There isn’t much to mark the two-mile stretch of highway between Two Notch and Percival Roads as an international corridor, other than a festive brick sign emblazoned with flags at each end, but after driving up Decker Boulevard, it’s easy to see that there’s a distinctly global feel to the area. Signs on the strip malls and the converted-but-still-recognizable Taco Bell give an indication that there’s something different about the area.
In 2008, Richland County officials realized a high percentage of businesses in the area were internationally focused, and embraced the theme by declaring it the Decker Boulevard International Corridor.
“I think it’s a celebration of what happened organically, it’s what this area really is,” says Ashley Powell, interim planning services manager for Richland County.
And the county is doing its part to give the community more room to grow.
“One of the first things we did was put up banners and then the gateway signs,” says Richland County Councilman Jim Manning. Then, in 2015, the county razed a former bank building that had been left vacant and in disrepair for the past decade. It’s now called the Decker Center; Powell says that the $31 million investment and future law enforcement complex housing courtrooms, a sheriff’s office and community rooms is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The county has also offered facade grants to about 17 businesses to help owners to spruce up their exteriors with fresh paint, or new windows, doors, or more prominent signage, says Manning.
Up and down Decker, strip malls rule the street sides and are packed with businesses. Today, about 16 international restaurants and groceries are in operation. With the fast pace of the hospitality industry and the challenges that come with running a restaurant, turnover is frequent, though many of the places have been longtime staples of the corridor.
Taking a step into a restaurant where you don’t speak the language or have never heard of some of the main ingredients used can be intimidating, but the people who work there are often eager to answer any questions. On a recent stop by Arirang Korean Restaurant, I took a seat at one of the 10 tabletops in the small shop where I was one of three customers on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The menu was bursting with dishes and flavors I wasn’t very familiar with, but my server came over to guide me through the many options. Ultimately I went for the bibimbap, a rice and vegetable bowl that had a degree of familiarity. He asked if I wanted it in a hot bowl and explained that it meant temperature-wise. It wasn’t a cold day outside, but in the spirit of feeling adventurous I agreed.
While my entree was cooking I was presented with 16 small white dishes, each with a different type of vegetable — most pickled — contained within. Again, unfamiliar with the custom, I asked if it was meant to go into the upcoming entree, or how I should go about eating it. He explained that this presentation was known as banchan, or loosely translated, side dishes.
“They are meant to kind of complement the meal,” he said.
I managed to use the provided metal chopsticks to guide kimchi, pickled sprouts, a spicy potato-like vegetable and more into my mouth, with some pieces not making it there and falling on the table. A man sitting with his back to me chose that moment to turn around and declare his love for Arirang and its authenticity that reminded him of his past trips to Korea.
Shortly after, a bowl sizzling more violently than a plate of fajitas at an Applebee’s was brought out to me, furiously hissing to release steam. Heat radiated off of the stone bowl enough to cause me to need to remove my scarf and push my water glass away to prevent it from becoming tepid. With the stone bowl not ready to eat anytime soon I realized the importance of the banchan — to keep me from scorching my tongue off.
After filling up on Korean food, a break in eating was in order. Not far down Decker, another quiet strip mall containing a series of Mexican grocery staples looked like it had a good selection. Riveras Food Tienda y Carniceria has nearly everything that one would need to create a top notch Mexican dinner. Wandering first through the grocery, the vibrant selection of produce stood out. A rainbow of peppers in bins were next to nopales, an edible flat cactus paddle that is cleaned of its spikes and often used as a side vegetable. The back edge of the store is dedicated to the carniceria, or butcher shop. An assortment of bottled hot sauces ranged from mild to fuego.
Next door, Panaderia Odalys looks like a magical wonderland, with rows of Lucite cases featuring hundreds of Mexican pastries. A variety of churros from the traditional cinnamon and sugar to the raspberry filled are lined up next to puffy shell-shaped conchas and pillowy croissant lookalike cuernitos dulces. Overhead, a sea of piñatas inspire grabbing a stick and going to town. Rounding out the sugar overload experience are a variety of bottled sodas including the ubiquitous Jarritos, which is basically diabetes in a bottle at 29 grams of sugar per 12.5 ounces, on average. But the flavors — mandarin, tamarind, guava, limon — beg to send you into a sugar high that would rival an unsupervised child at a birthday party.
Further down Decker, a mashup of signs overhead in one strip mall advertise an enthralling mix of foods. From left to right it reads: Mama J’s Caribbean Restaurant, Oriental International Market, and West Indian and African Foods. The two markets reside within the same space, adjoining to Mama J’s. The market offerings leaned mostly Asian, with rows and rows of spices, sauces, noodles and enormous sacks of rice. An entire row offers Jamaican sodas in tropical flavors, bridging the gap between the cultures named on the outside signs.
On the forefront of the area’s growth, the Decker Boulevard Business Coalition was formed in 2006 and works to unite the business owners to keep the corridor vibrant.
“Our long range goals are to see Decker Boulevard continue to grow in the number of international businesses, cultural awareness, and appreciation of diversity that we have on the corridor,” says Sylvia Hanna, president and founder of the coalition.
Decker Boulevard’s International Businesses
O-Bok Korean Restaurant
1616 Decker Blvd.
Supermercado el Mariachi
1735 Decker Blvd.
El Salto Mexican Cuisine
1801 Decker Blvd.
Taqueria Guadalajara
1807 Decker Blvd.
Hyundai Oriental Grocery and Gift
1807 Decker Blvd.
Kimchi
1807 Decker Blvd.
Egg Roll Express
1807 Decker Blvd.
Tacos Nayarit
1942 Decker Blvd.
Arirang Korean Restaurant and Asian Grocery & Market
1943 Decker Blvd.
Riveras Foods Tienda y Carnicera and Panaderia Odalys
1945 Decker Blvd.
Oriental International Market
& Mama J’s
2205-H Decker Blvd.
Taste of China Hut
2233 Decker Blvd.
Pho Viet
2300 Decker Blvd.
Korea Garden
2318 Decker Blvd.
Boeshreen Mediterranean Cuisine
2630 Decker Blvd.
