Big menu change coming to popular Midlands restaurant as it bids adieu to French food
A major menu switch is on the way for one of the key restaurants on the West Columbia dining scene.
Since 2019, restaurateur Kristian Niemi’s Black Rooster has been serving French-inspired — the restaurant actually refers to it as “Frenchish” — cuisine at 201 Meeting St. in the Brookland development in West Columbia. Aside from its menu, the restaurant has been known for its rooftop dining with views out over the Congaree River to the Columbia skyline.
But now a significant menu shift is on the way. Niemi confirmed to The State that Black Rooster plans to switch from French cuisine to an Italian restaurant in early 2024. The restaurant will continue to be called Black Rooster, and much of its physical aesthetic will remain the same, but the menu will see an overhaul to Italian fare.
Columbia’s Free Times first reported the menu switch at Black Rooster.
Niemi has long been a fixture on the Midlands restaurant scene and has a handful of notable restaurants in the area. Among them are Main Street’s Bourbon, the Cajun-Creole restaurant and bar not far from the S.C. State House; and The Dragon Room, an Asian restaurant and cocktail bar that opened in July on Gervais Street.
He also was formerly the owner of Rosso Trattoria Italian restaurant in Trenholm Plaza in Forest Acres. He sold that restaurant in 2017, and it closed two years later.
There are several reasons the timing seems right to switch Black Rooster to Italian cuisine, Niemi said. For one, a hole has emerged for higher-end Italian dining in that section of West Columbia after the closure of Al’s Upstairs. That long-running Italian spot — which also had cityscape views over the river — was set to shutter Tuesday, Dec. 19, after 44 years.
“With the closing of Al’s over in West Columbia, there are no more Italian restaurants (in that area of town) for upscale casual,” Niemi said. “Also, I’ve been missing Rosso Trattoria ever since I sold it, doing Italian cuisine.”
Niemi joked that switching Black Rooster from French to Italian is also a way to open a new restaurant “with 95% less work,” considering that the name and physical look of the place will remain the same.
“The menu will change, and just a few things on our logos,” Niemi said.
Black Rooster said in a Monday Facebook post that Niemi, Chef Josh Wilson and the rest of Black Rooster’s culinary team are working on the details of the new Italian menu. Niemi said it will include traditional favorites such as spaghetti and meatballs but also noted that the culinary team will “let ourselves explore all the regions of Italy while couching it in our local ag culture like we have in all of our restaurants.”
Niemi said staff at Black Rooster has been excited about the menu change. Collectively, more than 100 people work at Niemi’s various restaurants, and he estimated about 25 of those work at Black Rooster.
This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 11:31 AM.
