CCB Bistro & Vine, the Rock Hill wine bar, restaurant and bookstore known for pairing unlikely dishes with unlikely wines, will close its doors Nov. 25, 2026, the day before Thanksgiving. After five years in business, co-owner Shonali Thomas says the shutdown is not a failure story — it's a business ending sooner than planned, with a new one already taking shape.
Five Years of Corks, Cooks and Books
CCB — short for Corks, Cooks and Books — opened in the summer of 2021, built around a concept its own website describes as the area's first and only combined wine bar, restaurant and bookstore, according to ccbbistroandvine.com. The business was co-owned by Mindy Kuhn, who runs Warren Publishing, and Shonali Thomas, founder of SplenDishes Kitchen. As reported by the Post and Courier, the two women opened the shop together in 2021 after Kuhn published Thomas's second cookbook in 2017 — a partnership that grew from publisher and author into business partners running a bar, kitchen and bookshop under one roof.
Over the years, CCB built a following for wine tastings built around unusual pairings, including red meat served alongside chardonnay. Kuhn told the Post and Courier the business grew to nearly 50 people at some gatherings, with strong attendance that she credits in part to loyal regulars who helped keep the doors open even as conditions shifted. Before the Nov. 25 close, the bistro plans live music every weekend and chef's specials on its final night, with Kuhn saying she prefers a quiet last evening so she can speak with patrons individually rather than host a big blowout.
What Pushed the Closure
According to the Post and Courier's reporting, CCB faced mounting financial pressure from rising dining costs, increased building maintenance expenses, and smaller appetites tied to the growing use of GLP-1 medications. The newspaper separately reported decreased overall foot traffic at the restaurant. Researchers have found that GLP-1 drugs decrease users' spending on both food and alcohol, a pattern Kuhn said she observed firsthand among CCB's own customer base, the newspaper reported.
That local observation lines up with broader industry data. Circana reported that as of September 2025, 23% of U.S. households included someone using a GLP-1 medication, according to NRN. Technomic data from the same period suggested GLP-1 users cut daily calorie intake by 15% to 20%, with 35% saying they visit restaurants less often and 36% reporting they simply eat less overall. Circana also found that after a full year on the medications, users' restaurant spending ticked up slightly, by about 0.9% on average, even as their spending on packaged food, beverages and alcohol declined.
A separate study reported by the Cornell Chronicle found that households cut grocery spending by an average of 5.3% within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, while spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries fell by roughly 8%. None of this research ties directly to CCB's finances, but it mirrors the shift Kuhn described watching play out at her own bar.
Pop-Ups, Book Orders and a New Restaurant on the River
CCB won't vanish entirely once the lease ends. The business plans pop-up events throughout December, to be announced on its Facebook page and website, and Kuhn says she'll keep Warren Publishing running along with the book club that started at CCB, filling book orders through her booth at Yorkville Marketplace. SplenDishes Kitchen orders will still be available for pickup at CCB's storefront until a new kitchen is built.
That new kitchen is destined for Vino Cava, a restaurant Thomas plans to open near the Pump House beside the Catawba River in March 2027. Unlike CCB, Vino Cava is described as an actual restaurant rather than a wine bar, with plans for tapas, signature cocktails, beer and wine, plus a small room set aside for book clubs and wine tastings. Thomas intends to bring most of CCB's current staff along to the new location, according to the Post and Courier's reporting.
The bistro's event calendar listed a wine tasting with Charles from Breakthru set for Nov. 15, 2025, at 6 p.m., featuring six wines and a tapas pairing board prepared by Chef Shonali, per the listing on ccbbistroandvine.com. For a Rock Hill shop that built its identity on corks, cooks and books, the final weeks look a lot like the first ones — just with an eye on the next chapter by the river.
