It’s official: Here’s when The Whig is actually closing

The final days have arrived for The Whig, an underground bar that has become a favorite for Columbians through the course of nearly two decades.

The Whig, located in the basement at 1200 Main St., directly across from the South Carolina State House, announced earlier this year it would be closing as its lease was not renewed amid plans for the property to be turned into a hotel. Now the bar, which has been open for 17 years, will mark its last days this week.

According to co-owner Will Green, The Whig will be open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Its final day in business will be Saturday, Nov. 19.

Demolition and other work already has begun to turn the 11-story building at 1200 Main into a Marriott Moxy brand hotel. Columbia hotelier Rick Patel, who also developed the nearby Sheraton hotel on Main Street, is developing the Moxy.

Green, who has been with The Whig since 2006 and became a co-owner of the business in 2018, said the team at the venerable dive bar has had time, since August, to deal with the inevitability of its closure.

“For us it has always been about going out with grace, about giving good service through the end, through the strange pressures that we’ve been under,” Green said. “We feel that we’ve managed to keep up our standards, to give our customers what they want and expect, while at the same time maintaining our sanity.

“It has been nice that it has been able to be a long goodbye, since people have been able to come in over the last couple months and say their goodbyes.”

The Whig will be bar only during its last four days in business, and will not be serving its regular food menu.

Green and fellow Whig co-owner Phill Blair also are the owners of WECO Bottle and Biergarten in West Columbia. That business remains open.