New restaurant coming to former Yesterdays site in Five Points

Listen to this article

The former site of the iconic Yesterdays Restaurant and Tavern in Five Points will soon have a new tenant.

The building at the corner of Devine and Harden streets will be the new home of Ruby Sunshine, a New Orleans-based chain that specializes in brunch and has locations throughout the Southeast, including Charleston.

“Ruby Sunshine Columbia plans to open at 2030 Devine St. in Five Points and is targeting a summer 2023 opening,” the company said in a statement sent to SC Biz News on Oct. 18.

Ruby Sunshine is run by the same owners who started the Ruby Slipper Café in New Orleans, which has since expanded to 19 locations around the Southeast.

The restaurant’s menu offers a wide range of breakfast and brunch options, including French toast, eggs Benedict, shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy, shrimp and grits, omelets, pancakes, sandwiches and salads. Ruby Sunshine also has a drink menu that includes mimosa, Bloody Mary’s, and margaritas.

Ruby Sunshine will bring activity back to the empty building that for years was home to Yesterdays, famed for its down-home atmosphere, Southern cuisine and outdoor statue of a cowboy in a full-sized bathtub.

Yesterdays opened in 1978, owned by brothers Duncan MacRea and Scottie MacRea and their business partner Darrell Barnes. The three closed the restaurant in 2020, ending a 43-year run that made it one of the most popular dining spots and hangouts in Five Points. The restaurant frequently attracted well-known Columbia and South Carolina celebrities ranging from Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish to the late novelist Pat Conroy.

Officials from Ruby Sunshine said more details about the restaurant’s opening in Columbia will be coming soon.

Efforts to reach members of the Five Points Association on Tuesday were unsuccessful.