Three shops opening at Village at Sandhill specializing in events, chicken and more

Three new businesses are opening soon in the Village at Sandhill shopping center in Columbia including an event center, restaurant and a martial arts studio.

All three businesses are at 494 Town Center Place near Academy Sports and across from JCPenney.

494 Event Center

494 Event Center is a 5,000 square foot event space owned by LaDon Matthews that will open Friday. The space is described as a, “luxury style wedding and event venue” on Facebook.

Matthews said the space is all white and “gives people a blank slate, basically just to design how they want to.”

The Venue can accommodate up to 513 people. 494 Event Center includes 7 chandeliers and fabric draped ceilings to create an optimal location for upscale events.

The one-stop-shop for events also has 200 white Chiavari chairs, 25 tables, a DJ stand, a bar, White draping, professional lighting, a bridal suite, lounge, food preparation area, ice machines, refrigerators and private back parking lot.

Costs to rent the space range from $1,600 to $3,500 per day.

andCHICKEN

A new restaurant with a unique name is opening at Sandhill. andCHICKEN focuses on, you guessed it, chicken.

Owners Samuel and Elizabeth Darko own Asanka Kitchen, a West African restaurant on Two Notch Road, and decided to open another restaurant that’s “totally different.”

andCHICKEN will serve chicken and waffles, chicken and rices dishes, chicken soup, macaroni and cheese and “everything to do with chicken,” said Elizabeth Darko.

Darko said she plans to open andCHICKEN Dec. 15.

Legacy Martial Arts

Daniel Kim, the owner of Legacy Martial Arts, will open his third Midlands Legacy Martial Arts location at the Village at Sandhill.

Legacy Martial Arts on Millwood Avenue and in Irmo are Taekwondo schools for all age groups. All locations offer after-school programs and summer camps.

The new school will be known as the Columbia-Northeast location and will open in Jan. 2021.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 1:40 PM.