Former Columbia councilman makes restaurant comeback with new Badd Boys Cafe
The three Baddourah boys — a former city councilman and his young sons — birthed the idea for their new restaurant over breakfast together. They gave it their own name: Badd Boys Cafe.
Moe Baddourah plans to open Badd Boys, a lunch-centric restaurant, in the next two weeks in a location that will be familiar many Columbia diners, the former Mouse Trap restaurant at Middleburg Plaza.
“I think it was the right timing and the right purpose and the right everything,” said Baddourah, who served on Columbia City Council from 2012 to the start of this year and ran Moe’s Grapevine Italian restaurant on Rosewood Drive for 11 years.
Baddourah, who also briefly directed the University of South Carolina’s McCutchen House within the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, said he missed the restaurant business and was approached earlier this year about reviving the old Mouse Trap.
Adapting to the present pandemic business environment, Baddourah will keep his restaurant focused on weekday lunches — with a quick-and-healthy menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and specials such as lemon chicken, salmon and rice dishes — and private events in the evenings.
“Any business you open, there’s a risk taken ... it doesn’t matter what year it is,” he said, with regards to opening the restaurant in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has complicated restaurant dining and threatened the security of small businesses. “With the pandemic, it’s a challenge, but I think as long as we comply with the safety regulations and respect of others and keep your (best) foot forward, we’ll see what happens.”
The restaurant will feature both indoor and patio seating as well as an option for online ordering, Baddourah said.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 10:59 AM.
