Touch of India, 14 Diamond Lane (Intersection Center) / 1321 Garner Lane: 2008 (moved) / 14 March 2010 5 comments
At one time, the side of the lower Intersection Center strip mall that faced Service Merchandise was something of an Indian complex, with a grocery, a clothing store and the Touch of India restaurant. I'm guessing that there was probably common ownership involved, but I don't really know.
Touch of India is the one Indian restaurant in Columbia that I haven't eaten at yet (though the one across form the Bush River Wal-Mart has changed ownership at least twice since I stopped there, so perhaps I shouldn't count it anymore). I always meant to stop, but the place was tucked away out of sight and mind and I never got around to it. They re-located last year out of the dying Intersection Center and onto Garner Lane, the hotel access road at the I-20 on-ramp off of Broad River Road. I've driven by the location a few times, and actually stopped by once when it happened not to be open. The new location looks a lot better, but they've traded an unattractive location for one that's hard to get to, at least if you're coming from Forest Acres. Still I'm going to make it eventually.
UPDATE 13 September 2009: Finally got some pictures of their new location at 1321 Garner Lane, #C:
UPDATE 15 March 2010:
Well, I finally did make it to Touch of India a few months ago. The menu was quite a bit different from The Delhi Palace where I usually go (or did before they moved). I thought the dosa (if I have that right -- the pancake-like things) were pretty good.
Unfortunately, they closed shop on Sunday the 14th. Eva's story in the Free-Times says business was down, and in my opinion, the location can not have helped there -- As I said in my original post above, Garner Lane is just hard to get to, and some people simply aren't going to "go against" Interstate on-ramp traffic.
UPDATE 16 May 2010: Added the full street address for the original location, tags.
UPDATE 20 May 2011 -- The place is now a strip club. More pictures later, but here is the start of the facade change:
UPDATE 22 January 2020: Add map icon (for Intersection Center location) and update tags.
5 Responses to 'Touch of India, 14 Diamond Lane (Intersection Center) / 1321 Garner Lane: 2008 (moved) / 14 March 2010'
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Dave
20 Feb 09 at 12:51 am
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I'm simply gutted about this. The food was, hands-down, the best Indian food I've ever eaten, and Devi and her whole family were some of the nicest people you could ever meet.
Jim
15 Mar 10 at 11:03 am
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I know the real reason this place shut down. The friendly appearance of the matriarch Devi and the Raju family was only an illusion. The reality was Devi treated her employees badly which caused poor morale. Leaving one location in the hands of her son was a disaster because he ran it into the ground pretty quickly. She ended up having to sell the whole thing there in 2010 to finance her son's divorce and custody battle(which he lost) as well as to pay for his rehab.
I'm sorry the poster above was conned by that woman.
Disgruntled
14 Sep 11 at 10:34 pm
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You're right the truth about Touch of India is that ended very badly. It is true the food was good but in reality the service was poor and their particular style of serving is almost always unacceptable in the entire restaurant industry.
The real cold hard reality is the restaurant was facing numerous violations of food and personal safety. Devi's son Ramesh had the divorce and would come in, cook and yes serve while intoxicated!! It was no wonder why they had to close.
Shasta
27 Sep 11 at 4:50 pm
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Surprised to see people still talking about this. The house of cards did truly fall and not a moment too soon. Despite its initial glowing reviews eventually poor customer service and loads of food safety violations from DHEC got it shut down. Well there was also something about fraud, a bad safety deposit check, and allegations of behind the scenes cocaine smuggling but I try not to gossip too much. :)
Eunice
28 Sep 11 at 10:38 pm
Definitely go there sometimes. It is by far the best Indian restaurant in town.
They also have a Touch of India Express downtown which is only open for lunch.