Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It looks like the Sub Station II on Parklane has disaffiliated from the chain and struck out on their own as Leo's Deli.

As nearly as I can tell from looking at the google reviews, this happened sometime around February 2024.

Substation II was the follow-on operation in this storefront to Jimmy John's, and opened in 2019. I know that going there would be an issue for me because of parking, but I'm not a student without a car. Then of course there was the pandemic, which can't have helped. For whatever reason though, this storefront is now again vacant.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry).

UPDATE 14 June 2024: Update title & tags.

I never ate at this Sub Station II. In fact I've only eaten at the chain twice that I can recall. I find that Jimmy Johns is my go-to sub place these days (unless I'm on the coast when it is Dagwood's). I'm not sure exactly when this place closed. They did post a new picture on their Facebook page on 10 December 2019, and a commenter there notes that as of 9 January 2020 they were closed, so I'm going with "December 2019.

What I find kind of ironic is that I have been notified at least three times that neighboring WG's Chicken Wings is closed, and each time I drive out there, I find it chugging along just fine..

(Hat tip to commenter Robert)

UPDATE 31 March 2022: Updating tags.

I noticed this pair of co-located derelict businesses driving US-601 through St. Matthews towards I-26 this Spring.

I wasn't sure at first what the restaurant was, but a close look at the menu board pretty well pins it down to a Sub Station II.

I can't think of any obvious reason why both businesses in this building would have failed at what seems to be more or less the same time. While the restaurant market is fickle, laundromats are places where you must go. I'm guessing early 2000s for the timeframe here, but the building does seem rather enthusiastically vine encrusted, and if the realtor posting the sign does succeed in selling the place, I doubt there's much that can be done beyond knocking the place down and starting over.

UPDATE 31 March 2022: Updating tags. I can't add a map icon because I have no idea where this was now.

UPDATE 1 April 2022: Commenter Andrew has located this place on Google maps (it was apparently still standing in 2018), and following his lead, I come up with the address of this place as (probably) 181 Harry C Raysor Drive, St. Matthews SC 29135. With that, I am able to make a map icon. Also, I will put that in the post title. Harry C Raysor Drive is the local name for US-601.

I only ate at Duke Sandwich Company, on Forest Drive between Lizard's Thicket and Zesto, once. Frankly, I didn't think it was very good. This was due to several factors. First of all, I have certain expectations from anything calling itself a "sandwich company" and those weren't fufilled. I went in thinking I would probably get some sort of chese sub, maybe with some bacon or salami, and I found the menu almost entirely made up of "spread" type sandwiches that I had no desire to eat. I suppose the name should have tipped me off, but the only "Duke" product I know of was mayonaise, which I figured was ok for a "name" draw, but was not going to figure in the majority of sandwiches. Anyway, the fact was the menu was not at all to my taste, and I ended up with a grilled-chese sandwich which was pretty much processed-american-cheese-food between two slices of Sunbeam.

Second, I drink a lot of tea, and the store setup was the worst sort for that. "Normally" you either have table service and the waitress keeps you topped off, or you have an ice dispenser and tea urns on the restaurant floor so customers can self-top. The day I was there, at least, they had no urns, one *pitcher* of tea on the restaurant floor and no ice machines. That meant that every time I wanted an unsweet refill or ice, I had to go to the counter, which was very annoying. Also, if I recall correctly, my table turned out to be a "wobbler" that sloshed my drink a couple of times before I adjusted.

Anyway, that's a "Ted" centric apprasial (which is all I have..), if you liked deviled-egg sandwiches, perhaps this was your favorite place. In the event, I never went back. I hadn't known the place was closed until AJ mentioned it in "Have Your Say". I don't think it was open more than a year or two.

It looks like the next tenant for the building is already lined up, "Yummy Good -- Fresh Food With A Hip Attitude". I wish them well, as the building has been somewhat ill-starred since it was a Sub Station II and there was a murder there.

UPDATE 4 Feb 2010: Well, looks like Yummy Good won't be moving in, but you can still lease the building.

(Hat tip to commenter AJ)

UPDATE 7 March 2011 -- Look's like it will be Tokyo Grill:
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UPDATE 3 September 2011 -- Tokyo Grill is open:

UPDATE 32 March 2022: Updating tags and adding map icon.