Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Honestly, I had good intentions about The Whig. There was plenty of notice given that it was going to close, and I was determined to visit it at least once before it did. In the event, as usual, good intentions did not a solid plan make, and I never got around to it.

The first time this underground space in the basement of Columbia's oldest skyscraper caught my eye was when it had the oddly compelling name The Frog & Brassiere, two things that don't usually go together. The Whig opened in 2005, and lasted 17 years until ongoing renovations to make the host building a hotel, and plans for a basement hotel bar as part of that resulted in the lease not being renewed.

You can read about it in The State and The Post & Courier

When we were growing up, I got the feeling my parents thought paying someone else to wash your car was a bit frivolous. They weren't wrong, but we still went to Constan from time to time, as much, I think, because it was an adventure for us kids as for any other reason. There was Happy The Tiger, and then the whole experience of watching your car go through the automated line, like something out of a futuristic TV show. Not only that, but once you were inside, the lobby had its own odd ambiance with a genuine elevated shoe-shine stand on which you could sit like a king on a throne, and various sorts of ice-cream novelties and candy you could get if your parents were in a good mood.

I don't know that much about the business other than the name came from combining that of the two owners "Connie & Stan", and that they once had a second location on Forest Drive, somewhere around where McAlister's & Bonefish now are.

Once I had a car, I would sometimes take it to Constan when I was back in town for the weekend, but once I moved back to Columbia, I found that Frank's on Forest Drive was more convenient to me. I thought from time to time about going back to Constan for old times' sake, but in the event never got around to it. Folks in the comments are saying that it had gone down hill, but it had been at least ten years since I stopped by, so I really can't say.

Here is the story The State did on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

I'm afraid this is yet another place I never got around to eating at, despite the fact, according to they closing sign, they were here ten years. They were pretty quick to get the butcher paper up too -- I really was unable to see inside the place at all.

Here is a ColaDaily article on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Ellen)

This closing is a bit surprising. I know this Starbucks doesn't have a drive-through, but I thought that there was plenty of foot traffic in The Vista especially during the Holiday Season. On the other hand, Google has marked the place as "temporarily closed", and the branding and furnishings are not gone. On the third hand, the door has a real-estate type keybox on it now.

Anyway, at least for now, you'll have to walk up a block to Panera.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

I somehow managed to get pictures of all sides of this building during a May walk-through of the Vista -- all sides *except* for the actual front view of the Vista Nutrition storefront. I'll try to fill that in later. Anyway, Vista Nutrition opened in January of 2021 to serve a variety of healthy shakes, teas & smoothies.

ColaDaily has two stories, one on the store's opening, and another on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

UPDATE 12 October 2021 -- Here are some (so so) pictures of the front side of the building:

Ristorante Divino left their location at 803 Gervais Street in mid-2020, to move next door to the Dupre Building at 807 Gervais street (which you can see fully in the last shot). As part of that move, the owners rebranded the restaurant as Di Vino Rosso. WLTX has the here.

It was certainly an audacious time to move a restaurant, but it seems to have worked out.

Here's another place that came and went without my being aware of it at all.

According to The State, Black Bean Co. was a charleston based mini-chain which

specialize[d] in healthier versions of sandwiches and salads and bowls.

They were bought out by another Charleston chain gogogreens, which rebranded the Charleston store and closed the Columbia location. For some reason after three years, they don't seem to have either sold the location or done anything with it.

17 June 2022: Updating map icon, adding a few pictures from the grand opening:

Another casualty of Covid-19, World of Beer closed their Vista location on 16 November according to The Free Times. Hopefully there is some light on the horizon, as this can't go on much longer.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf & then commenter Dustin)

UPDATE 8 December 2020: Add missed hat tip to Lone Wolf

I noticed today that the Marble Slab in The Vista is closed. The last reviews are from four months ago, so it's pretty clearly another COVID-19 story.

I do think the window sign is a bit misleading. While I'm glad to hear the Woodhill location is open, I suspect the wording has made more than a few people driving by, park and then be disappointed on walking up to the door.

UPDATE 28 June 2022: This place is now closed for good. I need to get some updated pictures.

UPDATE 3 February 2023 -- Here is a picture. The signage is still up for some reason:

Sabor Latin Steet Grill was the follow-on operation to breakfast & lunch spot Le Peep which closed in April of 2019. Sabor opened in July of 2019, as reported in ColaDaily, giving it a run of something less than a year.

Although the pictured Family Box seems to hew towards standard Mexican items, my understanding is that Sabor had a fuller menu with items from other Southern countries, and I had it on my mental list to eventually visit. Unfortunately, the restaurant was caught up in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and was not able to last from its 21 March 2020 temporary closing into the coming (hopefully!) full reopening period. The Free Times has that story:

The Vista location of Sabor Latin Street Grill, a fast-casual restaurant chain out of Charlotte, closed late last month amid the coronavirus’ impact on area restaurants.

Mark Gardner, former general manager with the restaurant, confirmed to Free Times that the restaurant closed on March 21, and that the closure is now permanent. The restaurant had employed 22 workers.

“COVID-19 … just hurt sales too much,” Gardner explains.

Numerous restaurants throughout the area have grappled with takeout-only offerings since Gov. Henry McMaster closed South Carolina restaurant dining rooms on March 17 in an effort to enforce social distancing. Gardner says the Columbia Sabor gave takeout a shot, but it wasn’t successful enough to justify continuing.

“We tried that the first week, but the sales just weren’t there,” he says.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)