Downtown Columbia’s latest upscale restaurant set to open. Here’s when and what’s on the menu
An opening date has been circled for a new upscale Korean BBQ spot in the heart of downtown Columbia.
MOA Korean BBQ & Bar will have its grand opening Monday, Sept. 25, according to a post on the restaurant’s social media pages. The restaurant is located at 1333 Main St., just north of the S.C. State House and not far from Cantina 76 and the recently opened Kao Thai.
“The 6,500 square-foot space was an office building before (MOA owner) Sean Kim took over, which allowed for every aspect to be built from scratch in the exact vision he had in mind,” MOA said on Facebook. “Kim launched MOA in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in 2020 during the pandemic. MOA instantly became one of the hottest restaurants in town, we didn’t expect anything less when he decided to expand in Columbia.”
Aside from the MOA locations, Kim also owns 929 Kitchen restaurant at 929 Gervais St. in Columbia’s Vista district.
The MOA menu in Charlotte includes a host of Korean dishes, including bibimbap and kimchi fried rice. It also has a number of combos where high-quality meats — prime ribeye steak, prime brisket, beef bulgogi, 45-day dry aged ribeye, etc. — are grilled tableside.
The MOA on Main Street will have 226 seats inside and 16 seats outdoors. It also will have an area for coffee, tea and baked goods.
