Columbia Restaurant-Tampa
The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City is not only the largest Spanish restaurant in the country but also the oldest in the state. This historically significant establishment was founded in 1905 by Casimiro Hernández, Sr., a Cuban immigrant. The Columbia is well-known across the city for its supper shows, authentic Spanish cuisine, and charming old-world architecture. The café features live entertainment in the form of flamenco and jazz performances.
The restaurant, in Tampa, FL, which has been owned and run by the same family for the past 116 years, has garnered praise not just for its award-winning Spanish and Cuban food but also for its extensive wine selection. Open all 365 days of the year, including all major holidays, with lunch and supper service offered daily. In the dining area, sleeveless shirts for men are not permitted despite the fact that casual clothes are acceptable.
It is also the restaurant with the longest continuous history as a Spanish establishment in the United States, as well as the largest Spanish restaurant in the entire world. It encompasses a total of 52,000 square feet and features 15 dining rooms with a combined total of 1,700 seats. It was opened in 1903 under the name Saloon Columbia, but in 1905 it was rebranded as the Columbia Restaurant. The Hernandez-Gonzmart family has been the proprietors of the historic site for the past five generations, and it specializes in Cuban and Spanish cuisine. The St. Petersburg Times named the Columbia Restaurant one of the 25 most iconic restaurants in the Petersburg-Tampa area in June of 2009. The honor was bestowed onto the restaurant by the newspaper. Additionally, it was chosen for inclusion in the “Top 50 All-American icon” category of Nations’s Restaurant News. The Columbia in Tampa received the “Recommended” designation from the 2022 Michelin Guide for Florida.
Feel the blazing heat of flamenco dancing! Guests who are over the age of 12 will be required to pay a cover charge of $8.00 per person. Dinner reservations can be made for the evening show at 7 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday between the hours of 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Dinner reservations for the Friday and Saturday concert that starts at 9:30 p.m. should be made for either 8:30 or 9 p.m. Dinner and the entertainment both demand that you make reservations in advance. In order to check the restaurant’s availability for bookings, kindly phone the establishment.