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A taste of historyThe Columbia Cafe, in the Tampa Bay History Center on the Tampa Riverwalk, creates the charm and flavor of the original Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. The Cafe offers a sampling of the Spanish- and Cuban-inspired dishes that made the 118-year-old restaurant famous.
Sunday – Thursday
11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday – Saturday
11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Longtime favorite Al “Coffee” McDaniel to perform from 6 – 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Call (813) 229-5511 for more information.
The historyFounded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez Sr., The Columbia of Ybor City is Florida’s Oldest Restaurant and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world.
Menu favorites include Spanish Bean Soup, Columbia’s Original “1905” Salad,® Chicken and Yellow Rice “Ybor,” The Original Cuban Sandwich, Cafe con Leche and Flan. Today, all six Columbia locations – including the Columbia Cafe at the Tampa Bay History Center − are owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation members of the Hernandez Gonzmart family.
The family’s seventh location, Columbia Restaurant Cafe at Tampa International Airport, is operated in partnership with HMSHost. The chairs in the Cafe at the History Center were originally used in the Don Quixote dining room at the Columbia Restaurant’s original Ybor City location. They date back to 1935 when the Don Quixote was built.
The Don Quixote room at the Columbia was Tampa’s first “dining room” and helped the restaurant gain prominence for fine dining. It was also Tampa’s first air-conditioned dining room! The chairs were made in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia. In 2005, they were placed in storage and renovated for use at The Columbia Cafe at Tampa Bay History Center. Inside the Columbia Restaurant Cafe, guests can dine at a scaled-down version of the original Brunswick bar, built more than a century ago in 1905 at Columbia Ybor City.
The Water Street neighborhood has hundreds of parking spaces just around the corner. You can access three public parking lots and garages within a 6-minute walk of the Columbia Cafe.