Downtown Columbia's Restaurant Map Changed This Summer. Here's Where to Eat Now, and What's Coming to Main and Washington

A 1970s-era office tower sits at the corner of Main and Washington streets. Behind it is a parking garage with storefronts along the bottom. Until July, one of those storefronts was a sushi bar at 1332 Assembly Street that had been open for almost 42 years. Camon Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar served its last meal on Saturday, July 18. The building had been sold to a hotel developer, and the $2.9 million deal covered the Washington Street garage and its ground-floor shops.

Two weeks later, Sky Bistro Lounge closed at 1120 Washington Street for the same reason. SakiTumi then closed on Gervais Street in September. The Post and Courier's headline called it the third downtown sushi restaurant lost in three months.

Taken one at a time, those headlines make downtown dining look like it's shrinking. Sorted by cause, they tell a narrower story. Most of downtown Columbia's summer closures came from two places: one property deal on Washington Street, and chain restaurants cutting locations. Over the same months, local operators moved into spaces other restaurants had left. If you eat downtown a few times a week, this is the map as it stands in October 2026.

The block that set off the summer

The buyer is The Kessler Enterprise. Its Kessler Collection plans a four-star Grand Bohemian Hotel Columbia, with dining, a spa, gallery space, a ballroom, event space and retail. The city has called it an estimated $70 million redevelopment. The hotel would reuse the Washington Square office building at 1136 Washington Street. The project also takes in the Washington Plaza garage and the retail at 1112 Washington Street. City project details list the office building at 90,402 square feet. They also call for a modernized parking deck of about 450 spaces.

Here is how the deal moved from the city's announcement to empty storefronts:

1. December 2025. The city announced the partnership and gave the sale first reading. The State reported the city would return about $400,000 to Kessler for building upgrades.
2. January 6, 2026. City Council took its second and final vote on the sale. The State reported that a December term sheet outlined a possible tax abatement of up to 50% for 10 years, plus city-paid garage renovations.
3. July 18, 2026. Camon closed. Staff said the restaurant was looking for a new location.
4. August 2, 2026. Sky Bistro Lounge closed after four years and said it looked forward to a "next chapter." As of early October, its website teaser reads "New Chapter Loading... Stay Tuned" and gives no new address.

The State reported that the sale terms give Kessler two years from the final sale to start construction. That is a deadline for starting work. No published report so far confirms that construction has begun, and no opening date has been announced. For now, the corner of Main and Washington is between uses. The hotel crowd it's designed for hasn't arrived, and the lunch spots that used to be there are gone.

Sorting the rest of the closures by cause

The other downtown closures this summer split into a few clear groups.

Hickory Tavern's Vista location was one of four the company closed, and three of the others were in North Carolina. Artistry Restaurants said it was putting resources toward the locations "best positioned for long-term success" and kept 16 restaurants across the two Carolinas. TakoSushi's closing left the chain with seven locations in South Carolina and Georgia. Both decisions were made at the chain level, about portfolios that stretch well past the Vista.

Hampton Place Cafe is the loss downtown lunch regulars will feel most. It opened in 1990 and served sandwiches and salads to office workers and students. It was also the second sandwich shop to close on or near Main Street in 2026, after Sub Station II closed in February.

As of early October, no replacement tenants have been announced for the former SakiTumi, Hickory Tavern, TakoSushi or Hampton Place Cafe spaces. That only means nothing has been published yet. It doesn't mean the spaces will stay empty.

Who moved in while the closures made headlines

The openings got less attention. They share a pattern: smaller, locally run businesses taking over rooms that other restaurants had already used.

• Asian Kitchen, 1208 Laurel St. Opened in late June in the former Casserole 2 Go space. The menu has hibachi, pho and bubble tea, along with wings, Philly cheesesteaks and chicken tenders.
• Bakehouse and Cafe by Farmers Market Xchange, 1237 Washington St. Neset Hikmet and his son Ali moved from their larger Farmers Market Xchange location to focus on handmade bread, coffee and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch, with about six tables. M Fresh and The Strudel Shop both had this address before them. It's on the same street as the hotel block, and it covers the kind of quick weekday meal that Hampton Place Cafe used to.
• M Vista, 530 Lady St. After 19 years at 701 Lady St., owner Michelle Wang moved the restaurant into the former M Grille space and reopened July 6. The new menu leans toward anti-inflammatory, health-conscious dishes and keeps the popular staples. The new location adds an open kitchen, a full bar and an event space next door.
• Aura Kitchen & Bar, Gervais St. City leaders and the Vista Guild held a ribbon-cutting this summer. Owner Ramy Singh serves Pan-American fusion that draws on Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Korean flavors. Butter chicken and orange chicken are both on the menu.
• Fire King Pizza, 1840 Hampton St. Tony Harrell and Jeremy Belton rebranded their former Best Wings of Columbia and renovated the old Drake's Duck-In space. They serve hand-stretched pizza, sirloin cheesesteaks and a lunch buffet with unlimited salad and wings from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The grand opening was July 10.
• Melrose Market, 2710 Gervais St. This one is farther out Gervais. It pairs a modern American brasserie, with entrées from $12 to $25, natural wines and cocktails, with a small retail market selling beer, wine, snacks and gifts. The Post and Courier reported a June 30 opening. The city held its grand-opening event on July 22.

Four of these six moved into spaces previous restaurants had left, and M Vista moved down its own street. That's what downtown turnover looked like this summer: the spaces stayed in use under new operators.

The October list, with Restaurant Week on top

Restaurant Week Midlands runs October 8 through 18, 2026. On the official site, the Downtown Columbia filter lists 929 Kitchen & Bar, Blue Marlin, Bourbon, Grill Marks, Halls Chophouse, Hampton Street Vineyard, Hanabi Hibachi & Sushi, MOA Korean BBQ & Bar, Playa Bowls near USC, Prohibition, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Smoked, The Golden Spur, The Melting Pot and Za's Brick Oven Pizza. The Vista filter lists The Dragon Room. Participating restaurants offer specials, featured menu items or multi-course options, and the details vary by restaurant.

Downtown's fixed points are still in place. Soda City Market sets up on Main Street every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, with more than 200 vendors. If your weekend plans cross Elmwood Avenue toward BullStreet, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams opens there on Thursday, October 22. It will sit steps from the new Coastal Crust pizza restaurant and across the lawn from Gather COLA.

What to watch at Main and Washington

The Kessler deal set off two of this summer's closures. It is also the source of the biggest change ahead. Plans for a Grand Bohemian with dining, a spa, a ballroom and ground-floor retail would bring a new kind of daytime and evening traffic to the corner of Main and Washington. The rebuilt garage of about 450 spaces would serve the same block. The next news to look for is a construction start. After that, watch for word on whether Camon or Sky Bistro announces a new address somewhere downtown.

At 1237 Washington, Bakehouse and Cafe is already open on that street, a few doors from the planned hotel and well ahead of it.

Wondering what a luxury hotel at Main and Washington could mean for your own corner of Columbia? That's exactly the kind of local question I love digging into with neighbors. Hannah Norman follows every ribbon-cutting and council vote downtown. Let's connect, and you can get your free home valuation with the newest changes on your block factored in.