COLUMBIA, S.C. — Yesterday's, a restaurant that's been in the Five Points community for more than four decades, has announced they will be closing their doors.
A staple in Columbia for 43 years, the restaurant has been known for its southern comfort food, friendly atmosphere and a cowboy in a bathtub atop the building.
Regulars included Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, writer Pat Conroy, and former South Carolina football player Jadeveon Clowney to name a few.
"It was a hard decision for us to make," said co-owner Darrell Barnes. "It kind of is heartbreaking in a way. We're definitely tied to the community."
Barnes, along with Duncan and Scottie MacRea, started the restaurant back in 1978. It sits at the coroner of Harden and Devine Street.
The co-owners say they've been thinking about retiring for the last few years.
Earlier this year, they sold the building and parking lot to a friend, who promised to take good care of it. While they were anticipating running the place for another year or so, the coronavirus pandemic has sped up the process of closing the restaurant.
With not being able to fill their restaurant over the next few months due to the pandemic and not knowing when customers could come back in, they stuck with doing delivery or to-go orders. The restaurant says it was going well, but not well enough to pay the bills.
The co-owners then decided to close the restaurant and get a jump-start on renovating the building.
On Tuesday, Yesterday's Restaurant and Tavern posted on their social media accounts they were closing for good.
Many people were shocked when they heard the news.
Sophia Garrison used to go to Yesterday's several times during the football season.
"It's really sad that they're closing," said Garrison. "I'm such a nostalgic, sentimental person so for something that's been around a part of the Columbia community for so long and it closing is really sad."
Vehra Ndocko is grateful for the fact they served the community for so long.
"We are thankful for their service to our community and we're thankful for the forty years that they were here and all the things that they did," said Ndocko.
Madeline Whitmire says the restaurant brought a lot to the community.
"Forty years is a long time to be in business. Just thankful for that forty years that we did get to have and how that impacted this community and how they impacted this community," said Whitmire.
Barnes says the co-owners agreed it was time to move forward.
"It just kind of became the time to turn the page and let another young person take it for another 40 years," said Barnes.
At some point, Barnes says, they're planning on having a reunion and a going-away party for all the employees and customers when they are able to do so.
"It's pretty emotional. We have a lot of employees that have turned into best friends. A lot of employees met and got married here. Lots of customers met here and got engaged here," explained Barnes. "We're certainly going to miss a lot of those people."
Some employees have been working at Yesterday's for the past 40 years. Barnes says they've already helped with arrangements for some of their employees to make sure they have a job once the pandemic is over.
According to Barnes, the MacRea brothers will be retiring. As for Barnes, he says he's thinking about retiring but says he still has time to work if he chooses to.
Yesterday's owners doesn't know exactly what the building will become, but it's possible the new owner will reopen Yesterday's with new management.
"We might see you on the flip side. Some people have suggested that we do pop up restaurants here and there, which is a possibility," explained Barnes. "I've got ten more years in me. I might pop up somewhere and work with somebody at another restaurant somewhere or help them get started or take what we know to another place."
Barnes says he hopes to see a restaurant at their building once it's all said and done.
The restaurant will be giving some of their memorabilia to other restaurants in the community.