Cuisine:

• Spanish
• Catering

Columbia Restaurant Description:
Dependable Columbia claims to be Florida's oldest restaurant, with its first café opened in 1905 in nearby Ybor City, where it served Spanish cuisine to cigar factory workers transplanted from Cuba. The Central Florida location is one of six now scattered around the state, all decorated with historic memorabilia and heavy, dark tables and chairs. Nearly all the recipes are family treasures, and though they're famous for the black bean soup, we prefer the Spanish bean soup, a meal in a bowl with garbanzos, smoked ham, chorizo and potatoes in ham stock. And don't pass up the 1905 salad, a generous serving of lettuce, ham, Swiss cheese, olives, tomatoes, Romano cheese and homemade garlic dressing---good for sharing. Entrées include snapper Adelita topped with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and onions, and La Completa Cubana, a Cuban feast of roast pork, boliche, empanada de picadillo, platanos, yuca, black beans and yellow rice. There's a modest wine list, but instead try the imported sangría made with brandy, or the house version with fresh citrus juices. We also recommend the dense and creamy flan.


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