizzy tea. I guess I'm not against trying some. At any rate, as the Free Times reported, Columbia was possibly not ready for Kombucha, and The Favored Life closed its doors as a retail establishment in September or October of 2019.

The Carolina Strip Club steak-house was the follow-on operation in this spot to Bull Market & Taverna, something I was not aware of when I drove by, or I might have stopped and gotten pictures from the other side of the building as well for comparision.

According to The Free Times, the owner put the closure down to building issues and wants to try again in West Columbia:

“I love doing business in Columbia, I was just having some major issues with the building,” Segal explains. “I couldn’t afford to put all that money into it with all the problems.”

So far, I do not see anything about future plans on their Facebook page.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath Roberts)

I was going through some old pictures this evening, and found the above, which I have no memory of having taken. The shot is from 26 April 2015, and from what I can find online, Fat Buddies Two probably closed sometime in 2014 and was near the Publix at Chapin Crossing. The Yelp reviews are sparse, but seem to agree the wings were pretty small.

There are a lot of Asian buffets in the DC area, and I used to end up there with the local staff whenever I was visiting the DC office. Frankly, I never cared for it, so I have not tried any of the various Asian buffets in the Columbia area, and was not aware this one existed until commenter Sidney reported it closed.

I will say it's a good looking building, though a bit hard to get to if you are heading toward Sandhill. This area certainly has changed a lot in the past few years, and there's no sign of that stopping.

I note that the door sign directs customers to the Magnolia Buffet in the old Ryan's on Two Notch, so I guess that has the same ownership.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

I noticed on my last trip to Fernandina, that this old-school Dairy Queen on historic Florida Route A1A, just off of I-95 in Yulee Florida was closed. (You can see it, poorly, in operation in the first shot).

If I had to guess a cause, it would be the interminable road construction on this stretch of A1A, which has made this parking lot almost inaccessible, especially if west bound. Of course the walk-up design has its drawbacks as well: One review advises eating in your car to avoid the no-see-ums.

For now the nearby produce & souvenir stand is holding on despite the acess problems. I would be sad to see that go, as it has been there forever, and always has good citrus & candies.

Back in the day:

I did a closing for this building when I referenced that it had at one time been Andy's Deli. I ate there once that I can recall, and while it was OK, it was never going to be one of my regular stops. The current owner is not "Albert", but Adrianne Davidson, and according to this ColaDaily article, she has decided to sell the building and concentrate on catering from the 1901 Main Street location, which I was not aware of.

(Hat tip to commenter Homer)

This Sandy's was in Lexington in the same plaza as McAlister's Deli. I never ate at this one -- If I'm going to drive out to this area to eat, it's probably Uno.

Here again is a story on the owner's retirement.

I believe I have now covered all of the Sandy's locations that were open until the end. As I recall, there was a location on Parklane once, maybe I'll try to find that building someday.

I was looking for some spicy peanuts for an upcoming gathering, and decided to stop by The Peanut Man at Sandhill. In the event, I found it gone.

A little digging established that they have closed their Sandhill and downtown stores, and have consolidated into a new space on Fernandina Road, in the old Prestige Appliance location. In fact, I had seen the banner for Chocolate Factory & Coffee Shoppe from the Interstate, but I did not realize it was The Peanut Man. The new spot is a restaurant as well as a sweet & nut shop, serving a breakfast & lunch menu:

Here is a State article on starting the new location, and here is one about closing the downtown location to focus on this spot.