Columbia restaurant with 40-year history closes again
The Mouse Trap, a favorite local hole-in-the-wall with a 40-year history, has closed — again.
Located in the Middleburg Plaza office complex off of Forest Drive, The Mousetrap was known for a wide selection of lunchtime sandwiches and steak and seafood dinner plates.
On Monday evening, the restaurant shared on social media that it has closed “due to circumstances beyond our control.”
“On behalf of the entire Mouse Trap family we would like to thank our Family of Friends for your Love, Gracious Support and Countless Amazing Memories! Words cannot express our gratitude.......Thank you all for a very special time and place! -George,” the Facebook post read.
The restaurant had made a comeback in the past year, after closing for several months in 2018 upon the retirement of its original owners, Bill and Elizabeth Jerry. The Mousetrap reopened in November 2018 with a renovated space and expanded menu, The Free Times reported at the time.
In a comment on Monday’s post announcing its closing, the restaurant elaborated slightly on its decision: “It was a very fun year, wish we were able to keep pushing through all of the obstacles that were left to us from prior years of business. I made some great friends and will never forget the memories. XOXO-Abby.”
In a Facebook post two weeks earlier, just after Christmas, the restaurant had written that it would close for several days “to clean and take stock.” It appears the restaurant did not reopen.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 1:36 PM.
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MOREWhy we report on business openings and closings
The restaurants, stores and other businesses that come and go in our communities have a direct effect on our everyday lives. Where you’ll take your family for dinner tonight or why your neighbor closed down the family shop — these are conversations you have all the time with one another, and The State newspaper strives to cover the things you talk about and care about.
Reporters at The State regularly drive and walk through local neighborhoods and retail centers to notice openings and closings, check public documents for hints about business moves and — most importantly — talk to our friends and neighbors about what they see, hear and wonder about in the community. Feel free to reach out to our reporters anytime to tell us what you know or ask us what you want to know about local businesses.
