COLUMBIA — A popular cafe and market is expanding west with a second location.
Crave Artisan Market, a locally sourced grocery store and café on Millwood Avenue, purchased a new retail space on 725 Meeting Street in January. While they have not yet set an opening date, the owners plan to extend Crave’s goods and services to vacant storefront in the West Columbia area.
James Williams, owner of Crave and president of Food People Restaurant Group, believes the property, formerly inhabited by meal prep kitchen Primal Gourmet, is in a prime space for Crave’s second location.
“We love what's going on in West Columbia,” said Williams. “The town has been super supportive of businesses — and it’s growing.”
Sharing kitchen space with Food People’s TakoSushi, along with other food vendors housed by The People’s Kitchen, LLC, the new Crave will feature the same artisanal provisions in their current storefront and café. At their Columbia location are signature offerings like sandwiches and paninis — including the Carlisle Korean Pulled Pork, the Millwood Cuban and the Butler Blue Cheese. Crave is part of Food People Restaurant Group, as well as Carolina Ale House and TakoSushi.
With new roots in West Columbia, Williams and the rest of Crave’s team hope to be able to serve the downtown-area through meal delivery apps. Williams said Crave plans to use apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub — but Williams encourages locals to come visit the new Crave in person.
“We are just excited to be part of the community in West Columbia,” said Williams. “We’re hoping people come see us and this beautiful space that we're very proud of.”
This story was updated to correct the location of Crave's original location
