Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This Hardees on US-1 in Batesburg-Leesville apparently closed sometime in 2017. I see some reports that it moved to a new location, but not where that actually is. As of three or four years later, there is still no new tenant. The glassed in dining area on the west side (right side in these pictures) is interesting as I don't recall that from Hardees. It looks like it could be very nice or way too bright depending on the time of day and season.

I like the idea of breakfast, and the foods of breakfast. I just don't like the *time* of breakfast, so I never got to the Famous Toastery on Sparkleberry. This place was the follow-on operation to McAlister's Deli, which moved kind of around the corner and down to front onto Two Notch.

The State records the place as having opened on 20 January 2017, so they had a run of about two and a half years. If I can detect a trend in the Yelp reviews it would be that the place may have been struggling a bit towards the end.

The State also reported that the downtown location which was supposed to open last year in the Main Street Atlanta Bread location was cancelled.

I wonder if the Spring Valley High School morning traffic was a factor here? The location doesn't seem that bad to me (though Carrabba's would beg to differ), but I don't go by when school is starting or letting out.

(Hat tip to commenter Bobby)

UPDATE 1 September 2021 -- Now Allena's Southern Kitchen:

Well, this is, I don't know, not ironic exactly, but a little odd: I was on the 700 block of Gervais Street today, getting pictures of Newk's & Tin Lizzy, and when I got home, I saw on The State that Le Peep had closed Wednesday.

While I was down there, I looked at the place several times, but somehow did not notice any sign on the door, and didn't take any pictures. The picture above, from the grand opening, will have to do until I get down there again.

I like breakfast food, but rarely get to have it as I do *not* like early mornings. One day I may get to try Le Peep at Sandhill, Famous Toastery or Eggs Up, but it will probably be a while.

This small Southern breakfast and lunch restaurant opened in April of 2013 as an extension of the original West Columbia location. Given the location and the fact that I rarely make it up in time for breakfast when I'm on my own schedule, I never had an opportunity to stop by though I do hanker for grits every now and then.

According to the linked article, Compton's replaced another breakfast oriented place, so it will be interesting to see if that trend continues with the next tenant.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

It hardly seems possible to me that Le Peep was at Sandhill for the five years that their closing letter claims, but looking back I see that in fact The Italian Pie closed in the fall of 2008.

I'm not a morning person by nature, and Le Peep closed at 2pm, so I never got a chance to check it out, but it seems to have been a well regarded breakfast spot. The door letter implies that the space remains under the same ownership and that something new may be forthcoming. In the meantime, the chain just opened a location on Gervais Street in the old Mezza space.

I have to say posting a listing of all the other Sandhill restaurants is a classy touch.

(Hat tip to commenter JB)

UPDATE 24 January 2014 This story from The State makes it clear that this Le Peep was moved to the Vista, rather than the Vista operation being a new one, so I have updated the post title to add "(moved)":

UPDATE 19 Aug 2014 -- This location is up and running again. Not sure what the story is, but good!

When the original Biscuit House on Bluff road closed, there was an announcement that someone had bought the brand rights so as to open new Biscuit House locations inside convenience stores, much as Subway and Blimpie do. I believe that this one, in a Corner Pantry at the corner of Garners Ferry Road and Lower Richland Boulevard was the first such, and it opened sometime after March 2012. Somewhere, I have a picture of this location in operation, but can't put my hands on it right now. At any rate, as far as I know, this just leaves one other, in Irmo, from this initial roll-out.

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

UPDDATE 8 October 2013: As promised, I have found and added the pix of the place in operation.

As I've said here before, we used to eat at Shoney's all the time when I was growing up, and when they were still affiliated with the Big Boy brand. The Hot Fudge Cake was always a special treat, and there were free comic books for us kids. The chain lost its way sometime in the 80s, dropping Big Boy and trying to branch out into areas they knew nothing about, like running motels..

The Columbia stores gradually started closing, with Beltline, Charleston Highway, Forest Drive and Two Notch all gone by the time I moved back to town.

This location, across from the old Kmart has seemingly been in trouble for years, as they stopped serving dinner and were open only for breakfast and lunch. As the marquee farewell message mentions, the two stores left are the Garners Ferry and Airport Boulevard locations. I haven't been in the Airport store for 20 years or so, but I've been to the Garners Ferry location several times recently, and find it rather neutral -- neither particularly good nor particularly bad. As commenter Andrew has posted, the chain has now hired a turnaround CEO to try and get the brand back on track. I wish them well, and suggest trying to make up with Bob..

UPDATE 18 September 2013 -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this place is leased, and is to become a Cook Out>

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 19 April 2016 -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, here is the excavator on the Shoney's lot:

UPDATE 10 May 2016: Some pix of the cleared lot(s) through traffic:

UPDATE 17 May 2016 -- A couple more pix of the vacant lot, though still not very good ones:

UPDATE 28 June 2016 -- Construction on the Cookout continues:

UPDATE 10 July 2016 -- Siding up now..

UPDATE 10 September 2020: Update tags, add map icon.

The first closing I did for this building was when it was Mary Ella's -- Well, actually most of that closing came from commenter Dennis, as does the first picture above.

Cafe Millwood opened in the space shortly after Mary Ella's departed and was having a grand opening by February 2010. Curiously, the pictures on their still extant web site are all dated 2007, which is not possible, so apparently the camera clock/calendar was not set correctly. Along with the pictures, the site has copies of the menus and some background on the cafe.

It's pretty easy to approximately date the closing by looking at the newspapers in the inside racks. In particular, the copy of the Columbia Star with the story about the beauty queen who is promoting Harvest Hope food bank ran on 28 October 2011, and was apparently the last issue to be racked. There is no sign or indication on the door or elsewhere giving a formal closing notice, but the phone is disconnected, so I'm fairly sure this is permanent.

UPDATE 15 February 2012 -- Apparently it's to be Old Shandon Pub & Pizza and will have a beer or liquor license.

(Hat tip to commenter Mary Douglass)

UPDATE 21 May 2012 -- Apparently the Old Shandon Pub & Pizza is not going to come to fruition. There were no signs of interior work for a long time, then a "For Rent" sign went back up. The sign is still there, though it seems to have fallen down:

I've always thought of Huddle House as a downmarket Waffle House, which is saying something, but it almost seems like the way Hardee's and Bantam Chef used to be related -- you saw the second in places that couldn't support the first. I'm pretty sure I've been in a Huddle at one time or another, but I have absolutely no reliable memory of such an occasion right now. I am sure I was never in this one which sits at the intersection of Rosewood Drive and Kilbourne Road.

The LoopNet listing suggests that the follow-on operation, one of Columbia's ubiquitous (but not apparently very lucrative) title pawn operations, has been closed at least since mid October 2010.

UPDATE 12 April 2012 -- It's now a Marco's Pizza:

There were two problems with my ever visiting Biscuit House on Bluff Road behind the stadium: A) It was way on the other side of town and B) That whole waking up before absolutely necessary breakfast thing.

Of course, lots of other people don't have those problems, and the Biscuit House apparently developed quite a reputation over the years. In fact, there was a spate of newspaper articles when its closing was announced, and even a video documentary.

In the end, the problem was the same as for the Farmers' Market: USC bought up all the land for football parking. The good news is that apparently the Biscuit House recipies will live on in franchaised kiosks in local convenience stores.

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