Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This Lizard's Thicket, in a former Shoney's building on Forest Drive is closed for renovations. The chain just redid one in Lexington as well, so perhaps they are looking to freshen up several sites. Of course, to my memory, the one on Beltline was updated and nonetheless closed.

I last at at this one on my niece's birthday last December, and it was fine: Your typical Lizard's experience. I don't recall noticing anything particularly wrong with the physical plant, but who knows what kind of issues there might be behind the counters.

This has already been discussed extensively in Have Your Say but B Mac's Buffet which opened on 8 August 2025, in the old Copper River Grill location, unexpectedly closed on 26 August, 18 days later.

Here is a State story on the news that the place would be moving in. In retrospect, there are a number of red flags on display.

The State covers the actual opening here here.

You can read about the closing at WLTX.

(Hat tip to a number of commenters, but I believe commenter Tom made the first definitive 'This place is closed' mention.)

Perry's Gourmet Flaming Grilled Chicken (there's a mouthfull by itself!) opened in this former Taco Cid building in on 29 August of 2022. WLTX had the story here.

Apparently the chicken was Portuguese style, which I am not familiar with, but they had traditional Southern items as well. The Google reviews are almost uniformly positive, though there are not a ton of them, which may be an indication they weren't getting the volume they needed.

And of course, the building is odd and old, something Taco Cid finally gave up on, so there may well be a lot of issues to be addressed as indicated in the Closed For Remodeling sign. Unfortunately I don't see any work going on, and those signs are often more aspirational than accurate. Hopefully that won't be the case here and they will be back, but we'll see.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

This building at the corner of Sparkleberry & Graces Way was built as a McAlister's Deli. After they moved down the road, it was a Famous Toastery, and Alleana's was the follow-on to that.

I don't have a definite date for the closing, but the Google reviews have dates like "A year ago", so I am going with 2023. I will note that a consistent feature of those reviews is a note that the place was not open when it was supposed to be. This is a subcase of Rule #1, and is never a good sign.

Currently a Mexican restaurant is setting up in the space.

This is another place I always meant to get to, and I really have no excuse as it is exactly in my area, and I had seen early-on that it had exhibited Sign #1 that it probably wouldn't last too long. In the event however I did not, and if I ever catch them, it will have to be in a Low Country location.

Commenter Jimmy provides their closing message:

Dear Guests,

We're saddened to share the news that Poogan's Southern Kitchen in Forest Acres will be permanently closing its doors after our final brunch and dinner service on Sunday, May 19th.

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your patronage and support since our opening in 2022. Your presence has made our journey truly special.

To the people of Forest Acres, your support has been incredible, and we're grateful for the warmth and community you've shown us.

Before we say goodbye, we invite you to join us over the next week, where we can reminisce and share our favorite Southern dishes with you once more.

For those venturing to the Lowcountry, our locations in Charleston and Summerville will continue to serve our signature cuisine with the same hospitality you've come to love.

Thank you for being a part of our story. We hope to see you soon.

Warm regards,

The Poogan’s Southern Kitchen Team

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Compton's Kitchen was a family run meat-and-three which has been around since late 1977 in several different locations. including Topspin Plaza in Lexington, ending up in this Triangle City storefront. I never ate there, but I like the murals.

Nobody seems exactly sure when the place closed, but it was definitely gone by mid February, so I'll just go with "February 2024". Both The Post & Courier and The State have stories, here and here

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

UPDATE 10 March 2026 -- The building is now open as a restaurant again, with a similar name, but new ownership and no connection to the previous incarnation, so I won't use the "Open Again" notation:

Pretty much placeholder pictures, as I just did a drive-by when I should have stopped, but this Waffle House is apparently undergoing the same upfit as a number of other midlands locations. It should be back in a few months, still looking like a Waffle House...

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

UPDATE 9 October 2023 -- Still in progress:

UPDATE 26 June 2024 -- Open again:

For a long time, it was not clear if this restaurant was closing or not. I believe they were trying to direct traffic to their other location, in the old Ruby Tuesday building at Dutch Square, but were keeping this one, in a former Wendy's, open too for a while.

In the event, it is now definitely closed, and for sale, and you should head to Bush River Road for your down-home fix.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie & co)

UPDATE 9 October 2023 -- The place has been leased:

UPDATE 13 December 2023 -- A bit better picture of the "Leased" sign, but no more details on what will be going in:

UPDATE 7 Aug 2024 -- Now Braza Chicken:

UPDATE 15 October 2024 -- A slightly better, not pouring down rain, picture of Braza:

Sumter based Willie Sue's was the follow-on in this building to breastaurant The Tilted Kilt, which was the follow-on to Huller's Black Forest, which was the follow-on to Sticky Fingers, which was, I believe, the first tenant.

These pictures were taken on the closing day, 18 September 2022, and I have to say they went out with a bang, as the parking lot was quite active.

Their Facebook announcement simply cites "circumstances beyond our control", and the story at The State doesn't really give any more information.

(Hat tip to commenter Ellen)

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