After 3 years of restaurant growth, the Midlands are seeing more variety than ever before
Restaurant openings in the Midlands have soared in recent years, with more eateries opening and a wider variety of cuisine available.
A strong restaurant scene makes a city attractive for people to move, visit and open a business, according to Susan Cohen, president and CEO of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association.
In the past three years, Richland County has enjoyed a net growth of 138 openings of eateries, while Lexington County has added a net 94, according to data from state provided by the restaurant and lodging association. Many of these openings bring a broader variety of cuisine to the Midlands.
Although those numbers include hospitals, schools and similar places that serve hot food, those in the restaurant industry say there’s an undeniable growth in restaurants.
They credit the growth to the economic energy coming out of COVID and the growth of the city as a whole. Between 2019 and 2024, the combined population of Richland and Lexington counties has grown 3.6%.
Others note changes in city of Columbia policy and a growing popularity in television food shows.
“There was an influx in capital and the economy in general (coming out of COVID) that allowed people to open small businesses,” said Steve Cook, owner of Saluda’s and Il Bucato restaurants.
The city and state’s population growth and boost in the housing market helps the restaurant industry, too, according to Cohen.
The universities, state government and new businesses are also major contributors to the city’s population growth, according to Cohen.
“The diversity of the population is growing, and therefore, I think the diversity of restaurants is going to grow along with it,” said Kristian Niemi, owner of The Dragon Room, an Asian fusion restaurant; Black Rooster, an Italian restaurant; and Bourbon, a Cajun Creole restaurant.
People want options and variety, and the Midlands are full of them. They also want an experience.
Moa, a Korean barbecue restaurant; Bahn-Mi Boys, a Vietnamese restaurant with New Orleans flair; and Masa, a Mexican street food restaurant, all opened in 2023. They are three examples of the growing variety in cuisine in the Midlands.
People want “something special” when they go out to eat — to go to a full service restaurant, not a drive-thru, “not something fast and casual,” according to Cohen.
Cohen also said that Columbia is in a bit of a “catch-up phase” after “lagging” behind Charleston and Greenville in reference to the cities’ restaurant scenes.
People have always thought “oh, the restaurants in Charleston are better, or, oh, the restaurants in Greenville are better, but finally, you’ve got people who realize hey, Columbia is a pretty good place, too,” Cook said.
In recent years Columbia restaurants have been nominated in the James Beard Awards, where restaurateurs, chefs, journalists and authors are recognized nationwide. This summer, Lula Drake Wine Parlour, located on Columbia’s Main Street, was presented with the James Beard Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program honor.
A lot of what attracts restaurateurs to Columbia is what attracts all businesses to Columbia — it’s been an “underserved market for a long time,” according to Cook.
Some attribute the growth in part to recent changes in city policy since Daniel Rickenmann became mayor in 2022.
“Since Mayor Rickenmann was elected, they enacted a lot of things that made it a lot easier for restaurants to open,” said Niemi. “Prior to that, there were a lot of hurdles that restaurants could not get over.”
Niemi, who opened The Dragon Room in 2023, started several other restaurants before that, starting with Mr. Friendly’s in Five Points in 1995. He’s experienced the changes and seen the growth firsthand.
Niemi said the city used to charge ”exorbitant” impact fees when someone opened a restaurant. Those fees have since been waived. The city also offers rebates on hospitality taxes if a restaurant has to install a grease trap.
Impact fees are charged on businesses or development projects to pay for the costs of providing public services, like water and sewer. For example, if a location went from a retail business to a restaurant, the way utilities are used would drastically change
The impact fees used to range anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 based on square footage and seat calculations among other factors, according to Greg Williams, project manager for the city of Columbia.
Now the city determines the fee based on the water meter size. If the water meter is below 4 inches, then the impact fees are eliminated, according to Williams.
Another factor that Niemi attributes to the growth of the restaurant scene, particularly growth of diversity in cuisine, is popular television food shows that have become more mainstream.
He calls the shows “game changers,” drastically impacting the way Americans eat.
“Now you walk into somewhere to get your hair cut, and the television is on the cooking channel,” Niemi said. “Maybe they saw Guy Feiri on Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins stop at a Vietnamese place and have a kick-ass bahn-mi sandwich. Prior to those channels and shows, (people) wouldn’t have been exposed to that.”
Niemi also notes the wide variety of cuisine offered at Soda City market and how it offers aspiring restaurateurs the opportunity to get into the industry at low cost while sharing their food with thousands of people every Saturday morning.
“It’s really cool to see when little places that start off as a tent (at Soda City) that eventually morph into a food truck and then eventually morph into a bricks and mortar place,” Niemi said.
The diversity of the average Columbian’s taste and food pallet is much broader than it’s ever been, according to Niemi.
This growth in the restaurant industry isn’t projected to slow any time soon. In fact, in the next five to 10 years South Carolina could need 35,000 more workers in hospitality, according to Cohen.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
