Diverse-Owned Businesses in Columbia, SC to Support in 2026

A vegan kitchen doing Southern comfort food, a seafood counter on Garners Ferry Road, a barber lounge that finishes every cut with a hot towel and a straight razor, a jazz listening room, a bank, and a CPA firm with 20 years behind it. Columbia's record on this directory is small enough to read in one sitting and broad enough to cover most of a week.

Every business named here links to its profile, where the ownership tag shows the source it came from. For the whole set, filter the Columbia hub.

Quick answer

1. Eat at A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen for plant-based Southern food, or Garners Ferry Seafood for platters and crab.
2. Get barbecue from Big Boys Original Smokehouse and a smoked plate from Smoke it Up.
3. Book a cut at Regal Lounge or Carolina Hair Studios downtown.
4. Spend an evening at Chayz Lounge for jazz and wine.
5. Bank with Optus Bank and file with Jones Financial Service.
6. Call Solomon Law Group or Shadd Law Firm if you need a lawyer.
7. Order the cake from Main Street Bakery and the linens from Table Linen and More.
8. The Columbia hub carries all 30 listings across 11 categories.

Where should I eat and drink?

A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen cooks Southern comfort food without meat and serves breakfast through dinner, which is a rarer combination than it sounds. Garners Ferry Seafood does platters, crab and shrimp. Big Boys Original Smokehouse is the brisket sandwich, and Smoke it Up runs the food truck version of the same idea.

For an event rather than a table, 8th Wonder Cuisine provides personal chef and bartender service, and Main Street Bakery bakes custom cakes. Denean the Coffee Queen runs a cafe inside the Soldier Support Institute at Fort Jackson, which is worth knowing if you work on post.

In the evening, Chayz Lounge is an intimate listening room built around jazz and wine.

Who cuts hair, and who does skin?

Regal Lounge includes a shampoo, scalp massage, hot towel and straight razor finish with every cut. Carolina Hair Studios works on women's, men's and children's hair downtown, and Wesley's Salon and Spa covers both sides of the house.

Body Sugaring and Wellness Spa does sugaring and skin treatments, and Makeup by Kei Kei does professional skincare and makeup. Raw Body Piercing handles piercings and jewelry changes.

Health, fitness and the practical stuff

Bethea Family Dentistry builds its practice around a long doctor and patient relationship. TNT Martial Arts and Fitness teaches children and adults and runs after-school care, summer camp and parents' night out, which makes it as much a childcare option as a dojo. Jamie Scott Fitness trains one to one.

Around the house and the yard: Palmetto Yard Groomers maintains residential and commercial lawns, Rieslee Auto services cars across Columbia, Lexington and Irmo, and A James Global Services is an 8(a) certified firm managing commercial and government construction and renovation.

Money, law and the record of it

Optus Bank is a Columbia bank taking deposits and paying rates on CDs and money market accounts. Jones Financial Service is a local CPA firm with more than 20 years of practice. Solomon Law Group works personal injury, car and truck accidents, and Shadd Law Firm takes a wider range of matters.

For pictures and print: Stephanie Williams Portraits and Henry Jones Photography shoot portraits and lifestyle work, and P&B Promotional puts your logo on things.

What should I buy?

Harlem's Closet has a storefront in the city. Beautiful Windows Elgin sells fabric by the yard online. Table Linen and More rents chair covers, tablecloths, runners and backdrops for the event you are planning.

What the record does not cover yet

There are 30 published listings in Columbia, and all 30 are filed in the city itself. West Columbia, Cayce, Lexington, Irmo, Chapin, Blythewood, Elgin, Forest Acres, Gaston, Hopkins and Batesburg-Leesville have none yet.

By type, the thin ends are construction, bakeries and events, each with one listing, and there is no plumber, electrician, HVAC company or general contractor in the Midlands record at all. That is a gap in the record rather than a description of Columbia, and it is the easiest kind to fix. If you run a trade business here, a free listing puts you in front of people who are already looking.

Common mistakes

• Reading the Minority-owned tag as a specific claim. Most of these listings came from a roundup that covered Black-owned and minority-owned businesses together without saying which applied to each one. The tag records only what the source actually asserted.
• Assuming a food truck keeps restaurant hours. Two of the best-known food businesses here move around. Check where they are parked before you drive.
• Missing the Fort Jackson cafe. One coffee business here trades inside the Soldier Support Institute, so access follows the post's rules rather than a normal shopfront.
• Looking only downtown. Auto service, lawn care and construction here work across the Midlands, not just in the city center.

FAQ