Mr. Friendly's New Southern Cafe — Restaurant in Columbia

Finally got around to trying Mr. Friendly’s. Our party of two had a 6:30 PM reservation on a Saturday night. We were a few minutes early and our table wasn’t quite ready, so we went to the bar. I ordered a Mr. Friendly’s 75, which is their version of a French 75. It was quite good. My friend got the Watermelon-Basil “Mojito”, which was very refreshing. We barely got our drinks before our table was ready, so we had to close out at the bar before heading to our table. Sam greeted us right away and gave us plenty of time to look over the specials and menu. We ordered the skillet baked Country Ham Spinach Dip and fried Adluh Yellow Grit Cakes for appetizers. The spinach dip was quite good, but the bread was not toasted, as indicated on the menu. It looked to be a sliced store-bought baguette, very plain and not appealing to the eye. The grit cakes were OK, and not something I would order again. For our entrées, we ordered the Cornmeal Fried NC Catfish and the Char-Grilled CAB Ribeye. The catfish was delicious, along with the collard greens, tartar sauce, and grits that came with it. Again, the ribeye was OK, but if I order a steak in a restaurant, I expect it to be better than what I could make at home. There was nothing special about it. I normally order my steak medium rare, but because I was sharing with my table mate, I went with medium, which was exactly how it was cooked. The blue cheese stuffed peach was less than good. Great idea, in concept, but the blue cheese was way overpowering. The mashed potatoes were delicious, as were the seasonal vegetables. We finished with two desserts, the Peanut Butter Fudge Pie, and the Crème Brûlée Cheesecake. The pie was absolutely delicious, but I think the crème brûlée cheesecake missed the mark. Just not a lot of flavor. Sam was a wonderful waiter and was attentive when he needed to be, but not intrusive otherwise. I had high expectations for Mr. Friendly’s, and they came in a little below the bar. I would be willing to try it again. The atmosphere was nice. I enjoyed the interior artwork, and it was quiet enough that you could hold a conversation without shouting. There was ample parking in the lot...

We are staying in Columbia for the eclipse and decided to eat here given all the rave reviews. We sat down and the atmosphere is lovely, paintings adorn the walls of an old bakery turned restaurant/Inn. We had our glasses of wine and were waiting on our Bacon Wrapped Angus Pimento Filet Mignon. My son said he saw a large cockroach on the curtain and I assured him it was likely a moth. Within seconds of him saying that a large roach scurried past my foot and climbed up the sole of a mans flip flop dining at the table next to ours. Totally disgusted, I turned to my husband and mentioned what I saw. Within seconds of that, the lady's at the next table warned a group of women who were just sitting down that they saw a large roach on that table. Nobody seemed upset or disgusted by this, just like it was matter-of-fact. A moment later a huge roach had crawled into a lady's purse at the table behind me. I know this sounds crazy--the place is overrun with roaches, big, big roaches. My husband went to the manager and the manager said "Oh, where y'all from". My husband told him Florida, then the manager said "Oh, well you get it then, can't keep the roaches out!". We cancelled our order and left, assuring the manager that yes, we live in Southern Florida but we do not dine in establishments that have roaches running through the dining area. Florida has a 'Dirty Dining Report" that comes out weekly and Florida does not do roaches in restaurants or they are shut down. Totally disgusted. We are still freaked out a day later and concerned about all restaurants in the area allowing roaches to be...

Absolutely the highlight of our trip to Columbia! From start to finish, this experience was a delight and needed after weeks spent dealing with the affects of Hurricane Helene on our home and community.

Ashton was our waitress and did a phenomenal job taking care of us, explaining things, and just being there to chat. It was great to feel normal for a bit.

We started with soup where I had the seafood bouillabaise which had such devine flavor and filled with seafood including many mussels and my hubby had the cream of broccoli soup which was decadently creamy and filled with tender broccoli florets.

I had the chef's vegetarian dish of pumpkin ravioli topped with brown butter, balsamic glaze, toasty pecans, and wilted spinach which was the perfect balanced dish that gave all the perfect fall fibes! My hubby had the sea trout topped with a creamy, cucumber remoulade with buttery grits and a crisp, tart slaw. Both dishes were so incredible in balance, flavor, and presentation. I honestly don't think you could go wrong with any of their dishes!

For dessert, Ashton and her manager graciously gifted us our dessert of apple pie springrolls with carmel sauce. Honestly, it made me never want to eat apple pie any other way again it was THAT GOOD!!!

They treated us so well from when we walked in until we left that we will easily drive the 2 hours just to eat there and will become on our list of stops when making trips...