A longtime bar near Columbia plans to close. Check out what its owners are planning next
A longtime Columbia-area bar and taproom will close its doors, citing skyrocketing liquor liability insurance rates in recent years. However, its owners have a new restaurant planned for the same spot.
Random Tap, which has been in business for nearly 10 years and is currently located at 117 Spears Creek Church Road in Elgin near northeast Columbia, is set to close. Owners Kimberly and John Gagliardi said the last day of operation for the bar will be April 13.
But that won’t be the end of the line for a restaurant at 117 Spears Creek Church Road. The Gagliardis are planning on opening Eatery 117, a spot that will specialize in breakfast and lunch, at the space that is currently home to Random Tap. The owners are eyeing an opening sometime in May for Eatery 117.
The Post and Courier Columbia first reported the news of Random Tap’s upcoming closure and the pivot to Eatery 117.
Kimberly Gagliardi pointed to South Carolina’s ongoing liquor liability insurance crisis as a reason that Random Tap is set to wind down.
A state law passed in 2017 requires establishments that sell beer, wine or liquor for on-premises consumption to carry at least $1 million in liquor liability insurance. In the law’s wake, restaurateurs say some insurers have left the market in South Carolina in the last several years, thereby limiting the number of carriers they can use. Subsequently, many restaurateurs and bar owners have seen liquor liability insurance rates skyrocket.
“There have been rising costs of running a place with alcohol,” Kimberly told The State. “The biggest factor was liquor liability insurance. ... We’ve been open for nine and a half years, and in that nine and a half years, it has gone up 1,100%. And most of that has been within the last three years. It just jumped huge amounts. The trajectory is so great, I don’t see how it would be sustainable if it kept going at this pace.”
With Random Tap’s closure coming in a couple weeks, the Gagliardis are planning a quick turnaround to the new venture, Eatery 117. There will be some painting and a few cosmetic touches in the existing restaurant space, with a possible opening of the new eatery coming in middle-to-late May.
“It’s going to be offering breakfast and lunch,” Kimberly Gagliardi said of Eatery 117. “We’ll be open from 7 to 2 p.m.”
Eatery 117 will have coffee and lattes, along with classic breakfast and lunch entrees, as well as some vegan and gluten-free options. There will be sit-down availability in the restaurant, as well as grab-and-go options, the owners said.
Even though they’re excited about the new restaurant, Kimberly Gagliardi said it will be “bittersweet” to end the run of Random Tap after nearly 10 years.
“Random Tap is definitely our baby,” she said. “We started it from the ground up. We learned along the way what works, what doesn’t work. Five years ago we moved into our [current] location, which was a building we purchased. ... It has been a lot of love and sweat equity that has gone into it.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 1:13 PM.
