Bourbon — Restaurant in Columbia

Nice New Orelans style lounge restaurant. It's situated right downtown historic Colombia and within walking distance of the SC State Capitol building (see photo).

Usually busy on the weekends and waits can be as long as hours and half.

There is very limited street parking and although the establishment advertises free parking we were unable to access this and had to pay $5 per hour valet.

We started out in the bar lounge next door which is really part of Bourbon but just separated by building access. It was quite lively and friendly waiter on hand to take our appetizer and drinks orders. You can't order and eat food from the restaurant here BTW.

Appetizers tensed to take some time to arrive as our waiter was working both the bar lounge and the resto-lounge.

They have over 600 different types of Bourbons and Whiskey so you are not limited on choice at all. Bar person does a really good job crafting cocktails as well which they have a nice selection or you can also craft your own.

We had the crab dip appetizer and hummus with peanut and both were a delight. I didn't like the toasted saltine crackers though ..they could do better substituting that with sourdough garlic bread which we asked extra but came after we finished the appetizer and the plates had been cleared.

On to the restaurant next door after a few drinks at the bar ..we went straight to the menu and ordered the variety of meals (see photos). Everything was good but portions tended to be small but adequate. After all this is not buffet!🙂

It was a bit chilly in the restaurant this period so they could consider space heaters during cold nights.

So...if ever in the Colombia SC area, do take a visit...

Rather overrated versus what I have heard others say. I'm of Cajun heritage, the gumbo and the etouffe were pretty basic, both felt they were missing a lot of depth I'd expect in those dishes . There's nothing really wrong with their dishes but they were entirely forgettable and the gumbo was bland for a gumbo. I tried my wife's shrimp and grits and it too lacked depth. (I also see the owner saying to another reviwer they have never heard complaints about their gumbo, well I'm here to tell y'all it is boring and underdeveloped and the other reviwer is correct you'd not get served that in a respected restaurant in Louisiana). For a restaurant, the rice definitely needs work and that would be easy to address but the rice is typical of what I'd expect in a home kitchen. There should also be more rice, while plating was nice I do not understand skimping on something as cheap as rice. Staff was friendly enough. The portions are extremely small. I had two entrees to myself and still left hungry. It's good for Columbia food I suppose but that's a very low bar. (Also as an aside it's in really poor form to bad mouth your 1 star reviewers on here which I'm only now seeing looking through reviews. Really doesn't matter if they are right or wrong.). I would have considered coming back, but the way I see the owner responding does make me feel like I should try again, I do wonder if I will get such a response since my review is overall negative even though there was absolutely no drama during our visit and I have edited my review pulling my punches a bit as a result. I really don't want to fight with people on the Internet over food just wanted to...

Lovely place! They seem to handle the over-flow of a walk-in only restaurant very well. We were quoted about 40 minutes with no seat preference and we went to their side bar (2 doors down) to grab a cocktail and the boiled peanut hummus (SO good). We were there for maybe 30 minutes before they called us back.

Upon reflection, I do wish we had asked for an actual seat. The bar stools are comfortable enough, but they do not have a back. I will always slump on a stool, and after a long day of hiking and kayaking at Congaree, I should have waited longer for comfort. I’m not even old- just give people backs on their stools!! This isn’t a “we want you to be uncomfortable so you leave faster” vibe of a place.

We were also seated at the bar stools directly in front of the door, and the air is COLD. yall- a thick curtain would cut down on a lot of that. I know it isn’t that cold here most of the year, but it’s February and it was 38 degrees outside. You can take it down in the warmer months! I’m so glad I had a wool shawl with me- I ate while completely wrapped up.

Fortunately, these are my only complaints! Bar service was fantastic and attentive. The food was wonderful. We got the pork Mac and cheese, blackened salmon, and the viet- Cajun spare ribs. Everything was INCREDIBLE. We got beignets to-go and ate them hours later- STILL amazing. We debated getting a gumbo bowl to-go and eat later and we didn’t. I might regret this decision forever.

Fantastic spot. Would definitely come back if I come back...