New restaurant and microbrewery coming to Columbia’s Main Street.

COLUMBIA, S.C.

What was previously the International Wigs store on Main Street will be a new restaurant and microbrewery called Smoked in 2021.

Smoked will specialize in serving smoked meats, oysters and libations according to its new website. Guests will be able to watch the brewing process while they dine at the upscale casual restaurant.

A microbrewery is defined as “a small brewery making specialty beer in limited quantities” according to Merriam-Webster.

The building at 1643 Main St. was built in 1866 and was once a M. Ehrlich and Sons shoe store and the Lisbeth Wolfe clothing store before turning into a wig shop, according to public records.

Garvin Design Group, the same architects that transformed 1649 Main St. next door into the Hendrix restaurant and The Woody dance club, are tackling Smoked. The storefront is currently under construction, but the restaurant plans to have a bar with a skylight and a 1920s feel.

The 1600 block of Main Street has been steadily growing in development and popularity over the years, with new stores and restaurants ranging from The Nickelodeon indie movie theater, Lula Drake wine parlor, Good Life Cafe vegan restaurant, the Grand bowling alley and more all within 500 feet.

International Wigs, at one time just one of several Main Street wig stores, getting replaced with a new, upscale restaurant signifies the changing and revitalized block. Mayor Steve Benjamin described it in 2019 as “the end of an era.”

BY LAURRYN SALEM

DECEMBER 04, 2020 10:27 AM, UPDATED DECEMBER 04, 2020 12:05 PM


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