Columbia Closings   What’s not in Columbia anymore

The Blue Martini was tucked away down an alley off of Lady Street, and I was totally unaware that it existed. In fact, when I first saw the news from commenter Summer, I read it as The Blue Marlin, and maintained that mistaken impression through what was for me a confusing article in The State. I had never suspected The Blue Marlin was a jazz club! :-)

The space is not vacant though. Legendary Columbia DJ Woody Windham has opened a new club called, naturally enough I suppose, The Woody in the spot. It certainly is a more intimate venu than one of his other ventures..

(Hat tip to commenter Summer)

I never made it to The Sly Fox which is a shame, because they had "poutaine" on the menu -- something I've wanted to try ever since hearing of it. My understanding is that it is basically french-fries covered with cheese-curds and gravy. The menu on The Sly Fox's web site (already off-line) specified that it was "squeaky" cheese curds too. According to what I've heard about cheese curds, they only squeak when there are fresh, basically only on the first day after, um, curding. This makes me wonder where they could have been getting the curds, as I'm not aware of any local cheese makers, and have never seen cheese curds for sale in Columbia.

Commenter Barb reports The Sly Fox was closed as of 4 Jan. I went by a couple of times this week, and there seemed to be a crew carting stuff out of the place. As you can see, the interior is pretty bare now, and the sign on the east side is down (though the one on the west is still up). The place is pretty much right across the street from Damon's and Paul's, so there is a good bit of vacant restaurant space in the area now.

(Hat tip to commenter Barb)

UPDATE 26 Jan 2011 -- Based on the comments I have added Scott Brothers & Palmetto's. Here is the Feb 97-Feb 98 Bellsouth Yellow Pages ad for Scott Brothers:

UPDATE 27 Jan 2011 -- It turns out I had some pictures of the MacDougall's incarnation as well:

Here's another closing in The Vista, this one right on the main Gervais corridor.

I find it a little curious that they are closing on the Wednesday right before Thanksgiving rather than staying open through Black Friday, but I suppose that if you've already planned to close, there's no point in ruining your Thanksgiving to be ready for one more day.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry. Looking at his comment again, it appears that the original plan was in fact to go through Black Friday and into December..)

I noticed this building a few weeks back as I was coming out of the USC credit union on Pulaski Street. You can see a smallish picture with the Harrison sign still up in this Loopnet listing. It also notes that the facade is stucco.

This Allpages listing says the firm was in the "Hydraulic Equipment & Supplies, Hydraulic Equipment Repair & Service, Tools & Hardware Supplies" business.

Finally, this listing includes an aerial shot, and notes that the property is

located in the heart of the Innovista Master Plan

which to me at this point is rather like saying it is located convenient to Hard Rock Park..

Commenter O'Reilly first mentioned that the Bull Market( in the old Seaboard Station on Gervais street) was closed back on 10 July 2010.

I snapped the two pictures above on 11 July when I went to take a look. At the time, I took the note at face value and concluded that nothing was going on. In retrospect though, as is often the case, the note was rather optimistic.

By the time I got back to take the rest of these pictures on 4 Sept 2010, the place was long gone. You can see that even the lamps flanking the door were taken down.

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Paul's Philadelphia Eatery was on Senate Street in the Vista, in the same building as 5 Guys and The Flying Saucer, right next to the former Alan Ray's Salon, and on the same block as the former Damon's.

Once you get past "Philly Chese-steak", my knowledge of Philly cuisine is a bit thin, and although I do get to Very's on Two Notch once or twice a month, I never managed to make it to Paul's.

I suspect the environment for restaurants in this part of the Vista is a bit mixed. It's not Gervais Street, so you're not going to get the casual passers-by. 5 Guys does well, because people specifically go looking for a 5 Guys.

(Hat tip to commenter Badger)

I've eaten at Damon's a few times, first I believe in Litchfield Beach at The Exchange in a space which is now a church, and later in Augusta. I'm not particularly interested in ribs, but as I recall they had good burgers and some sort of deep-fried onion-loaf. If I'm remembering correctly, the only thing I didn't like about the place was they had little teeny-tiny napkins that were really wash-cloths.

That's Damon's in general -- this particular Damon's I never got to. Given the location, if I was in the area and craving a burger, I would more likely cross the street to 5 Guys.

It is a nice location though, and it looks like they had a patio which would be very pleasant evenings this time of year. According to LoopNet, the building is being sold as a fully kitted out restaurant, and in fact the Damon's franchaise itself appears to be still available for the right offer.

(Hat tip to commenter Steve)

This place is tucked about a building's length off of Gervais Street, and I was completely unaware of it until commenter Mike D mentioned that it might be closed (and commenter Jeff suggested that the building was for sale).

I haven't verified that with 100% certainty as there was no sign on the door, or other indication of defunct-itude. However, when I took these pictures, the place was locked tight and it was a Saturday, and after their posted opening hours, so I'm pretty sure it's gone. (Also, the last events mentioned on the "upcoming" page seem to be Christmas themed).

The web site pitches it as sort of a networking hub for Columbia's upcoming movers & shakers, with a whiskey & cigars subtheme.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike D).

UPDATE 4 June 2010: Updated closing date in post title to "May" based on comments.

UPDATE 19 Nov 2010 -- Looks like the place is open again. They have events scheduled during Vista Lights:

UPDATE 28 March 2011: Apparently it's not actually open to the general public again yet.

UPDATE 19 October 2011: Ok, now they definitely are open again. The new web site is www.RustColumbia.com.

Here's another nice, but empty, brick building in the Vista. Judging from the poster in the foyer, Charlton Hall moved in 2007 (when 24 March last fell on a Saturday), and is now at 7 Lexington Drive in West Columbia.

I'm not wild about the floors, but the interior brick walls are very nice. Hopefully something will go in here soon. Loopnet says the building will be divided into three spaces for retail or restaurants.

UPDATE 9 June 2012-- This space is still empty!

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