It was a Monday night at around 6 p.m. when I stumbled out of the cold into the warm, welcoming light of Beezer’s. The sub shop shone like a beacon at the foot of the Horseshoe on Sumter Street. Even before I opened the door, the smell of fresh bread and sub sauce was recognizable. Owner and operator Brandon Coomey was in the kitchen, calling out orders to be filled in 30 seconds or less. I ordered a Cattleman’s Classic, received my sandwich and took a seat. Of the six people in line behind me, four ordered Godfathers, had their loyalty cards punched and were out the door again.
When Coomey walked through the kitchen door and sat down across from me, he looked skeptical. But when I told him this was my second consecutive dinner from Beezer’s, he warmed up. When asked why he opened Beezer’s, Coomey said, simply, “Stupidity.”
Coomey has been in the food business since he was 12 years old. As he put it, the man has a “PhD in the restaurant business.” His family worked in food, and he himself has worked in almost every type of restaurant imaginable. His background is in upscale eats, (he once catered a party of 500 on the White House lawn) but since its founding 1998, Beezer’s has been serving affordable food to Columbia.
Coomey isn’t from around here though. He went to school at Purdue in Indiana, spent time in Virginia Beach and thought about settling down in North Carolina’s research triangle when the idea of Beezer’s took shape. Coomey knew exactly what he wanted his restaurant to be — he just didn’t know where to put it. Then, one rainy afternoon in 1998 over spring break at USC, he and his then-girlfriend drove by the vacant shop front on Sumter and she said, “That’s it.”
The rest was history.
“I wouldn’t do this again,” he said. Don’t get him wrong. In the ‘90s, and there were very few restaurants around the block on which Beezer’s sits. The sparse competition allowed Beezer’s to carve out its niche and to put down roots. Beezer’s was and remains the only sub shop close to campus to offer delivery until the wee hours of the not-so-sober morning.
The menu looks complex, but Coomey assured me that it’s simpler than it seems. For the past 16 years, Beezer’s offerings have stayed primarily the same, only having switched out two sandwiches in the restaurant’s lifetime.
“I’m a believer in ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t even look at it,’” he said.
Beezer’s only has one oven and one make table. The stock inventory list for Coomey’s convenience store next door is 15 pages long. Beezer’s inventory is three pages. Including sprouts, Beezer's only carries four veggies, and with that, they’re able to make what's been called the best vegetarian sub in town, the What’s Up Doc? According to Coomey, the restaurant goes to 30,000 pounds of ham per year and just as many chocolate chip cookies. “If we can’t make it in 30 seconds, it won’t make the menu,” he said.
“You can’t go into a lab to design and manufacture anything better for college students,” he said. As far as speed, quality and price, Coomey insisted that nothing compares. When it comes to price, Coomey takes pride in keeping his low.
“You should be able to eat a Godfather every day,” he said.
His primary business is the college crowd. “We’re here for students. When it’s Christmas or spring break or summer break, we notice,” he said. “The downtown crowd is nice, but we rely on [students]. I don’t think we thank y’all enough.”
I asked Coomey how he felt to be on the official USC bucket list. “The official what?” he said.
I told him about #95, Order Beezer’s after 2 a.m. “It should say, ‘You should have already ordered [Beezer’s],” he said. “Sober.”
But in all seriousness, Coomey didn’t come across as a crying kind of guy, but I could have sworn he welled up for a second. “It’s an honor,” he said. “If a college student who only has $5 in his wallet decides to give you that money, it’s a great honor.”
This wasn’t the first time Coomey was moved by a gesture from the student body. A few years back, Coomey recalled at Christmas time, a group of students who came into the restaurant and asked if they could sing to him. Coomey remembered being a little taken aback by the request, but when the group began to sing, he was almost brought to tears. What they sang were Christmas carols that had been appropriated with lyrics about their favorite sub shop.
“To this day, I’m moved by it,” he said, then tried to downplay the obvious hold he has over intellectual taste buds. “I mean, c’mon, man — I’m just a guy in a ball cap and a T-shirt.”
His upcoming project to return that love to students is called Subs for Slogans. If you’ve ever been to Beezer’s, then you’re familiar with the sports/inspirational quotes theme the restaurant has going on. Some of the slogans may come off as cheesy when you read them to yourself, but when Coomey says them, they’re about as far from cliché as quotes can get.
“Slogans directly affect me,” he said. Which is why, in the near future, Coomey will issue a call for slogans from patrons. “They don’t even have to purchase a sub,” he said. All you’ll do is go in, ask for a form, write out your proposed slogan or inspirational saying and turn it in.
Every month, Coomey will select one entry to win a $50 gift card. After a year, he’ll evaluate the 12 winning slogans and choose one grand prize winner. That person will receive free subs every week for a year, plus their slogan will become a permanent part of the Beezer’s décor.
As well as showing that love, Coomey also wants to find a way to hear out customers' needs in order to better meet expectations.
“What can I do more?” he asked.
Almost serendipitously, Springsteen’s "Born in the U.S.A." began to play over the stereo system. No joke. In my opinion, you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant owner who cares more about students in this city than Brandon Coomey. Though, I don’t think he’d ever admit to that.
And finally, to all of us who do call after 2 a.m. looking for a T-Bird or Godfather, Coomey has two things to say. First, “Thanks,” and second, “Why don’t you order two?”
What you want:
The Godfather – Salami and two types of ham – $5.40
The Cattleman’s Classic – Roast beef – $5.40
What’s Up Doc? – Sprouts, veggies, extra cheese, avocado – $4.40
Be sure to ask for a Lucky 7 Card. As Coomey put it, “You’re free to roam to and from Beezer’s as you please,” and for every seven subs you purchase, you get an eighth free.