Columbia's River Rat Brewery was named the top brewery in South Carolina at an international competition where at least four of the state’s other breweries competed, the brewery announced on Tuesday.
“If you graduated high school after 2017 don’t even try to get into Cotton Gin,” reads a June 24 tweet from the Five Points bar's Twitter account.
$7. 1001 Senate St. #300. 803-569-6881. kaothaicola.com.
$4.50 for a can at WECO Bottle and Biergarten. 8.2 percent ABV.
Frederick Richardson lives and breathes pinball. He currently ranks as the No. 108 player in the world per the International Flipper Pinball A…
After being laid off from her gig at a car dealership due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Elizabeth Navarro took a summer drive. She spotted a prope…
In March, Free Times reported that the ownership group behind Lexington’s O’Hara’s Public House had purchased the nearby Haven Coffee House. T…
Gov. Henry McMaster fully lifted restrictions on restaurants — and issued guidelines for limited capacity — in May, but restaurants across the state are facing tens of thousands of dollars or more in losses even after getting forgivable federal loans to meet payroll. Those costs have been exacerbated as many restaurants have temporarily closed again when employees test positive for the virus.
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40 percent ABV. $60 per bottle. 947 South Stadium Rd., BAY #3. 803-764-6839. crouchdistilling.com.
Managing Editor for Free Times
$11. 803-851-5965. coaagaveria.com.
One of Main Street’s perennial restaurants is changing hands.
Soda City Market announced its June 27 return last week. It wasn’t good timing.
Crouch Distilling, Columbia's lone craft distillery, announced in a June 8 Instagram post that it is closing at the end of the month.
Need to learn how to make a classic cocktail or carbonara? Bourbon and Black Rooster's Kristian Niemi has a video for it. Looking for his reop…
$22.95. 1701 Percival Rd. 803-569 6244.
5.2 percent ABV. $13.99 for a 12-pack at Green’s.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants that reopen don’t always stay open.
Main Street’s long-awaited arcade bar and smoked meat emporium is ramping up to opening fully.
As South Carolina’s COVID cases continue to hit record numbers on an almost daily basis, one of Columbia’s staple weekend activities, the Soda…
It’s graduation day in Ridge Spring, and chef Brandon Velie tells Free Times that the scene is a good example of where his restaurant is right now.
$6.50. 925 Sumter St. 803-799-6676. carolinacafeandcatering.com.
$4. 2123 Augusta Rd., West Columbia. 803-321-2607.
Make that a short stack. Two Columbia-area IHOP locations are closed — one permanently.
Sunshine Cobb counts herself and her business lucky.
The front windows at The Aristocrat look a little different these days. Signs and messages that proclaim phrases like “Black Lives Matter!” an…
The longtime "Gamecock Bi-Lo" is one of four stores in Columbia to be sold to Food Lion.
The longtime "Gamecock Bi-Lo" is one of four stores in Columbia to be sold to Food Lion.
There’s a new steakhouse in Lexington — with the previous tenant’s chef still involved in the new restaurant brand.
$14.30. 215 O’Neil Ct. 803-708-8481.
5 percent ABV. $12 for a six-pack at the brewery. 520 Greene St. 803-799-6027. columbiacraft.com.
A week into reopening Art Bar, co-owner Andy Rodgers says things are going well at the left-of-center Vista hangout.
Take me out to the ball game — for a full-service restaurant?
$12.95. 1531 Richland St. spottedsalamandercatering.com.
Many aspects of normal summer enjoyment are disrupted right now. And it’s unclear when exactly we might get all the way back to famously hot b…
Managing Editor for Free Times
Most summers, assuming the city’s vaunted heat hasn’t set in yet, Columbians would be racing to hit restaurants and spend time on their patios.
It is with great shame that I admit that it was only in recent years that I came to know that May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Cr…
Vista Italian restaurant Ristorante Divino will get some new digs in September, a new name to boot. Co-owner Brad Spehl tells Free Times that …
Michelle Wang, co-owner of the Midlands-based Miyo’s and other M restaurants, has come under fire on social media recently. The outcry was lar…
$4.75. 1900 Rosewood Dr. 803-977-3356.
To Robbie Robinson, barbecue is an art, an art he needs the highest quality meat to create.
2020 was expected to be a difficult year for craft beer due to slowing growth of beer consumption, increased competition from new breweries an…
Free Times has written a lot about how hard South Carolina restaurants have been hit by COVID-19 and its resulting economic slowdown. Gov. Hen…
929 Kitchen and Bar owner Sean Kim says a common topic at dinner with his family is where they will go out to eat once things normalize. He kn…
The Middletons, a prominent Columbia family responsible for much of the recent development on Main Street’s 1600 block, had plans to fill an e…
On May 11, South Carolina restaurants were allowed to reopen for indoor dining for the first time in almost two months. Per Gov. Henry McMaste…
Since the beginning of COVID-19’s emergence on a global level, there have been endless diagrams from scientists and discussions between chefs …
$14.99. 11.5 percent ABV. 724 Saluda Ave. 803-799-3705.
$10. 7971 N Woodrow St., Irmo. 803-602-5353. facebook.com/fireandspiceirmo.
As doors reopen, workers return and interact with the public, and the public interacts with each other, again. It’s a situation that indisputably creates a higher chance of coronavirus continuing to spread. For workers, it creates a crushing dilemma between returning to work or prioritizing their health — and that of the public at large.
The South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association released a set of customer guidelines on Monday morning for those returning to dining in…
Stuck at home like pretty much everyone else, Columbia chefs and bartenders have had ample time to test their craft with homemade concoctions.
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