Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Pretty much placeholder pictures, as I just did a drive-by when I should have stopped, but this Waffle House is apparently undergoing the same upfit as a number of other midlands locations. It should be back in a few months, still looking like a Waffle House...

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

For a long time, it was not clear if this restaurant was closing or not. I believe they were trying to direct traffic to their other location, in the old Ruby Tuesday building at Dutch Square, but were keeping this one, in a former Wendy's, open too for a while.

In the event, it is now definitely closed, and for sale, and you should head to Bush River Road for your down-home fix.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie & co)

Sumter based Willie Sue's was the follow-on in this building to breastaurant The Tilted Kilt, which was the follow-on to Huller's Black Forest, which was the follow-on to Sticky Fingers, which was, I believe, the first tenant.

These pictures were taken on the closing day, 18 September 2022, and I have to say they went out with a bang, as the parking lot was quite active.

Their Facebook announcement simply cites "circumstances beyond our control", and the story at The State doesn't really give any more information.

(Hat tip to commenter Ellen)

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Moms On Main was the follow-up in this storefront to the relocated Al-Amir, though the building is probably still best remembered for The Elite Epicurean.

An article in ColaDaily pegged Moms to open around New Years of 2020, and I suppose it did, though unfortunately I never got around to going there.

The article quotes some reactions to the forthcoming opening,and I have to show one as it turned out to be so sadly, and badly, wrong for all of us:

“Calling it now, 2020 is going to be a great year for Columbia! I can’t wait to try this spot!!” –@theoverflowfoodblog

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

Judging by reviews, this Fatz may have been closed on a temporary basis since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, but now they have made it permanent.

To the best of my memory, this location is the only Fatz at which I have eaten. It would have been while I was living out of town, in the late 1980s, or early 1990s I think, and I was not impressed. I remember distinctly thinking something like Secret Sauce?: Mayo!

Now, I may have come on the wrong night, or ordered the wrong thing, because the Yelp reviews of the three Fatz locations I have looked at (this one, the one on Broad River Road and the one in Conway) show plenty of people who used to love the chain. They also show a recent precipitous decline in perceived food quality, service levels and physical plant maintainence. I just guessing here, but there seems to be a viscious circle going on with declining income leading to a decline in the things that bring in income. (By the way, what's up with both Yelp and Google showing reviews in other than newest first order? The recent ones are kind of the most important!)

It will be interesting to see what happens to this location, because while it is at an Interstate exit, it really isn't that easy to get to.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 25 May 2021 -- This spot is now setting up to be another crab restaurant, The Juicy Crab:

UPDATE 13 September 2021 -- The Juicy Crab is now open in this spot:

I admit to having been completely underwhelmed the two (I believe) times I visited a Fatz. In theory I wanted to like a local chain made good, but in the event I just was not impressed. This location, on Broad River Road past Lake Murray Boulevard, was not one I had been to, though I was aware it was there. As commenter Heath (who provided some of these pictures, including the one showing that the power meter has been pulled) noted, there was no sign on the door, or any indication that the store was closed except for a makeshift barricade at the front, and the total lack of cars.

On the side of the lot there is a real estate sign, but it appears to pertain to the property behind Fatz, and as commenter Tom notes, the Fatz web site still lists this location, so I am not sure what is going on.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath for heads-up & pix)

UPDATE 31 August 2020: Update tags.

It appears that the Broad River Road Lizard's Thicket is the latest location of the chain to undergo renovations. I noticed that it was closed coming up Dutch Square Boulevard this last weekend.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the Sunset Boulevard location may be the next closest.

According to The State, God's Blessing Cafe opened in early July 2018, serving classic Southern fare. This location is next to the former Jefferson Square Theater and is in the spot previously occupied by The Lunch Box, Palmetto Grille and Cavanaugh's Deli.

For me, this seems a tough spot to run a restaurant because parking issues will keep all but the local office crowd away. On the other hand, you could say the same about a number of Main Street lunch venues. Maybe it's just a bit too far North.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

Well, here's a bit of synchronicity. Friday 24 August 2018 was the first time I had ever happened to be in West Columbia, near JackSon's Southern Kitchen at (my) lunch time, so I decided I would finally check the place out.

Pulling in, it seemed to be dark, and there was a sign taped to the door, so I was going to get out and look at it, but then I noticed that the lunch hours during the week were only until 2:30, and it was 3:00, so I figured I had just missed it and drove on. I got home that evening, and people were already posting in Have Your Say that the place had closed down due to legal woes.

Here's the story from WIS (For some reason, they seem to have trimmed most of the text that was originally there).

You may recall that JackSon's started in Richland Mall and moved to Sunset Boulevard in 2016

UPDATE 4 May 2021 -- As reported by commenter Barbara reports, this storefront is undergoing a major upfit. Unfortunately, the construction sign is singularly unhelpful in telling what is to come:

Also adding a map icon.