Columbia Shoney’s is officially gone. Could a local taco chain take its place?
The building is gone, now all that remains is the red-and-white highway sign that once beckoned families and book clubs and life-long friends into the Garners Ferry Shoney’s restaurant.
For decades, the family-style chain that originated in Nashville served residents across the Midlands, with the Garners Ferry Road location beloved by many in the Lower Richland community and beyond. The Garner’s Ferry location, which closed in August, was the last Shoney’s in the Columbia area.
What could fill the now nearly vacant site? The owner of local taco chain Tacos Nayarit has purchased the former Shoney’s site at 7335 Garners Ferry Road under the LLC Nayarit Investments. Juan Rivera, who owns Tacos Nayarit, is the registered agent for that LLC.
Nayarit Investments, LLC purchased the former Shoney’s site for $1.15 million at the end of October 2025. Rivera did not respond Wednesday to a reporter’s questions about the plans for the site.
Tacos Nayarit is a popular local business that has expanded in recent years. The Mexican restaurant’s primary location is on Percival Road in Columbia, but the restaurant last year opened another site 1100 Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce.
The Garners Ferry Road site is tucked into a row of fast-food restaurants and sits in front of several interstate hotels, which serve travelers on the nearby Interstate 77.
Goodbye to Shoney’s
The Nashville-based restaurant chain known for its breakfast bar, burgers and dessert menu began quietly closing its remaining Columbia-area locations last summer.
The restaurant’s location on Airport Boulevard in Springdale, near West Columbia, closed without any fanfare in early August. “Closed,” the restaurant’s roadside marquee read the morning of Aug. 12. “Thanks for a great 35 years.”
The Garners Ferry Road location closed later that same month.
Shoney’s was founded in 1947 and was once a major player in the world of chain restaurants, but today has just around 60 stores left. There are still Shoney’s in South Carolina, including a location in Sumter and Myrtle Beach, according to the chain’s website.
