Icon of Columbia bar scene closes after more than 40 years

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Rockaway Athletic Club, an icon of Columbia’s bar and restaurant scene for more than 40 years, has closed its doors for good.

The bar and restaurant, located at 2719 Rosewood Drive, was purchased by Columbia real estate developers Cason Development Group as of Jan. 16.

On social media, representatives of Cason said they plan to make “initial exterior improvements” to the building.

“We are hoping that someone can resurrect either that business or something very similar to it,” a post read. “We are working with a local group, and want it to be something that meets the needs of the two neighborhoods on either side of it, Rosewood and Shandon.”

The previous owners of Rockaway Athletic Club and the former restaurant’s manager were not available for comment.

According to posts on social media, plans originally were to keep the bar open until Sunday, Jan. 21, but so many people came out to say their goodbyes and show support that food and supplies ran out and the doors shut, effective Thursday, Jan. 18. Hundreds of people had posted on its Facebook page by Thursday afternoon, many leaving comments about years of memories at the venue, including several who had met their future spouses there.

“For over 40 years, we have had the pleasure of serving you and now we look forward to being on the other side of a bar,” the owners wrote on Facebook. “We are excited to see what Cason Development Group does with this location in Columbia’s coolest Micro Urban district. Cheers to all!”

Rockaway Athletic Club was started in 1982 by original owners and brothers the late Paul Whitlark and Forrest Whitlark. The venue was famous for its no-frills approach and decor — the building never in its history had a sign on it and was located in a plain brick industrial style  building on the corner of Rosewood Drive and Howard Street, its windows shaded by black shutters.

Rockaway’s laid-back atmosphere drew a wide variety of people, both locals and out-of-towners who visited after hearing about its famous hamburgers and other dishes. It was the kind of place that people who had moved away always made sure to visit when they returned to Columbia. Customers loved to belly up to the long bar, known as the Palmetto Liquor Library, which offered what owners claimed was one of the largest selections of liquors in the Southeast.

It was the rare bar and restaurant that was just as well known for its food as it was for the drinks. Rockaway’s menu offered a wide selection of sandwiches and other fare, but it was best known for its hamburgers, especially a pimento cheese burger which gained rave write-ups in many national food publications. In 2021 Food and Wine named the pimento burger the best hamburger in South Carolina. The pimento cheese fries were equally well loved.

Rockaway also left an important stamp on the Rosewood community because the original owners were instrumental in launching local events like the Rosewood Crawfish Festival and Art & Music Festival, which have since been taken over by the Greater Rosewood Merchants Association.

The original building burned in 2002, an event which caused headlines in local and regional media because the place was so beloved by thousands of current and former customers, many of whom discovered it while students at the University of South Carolina or while stationed at Fort Jackson. Rockaway reopened in 2004.

The cavernous but comfortable interior offered something for everyone, from TVs positioned everywhere for watching sports to arcade games like Skee-Ball. Eclectic signature decor included a vintage Zoltan the Fortuneteller machine near the entrance. The Wednesday night trivia games drew crowds of dedicated players every week.

Rockaway Athletic Club is just the latest iconic Columbia venue to close or change locations. The drumbeat of losses to the city’s signature bar community started in 2020 with the pandemic-fueled closing of Yesterday’s Restaurant & Tavern in nearby Five Points, which had been open since 1978. The Whig, an iconic underground dive bar located at the corner of Main and Gervais, closed in late 2022 after 17 years after the building it was in was purchased to become a boutique hotel.

New Brookland Tavern, a popular music club located along State Street in West Columbia since the 1990s left its original location in fall 2023 and moved to a new location on Harden Street in Five Points.