IRMO, S.C. — The North Carolina burger chain Cook Out is adding another Columbia-area store — this one across town from Irmo, at 1331 Roberts Branch Parkway in the city’s northeast quadrant.
The new store, taking over a former Steak ‘n Shake site, will be Cook Out’s seventh location in the Columbia area and its fifth inside Columbia city limits, according to the chain’s own website.
Cook Out has not yet released an opening date.
What this means for Irmo diners
The Roberts Branch Parkway site sits on the far side of the metro from Irmo — about 25 minutes via I-26 and I-77 under normal traffic, or longer during evening drive time. That is not around the corner. But it does close a hole on the Midlands late-night burger map that has sat open since the Steak ‘n Shake at that address closed.
For Irmo residents who work in northeast Columbia — commuters heading toward the Two Notch Road, Farrow Road or Killian corridors, or families driving to and from Blythewood — the store adds one more drive-through late-night option along the way home. Cook Out’s drive-throughs typically stay open past 2 a.m., which is later than most Irmo-side quick-service restaurants along the Lake Murray corridor.
What Irmo currently has, and does not have
Irmo’s own commercial spine — St. Andrews Road, Broad River Road and the Harbison retail belt — is dense with quick-service restaurants, but relatively thin on burger-focused chains that run late. The closest Cook Out to Irmo currently is on Bush River Road, about seven miles away.
The Roberts Branch Parkway store will not replace that Bush River convenience for Lake Murray-side drivers. But if Cook Out’s clustering pattern holds — the chain has historically clustered stores at busy secondary corners and near commuter arteries — Irmo could eventually see a closer location as northwest Columbia and the Harbison area continue to grow.
Why the northeast Columbia commercial belt keeps growing
The Roberts Branch Parkway corner sits inside one of the metro’s most active commercial expansion zones. Between Two Notch Road, Farrow Road and the I-77 spine, that quadrant serves a wide drive-time radius that stretches into Blythewood, Killian and Northeast Richland County.
Irmo, on the northwest edge of the metro along Lake Murray, has developed on a similar arc — but at a different scale, anchored by the Dominion Energy operations at Dreher Shoals Dam, Lexington Medical Center’s Irmo Medical Park and the Harbison retail corridor. Both submarkets have absorbed steady restaurant expansion over the past decade.
What is not yet known
• The Roberts Branch Parkway opening date
• Local hiring plans
• Whether the new store will be a full rebuild or a Steak ‘n Shake retrofit
HERE Irmo will update this story once Cook Out publishes an opening date.
