Twenty Restaurants Every Columbian Should Know
By Ron Aiken

Coming up with a list of the top 20 restaurants every Columbian should know is dangerous business. Typically, all such lists generally guarantee is that good people unintentionally left off will be offended. But, understanding the risk involved - and taking deliberate care to showcase the restaurants that give Columbia what character it has - is too worthwhile to demur. Thus, in alphabetical order, here follows a list of 20 restaurants that through merit of accomplishment, longevity, popularity and character stand out among all others.

Dianne's on Devine
Of the many haute cuisine establishments in Columbia, this is the only one I keep going back to for atmosphere and pure quality of food. It has stood the test of time, has a great location and a nice bar area for an upscale happy hour. A nice wine list, excellent cocktails and the Seafood Dianne make this worthy of special occasions. It's a model of class and good taste without trendy pretension.

Edna's Hot Dogs
Still serving the best basic hamburgers and hot dogs from the same dumpy-looking stand on Sunset Boulevard that my father used to order from when he was in high school. The prices have gone up a bit from when you could get three hot dogs for a dollar, but they're still insanely low - and for my money their chili dogs, sans gimmicky accoutrements, are the best in town.

Egg Roll Station
For my dollar, the best Americanized Chinese food in town. (I say "Americanized Chinese" to distinguish it from authentic Chinese food, which other places do well.) Always busy, always fantastic. Short on atmosphere but long on taste (thanks, MSG!), you can't find a menu item that's not delicious - my favorite is the teriyaki chicken. The portions are ridiculously enormous, which means each order has a two-sitting shelf life - perfect for college students without a lot of money. A beautiful indulgence. As their sign in West Columbia read for years: Go Cocks! Go E'Rolls!

Gervais and Vine
This restaurant hasn't been around nearly as long as many on this list, but its style and quality place it above many other similar culinary experiments. A true wine bar with an extraordinary tapas menu and changing specials - not to mention wonderful planned meals to feature certain wines during the week - the marriage of passion for food and wine is articulated better here than anywhere else in town. A friendly staff and soft, pleasant interior décor make customers feel at ease no matter how they happen to be dressed. Be prepared to spend money sampling the various wines and dishes, but be just as prepared to love doing it.

Goatfeathers
Long a haven for wannabe hipsters and clove cigarette types, Goatfeathers is as notorious for its excellent food and extensive wine and cocktail list as it is for its astoundingly poor service. Known for hiring leggy model types who gush aloofness the French would envy, if you know this ahead of time you won't be disappointed and instead will be in for outstanding, creative dishes in an atmosphere that may be Columbia's best. Great coffee, great food, great place. Just bring your wallet - the martinis are expensive but worth it - and your patience.

The Gourmet Shop
Easily the best place in Columbia to eat outside. Great deli sandwiches and entrées and the absolute perfect place to go for a late lunch in the spring to people watch and relax. The food is light and healthy for the most part, and the brunch offerings sparkle. I recommend the chicken-salad stuffed cantaloupe for maximum enjoyment. It's premium food and you will pay premium prices for it, but the location in Five Points makes up for it and you can always add to your visit by shopping through the many gourmet items, hence the name, in the shop inside.

Hunter-Gatherer
I submit to you that the Hunter-Gatherer's Extra Special Bitter is one of the top five beers produced in the United States. That it exists nowhere else on the planet than Columbia is reason enough to make this treasure of an alehouse a local icon and beacon to beer lovers everywhere. The wonderful atmosphere inside with exposed wooden ceilings and that skinny, hungry-looking African dog in the window only add to the charm. And what's more, the food is as good as you'll find at much pricier establishments and features provocative, original daily specials. A treasure.

Keg-O-Nails
Like Rockaways (below), the keg has been a local favorite for years and years. With a fancier dinner menu than one might expect from its deli lunch sandwiches (the Jeff Grantz special is easily the best lunch sandwich in Columbia), the quality of the chicken and steaks is remarkable and pleasing in portion and taste. It also has an outdoor seating area that qualifies as my favorite Sunday brunch spot - their brunch menu, too, is fantastic. It also has the benefit of not getting as crowded for brunch as other locations, some of which are on this list. A true local gem.

The Kingsman
If you haven't had the 23-ounce ribeye at the Kingsman in Cayce you haven't lived. Make no mistake, this is diner-style food, but it's diner-style food at its best. My dad heard me talking about the quality of the steaks there and took his wife there for what he thought would be a romantic dinner. She wore pearls and a nice gown, which I'm sure must have been a first for the Kingsman. My dad still tells the story of ordering a glass of Merlot only to be offered "white or red," and that coming in a Styrofoam cup. Check your pretension at the door and you'll find the Kingsman an absolute delight in terms of friendly, down-home staff and great cooking with plenty of character. Just keep the pearls at home.

LaBrasca's Five Minute Pizza
Tucked away on Jackson Boulevard near the intersection of Beltline and Garners Ferry, LaBrasca's has been serving what many would argue is the best pizza in town since 1966. In fact, it celebrates its 40-year anniversary this month. Unassuming decor, darkly lit and featuring ingredient-heavy pizzas perfect for washing down with a pitcher of beer, LaBrasca's is the very definition of a local's favorite pizza joint. Staff is cheerful, service is prompt and the food is more than satisfying. While wood-fired and gourmet pizzas have become all the rage, one visit to LaBrasca's will remind you of the way pizza used to be made - locally by people who cared about it.

Lizard's Thicket
A Columbia original, they've been hashing out the fried okra, fried chicken and fried everything else to locals for decades. Great breakfasts, great lunches and fulfilling dinners, all at extremely reasonable prices. If you're from out of town and want to know
what true Southern cooking is about, this is where you go. There's just no way to go wrong with anything on the menu. And when you go to the one on Broad River, be sure to say hello to my grandparents, who I'm fairly certain but cannot prove have been living there since 1986.

Monterrey's
Simply the best value for Mexican food going. They've made an art form of getting the chips and salsa on the table before your butt hits the booth, and the variety of vegetarian options and regular delicious entrées appeals to a wide clientele. Also a favorite happy hour spot, seeing that by virtue of sitting down you get all the chips and salsa you can eat to go with the oversized margaritas and Mexican beers. A treat for the stomach and light on the wallet. Its many imitators reflect its success.

Motor Supply Company Bistro
May be Columbia's best restaurant of any kind or classification. The always-changing menu means you'll never get bored, and the upscale fusion cuisine is a testament to the restaurant's willingness to constantly challenge its reputation for brilliance and creativity. Wonderful bar area, local artwork on display and an outdoor seating area perfect for Bloody Mary's on a Sunday afternoon elevate this restaurant above all others. Housed in a former Motor Supply Company in the Vista, it's edible genius.

Mr. Friendly's
Like Motor Supply, Mr. Friendly's has a Southern cuisine focus with inspired, elegant creations and a devotion to quality. Great lunch menu with such Southern specialties as Shrimp and Grits and buttermilk fried chicken gives way to a dinner menu with fried green tomatoes, filet mignon with pimento cheese and cornmeal fried catfish. Every time I'm there I chide myself for not going more often. You simply cannot come away unimpressed.

Publick House
Best wings in Columbia. What began as Wings on Wheels has become the very model of both a wing joint and Irish-style pub. Like the Hunter-Gatherer, turnover is rare among servers and bartenders, and locals remain loyal for years and years. Great beer selection, enough televisions to satisfy those who want to watch sports (without overdoing it for those who don't), a dart room and live Irish music on Sundays are just some of what gives the Publick House its lasting charm.

Rockaway Athletic Club
Only a fool would argue that better hamburgers exist anywhere else. Like with Sandy's and the slaw dog (see below), while others may have put pimento cheese on a hamburger before Rockaway's, none have done it better. Located on Rosewood Drive with no signage out front, the new building (the former location burned before being rebuilt) is spacious inside and, while lacking the snuggled charm of the old building, still delivers on the food menu and popular bar. Columbians always have taken special pride in Rockaway's, probably because you had to be a local to know it was there in the first place. Excellent seafood, too. Oh yeah, and President Bush ate there once.

Sandy's Hot Dogs
The placing of good old-fashioned Southern coleslaw on a hot dog has to be considered one of the 20th century's greatest innovations, not far behind the marriage of peanut butter and jelly. Fattening college freshmen for years, Sandy's mixture of great hot dogs with excellent sandwiches, chili and ice cream has meant lasting success. Their iced tea alone could be the best in the state, but you'll want to go for the slaw dog, a product so delicious former President Ronald Reagan had them shipped to him after eating one on a swing through Columbia.

Saky Japanese Restaurant
Tucked away right by the gate of Fort Jackson near the I-77 overpass on Jackson Boulevard, this Japanese restaurant gets my vote for best sushi in town b virtue of the quality of the seafood and the force of personality of the two matronly Japanese ladies who prepare it and personally greet almost every guest. Their sense of humor and the friendliness of the staff more than makes up for the unassuming exterior and standard décor. Other sushi restaurants may invest more in the surroundings, but it's the pure charm of this little restaurant that keeps locals from all walks of life coming back.

Yesterday's
I'd wager that practically no one who has been through USC doesn't harbor fond memories of grubbing under the man in the tub in Five Points. From the Confederate Fried Steak to all manner of diet-busting, hangover-helping Southern comfort food, the reasonable prices, ample portions and flavor and lively bar area are as popular with customers now as ever. It's rare to have restaurants with iconic status in a town, but if anything in Columbia is, it's Yesterday's. Hell, it's the only restaurant to have been featured prominently in a major novel (Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides) and on MTV. In your face, Applebee's!

Zorba's
Before there was Harbison Boulevard, before St. Andrews Road had four lanes, before Irmo was, well, Irmo, there was Zorba's. Still in the same location in the Food Lion Shopping Center at the intersection of St. Andrews and Old Bush River roads, the family owned restaurant has been pleasing generations of Irmese with outstanding pizzas and solid Greek fare - spanikopita, kabobs, etc. And that's not even mentioning their Greek salads, of which the Zorba's Special is an experience every Columbian should have before they die. Check them out on Thursday nights, when they have authentic Greek dancing. Another local treasure that has stood the test of time.

Let us know what you think: Email editor@free-times.com.