A popular Mexican restaurant will open in this former Columbia Lizard’s Thicket location
It appears what once was a hub for Southern country cooking will soon be a hot spot for tacos and other Mexican fare.
The former Lizard’s Thicket at 402 Beltline Boulevard in Columbia has been sold, according to a release from commercial real estate firm Colliers South Carolina. Cason Development Group has purchased the property, and it will be modified to house a Moctezumas Mexican restaurant, per the release.
The one-time Lizard’s Thicket building on Beltline is about 6,500-square-feet, and is in a busy commercial area east of downtown, less than a half-mile from Midlands Technical College’s Beltline campus.
Moctezumas has long had a footprint in the area, and currently has a small shop at 506 Beltline. It also used to have another location nearby at 4341 Fort Jackson Blvd., but that spot closed earlier this year after the building where it was located was sold. The company also recently developed a location in Greer in the Upstate.
Colliers represented the Williams family, which has long operated the numerous Lizard’s Thicket locations across the Midlands, in the recent sale of the Beltline Boulevard property.
”The property is in a great location, enabling us to achieve a high value for the property,” Colliers’ Crawford Prezioso said in a statement. “It will continue to serve the local community as a family restaurant.”
A sale price for the building was not disclosed in the release.
The Lizard’s Thicket at Beltline Boulevard closed in August 2021, in what was initially announced as a temporary closure, amid a labor shortage. The location never reopened, however.
Meanwhile, Lizard’s Thicket has continued to plow ahead with 13 other locations across the Midlands and South Carolina, specializing in meat-and-three lunches and dinners, as well as breakfast. It is planning a 14th restaurant in Red Bank, which could open by the end of the year.
