Anybody who's spent more than a day in Columbia knows that it would take months or more to cover all of the city's great restaurants. While Panera, Outback and Moe's are all well and good, the city's independent restaurants have spent years becoming a part of Columbia, and Gamecock, culture. Here are a few to get you started and to save you hours of sifting through Yelp reviews.
1) Immaculate Consumption
A great Columbia meeting spot for almost two decades, Immaculate Consumption — or just “Immaculate” to regulars — is almost as hidden as the city’s rumored network of underground tunnels. The intimate coffee shop has no outdoor signage (is Immaculate Consumption even its real name?) and even those lucky enough to find their way inside might never discover the shop’s real treasure: a spacious basement area, complete with exposed piping — perfect for studying or meeting a co-conspirator in secret. The reasonably-priced menu includes pastries, sandwiches and various coffee drinks.
2) Andy’s Deli
Columbia has — reputedly — changed quite a lot since 1978, but one thing has not. Andy Schlon, the founder of Andy’s Deli in Five Points, has spent almost every day behind his counter, greeting customers with a “Welcome, my friend!” or a “Welcome, my dear!” Schlon immigrated from Beirut when he was young, but his restaurant has become a time capsule of Columbian culture. The interior is covered in signed pictures of local sports teams dating back to the beginning of the restaurant, as well as Gamecock gear, resulting in an indisputably local feel. The menu consists of a number of salads and sandwiches and ten “Gamecock specials.”
3) Nonnah’s
Nonnah’s, one of the original and defining restaurants of the modern Gervais Street Vista, serves great savory items for brunch and lunch — but what really sets it apart is the indulgent dessert and coffee menu. Whether for a celebration, a date or just some gustatory escapism, Nonnah’s elaborate cheesecakes, pies and specialty items let students dine like the one percent, and surrounds customers with original pieces of Columbian art.
4) The Gourmet Shop
Arguably the focal point of Five Points, The Gourmet Shop is everything a student could want for a leisurely, late morning meal. The café is the perfect mixture of Europe and the American South, and while one might be determined to find a weekend morning without a large crowd, the waiting time provides a great opportunity to observe the Columbia community at its best while exploring the Shop’s eclectic collection of fresh cheeses, wines and candies. No semester is complete without at least one morning spent at The Gourmet Shop trying to remember the previous night.
5) Cool Beans
Probably the most familiar to many students, Cool Beans is the perfect place for a very specific activity: pretending to do homework while hoping attractive strangers talk to you. The close quarters and dim lights mean that it very well could happen, and even if it doesn’t, the baristas are super friendly and make great company on lonely weeknights. The unique drink names like The Lonely Irishman and the aging, laminated list of coffee jokes on the wall reveal Cool Beans’s rich, cultural tradition, and, to top it all off, Cool Beans provides a shelf of obscure board games for anybody to play.