Shop Around: Famous Toastery coming to Northeast Columbia, maybe Lexington

Less than five months after announcing a location will be opening in downtown Columbia's former Moe Levy's storefront, Famous Toastery restaurant announces the North Carolina-based breakfast and lunch eatery will open a location in Northeast Columbia later this year and that it is considering a location in Lexington, as well.

Local franchise owner and long-time Columbia resident Kim Kenney signed a lease this week on the former McAlister's Deli location at 119 Sparkleberry Ln. in Northeast Columbia. Kenney said she expects to open a Famous Toastery location there this August. In January, the Arnold Cos. developers announced that Famous Toastery would be opening in the former Moe Levy's location at Assembly and Lady Streets. Due to significant structural issues that are being addressed with that location, the expected open date there is early 2017, Kenney said.

"In the meantime we really weren't looking for it but another opportunity fell in our lap in the old McAlister's on Sparkleberry," said Kenney, who worked in accounting in downtown Columbia for 21 years before signing on as a Famous Toastery franchise owner last year. "We just felt like it was the perfect location. Folks in the Northeast can't often get downtown for a meal--especially breakfast or lunch. We felt like we could meet a need in this area."

Kenney is also considering a Lexington location.

"We have franchise rights for this area and would like to have three or four restaurants here but we want to take it slow and do it right," she said.

Famous Toastery opened shop in Huntersville, N.C., in 2005 and franchised in 2013. The eatery now has eight locations in North Carolina and two in South Carolina — in Tega Cay and Indian Land. The franchise has a dozen more restaurants scheduled to roll out in the Carolinas — and one in New York — during the next year.

The restaurants offer all fresh, made-in-house breakfast and lunch items--such as stuffed French toasts, specialty omelets and salads, wraps and gourmet burgers--from open to close (7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily).

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 7:56 AM.