This is a collection of musings, reviews, and commentary on Columbia, SC events, eateries, places I like, style, and politics. Hey, if I can't live in a big city, then I'll try to be cultured in my medium-sized one.
What's not to like about that combination? There are plenty of amazing local restaurants in Columbia that make this combination even more amazing by making it cheap!
In case you want an amazing pizza and wine deal more than once in a week, here's where you should go and when:
Thursday nights: Cellar on Greene offers 2 individual pizzas and a bottle of wine for $25. Plus, Tuesdays are Champagne Tuesdays...half-priced bubblys!
And, just a quick run-down of my other favorite Columbia pizzas...Labrasca's (they have the best cheese salad too, and they'll let you buy uncooked pizzas to "take and bake" later); Pizza Man; and The Whig- $1 slices on Monday nights. Also, the Village Idiot on Forest Drive has a Monday deal where you buy one pizza, get one free!
Can you tell I'm craving pizza and wine today?
What are your favorite pizza joints and dinner specials in Columbia?
You could also hit up Gervais & Vine or Rosso tonight with your "I Voted" sticker and get aFREE glass of wine. (If your precinct doesn't give out stickers, like mine, then just promise your server that you voted--they'll believe you!) Go vote in the Mayoral run-off!
And then Friday, check out Runaway Runway: A Recycled Fashion Show at 701 Whaley, presented by the Columbia Design League. Doors open at 6 pm and the event starts at 7:30; seated admission $20, general admission $10. A diverse panel of judges and a text-voting audience determine the winners. Spirits provided by 360, the "Eco Friendly Vodka" and wine by Fetzer, "The Earth Friendly Winery."
The older I get, the more difficult I find it to sit still and just "be." At times when I seem restless and unable to sit still, my husband says to me, simply: "Stop doin' stuff, babe." It's pretty cute, and usually is exactly what I need to hear in those moments of frantic fussing about, not really getting anything done...
Anyway--today's post is meant to send just the opposite message--go do stuff, my dears!
Impending spring and the excitement of a big St. Pat's celebration in Columbia have me really excited for the weekend!
Here is a quick list of fun things to do around Columbia: *USC baseball hosts 3 games against Brown, Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 4 pm, and Sunday at 1:30 pm.
*Of course, St. Patrick's Festival in 5 Pts. Click here to see my previous post all about that!
*Gervais & Vine has live jazz on Saturday night, no cover--and they always have amazing tapas and wine.
*The Nickelodeon is showing Out in the Silence one screening only--tomorrow, March 13th at 7pm. Screening will be held in the lobby of the Fox Theater - 1607 Main Street. See the trailer:
*All-Local Farmer's Market, 8-12 Saturday, with some new vendors, including Ryan's Veg House featuring Hydroponic Butter Crunch...um, sounds amazing?! Breakfast by Rosso.
*Free show by SoftSpot at The Whig on Sunday night--plus they have $2 burgers (and veggie burgers).
What are your plans?? This weekend, I'm doin' stuff, babe.
Friday, February 26th:The Blue Dogs and The Mason Jars are playing The White Mule. I have a special place in my heart for The Blue Dogs, as they played my high school prom one year. (And little-known fun-fact, a few years before I was in high school, Hootie and the Blowfish played the prom at my school...obviously before they hit it big). Anyway--The Blue Dogs are fun, and so is The White Mule. Tickets are $12 in advance here and $15 at the door. Show starts at 9 pm.
Sunday, February 28:The Whig is bringing back Burger Night! $2 burgers (and veggie burgers!) on Sunday nights, with the purchase of a beverage; (non-alcoholic OK).
Tonight or tomorrow night: Seriously, if you haven't seen it, go see A Single Man at The Nickelodeon; you will not be disappointed. I saw it last night and am still thinking about it. I will be very disappointed and surprised if Colin Firth does not pick up an Oscar win for Best Actor in this film. Show times: 6:00 pm Wednesday and Thursday only.
Wanna experience some theater? For only $5? Trustus Theatre is hosting Toast, Columbia and USC's premiere improv troupe Friday night at 11:15 PM, doors open at 10:45. (This follows the evening performance of Rent, which unfortunately for those of you who haven't seen it, is sold out).
Wanna do some yoga? For FREE? This Saturday is Yoga Day USA, and although I couldn't find a local yoga studio participating in this event, at City Yoga your first class is always FREE!
Wanna see some roller derby girls knock the crap out of each other? The Columbia QuadSquad New Year's Knock Down starts Saturday at 4:30 PM, with a second match starting at 6:30 PM. Admission is $10 in advance, $12 at the door; kids 10 and under FREE. ($1 from every ticket sold will go to benefit Tamika & Friends who are dedicated to raising awareness about cervical cancer).
Wanna eat chicken & waffles?The Whig is cooking up chicken and waffles this Saturday night in honor of a friend's wedding...open to the public. Starting around 10ish. Click here to read a previous post about The Whig.
Wanna be a voyeur and watch some 'found footage'? And finally, to round out your weekend, go see The Found Footage Festival at The Nickelodeon on Sunday night. It is just as it sounds--"a one-of-a-kind event that showcases footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout the country." One showing only at 8:00 PM, hosted and curated by the creators themselves, Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, whose credits include The Onion and Late Show with David Letterman.
As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I went to see A Serious Man on Tuesday at The Nickelodeon. It is a film by the Coen brothers about a man named Larry Gopnik trying to find balance in a personal world that seems to be crumbling all around him. His wife announces she's leaving him for a pompous-ass friend of theirs, one of his college students is trying to bribe him for a better grade or will sue him for defamation, his live-in brother has a nasty sebaceous-cyst problem and is not only malingering but also has a gambling problem, and his children are whiny little adolescent brats. He seeks out the help of 3 very different rabbis to try to help him sort out his problems.
I thought the film was quite entertaining and clever. Although, I appreciate the brothers' comedies like The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona a bit more than this one.
My favorite scene of the movie comes when Larry is on the phone with the Columbia Record Club--(you remember the one, where you sign up to receive some free albums, but then end up getting sent a lot of crap you don't want and have to send back or get charged for it)--trying to resolve a dispute over a membership his son set up unbeknownst to him. Larry keeps repeating the line, "But I did nothing," over and over...symbolic of how he has done nothing to "deserve" what is happening in his life, but conversely has done nothing to change it. A very clever scene indeed.
The movie is worth watching. It also reminds me of American Beauty--same basic plot--man gets screwed in his personal life; learns life has to be actively participated in to be enjoyed...
While at The Nickelodeon, I picked up Volume 1, Issue 1 of Columbia's Super Budget newsletter. For those who may not know, Super Budget Columbia has a website and Facebook page as well, which give us poor Columbians lists of places to eat, drink and be entertained for cheap. I for one appreciate a deal, especially a sweet deal like eating good food or drinking alcoholic beverages on the cheap, so I decided I'd share some of my favorite most recent Super Budget finds with you:
Food First:
Mondays are Pizza Nights! Free pizza at Kelly's Pub during Monday Night Football $1 large slices at The Whig until midnight $1 large slices and $.40 wings at Village Idiot* until 10 pm (The Whig and Village Idiot pizza are 2 of my absolute favorites in Columbia)
Tuesdays are Taco Nights! $.50 tacos at The Whig-see my precious post about this $1 tacos at Utopia or, if you want more pizza, $1.25 large slices at Pizza Man, (my 3rd favorite pizza in Columbia!)
Wednesdays $1 large slices during Happy Hour only at The Whig
Saturdays $1 Mean Bean Burritos after 6 pm at El Burrito
Sundays $2 import bottles all day and night at Village Idiot* Entertainment: FREE admission for Richland and Lexington county residents to the Riverbanks Zoo every Friday through February 26, 2010!
*Offers good at the Village Idiot in 5 Points ONLY
Know of any other cheap or free food/drink/entertainment in Columbia? Please share!
If you have never been to The Whig at 1200 Main Street in downtown Columbia, you must go. They have a drink and/or food special almost every night of the week: my favorites are $1 pizza slice and $2 liquor drink Mondays and $.50 Taco Tuesdays. This particular Tuesday, we were celebrating my sister-in-law, Liz's, birthday, so I was feeling especially festive and ravenous. (Happy birthday Liz!)
The food at The Whig is amazing--the pizza is possibly the closest to NY pizza you can get in Columbia*, and the tacos remind me of the Old El Paso kind mom used to make...a bit Americanized, but soooo good!
If the food isn't enough to make you want to try this treasure, then imagine that the bar is underground...beacuse it is. You enter on the corner of Gervais and Main Streets, but must walk down a good flight of stairs to get to the entrance below street level. It is dark, dank, and very big-city feeling, without even having to try too hard. I'm not quite sure of the history of the building, but it seems that The Whig is now located in a former bank basement, as there is a room in the bar that was the former bank vault. Patrons can actually sit in the vault where there are now vintage (old) sofas and decor that make the room feel incredibly like a cross between a room in the old hotel from The Shining and a 1940's hunting lodge. (See below).
According to someone who works there, the small skulls are from pygmy deer, once native to Germany...I think jackalope...you decide for yourself.
In short, The Whig is one of my favorite places in Columbia right now. Not only is it an extremely affordable place to eat 2 of my favortie foods, but the ambience, (or lack thereof), feels so un-Columbia that I think I'm in a bigger city for a while. *If you know of a better NY style pizza in Columbia, please let me know! What is your favorite pizza in Cola-town?
I am a 30-something social worker, teacher, and momma to Jones and Birdie; surprised daily by how amazing motherhood really is. I love to cook and eat. I also blog for Fig Columbia here: www.figcolumbia.com.
