Columbia Restaurant

A favorite Tapas selection of vegetarians and lovers of black beans. Our house-made black beans puréed and combined with fresh garlic, shallots, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, then breaded and fried. Served with guacamole and sour cream

A Cuban twist to an American favorite, our two large crab cakes are loaded with fresh hand-picked blue crabmeat and grilled. Drizzled with a passionfruit alioli sauce

Tender calamari seasoned and lightly fried

Tender, wild caught North Atlantic calamares dusted in seasoned flour and lightly fried. The recipe is from our famed third chef, Miguel Bejines of Sevilla, Spain

Baked silver dollar mushrooms stuffed with baby spinach, artichoke hearts, fresh garlic and Romano cheese. Drizzled with Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and lemon

Frijoles Negros prepared exactly as our great-grandmother, Carmen Hernandez, did. Served over a bed of white rice and topped with diced raw Spanish onion

Frijoles Negros prepared exactly as our grandmother Carmen Hernandez did. Served over a bed of white rice and topped with diced raw Spanish onions. 100% vegan

Spain's famous cold soup of purée of ripe tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumbers and garlic. Topped tableside with finely diced vegetables and toasted Cuban croutons

Known back at the turn of the 20th century as Sopa de Garbanzo, the soup helped make the Columbia famous. The founder of the Columbia, Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., adapted his version of hearty multi-course meal known in Spain as Cocido Madrileño. Instead of serving different ingredients separately, he combined them all together creating an original version of garbanzo beans, ham, chorizo and potato cooked in a hearty chicken and ham stock seasoned with saffron, garlic and onions. By the 1920s, newspapers boasted of Tampa's three great delights, "sunshine, cigars and soup."

Crisp romaine lettuce tossed with Classic Caesar dressing, Romano cheese and Cuban bread croutons

A favorite of our father and grandfather, César Gonzmart. Fresh, ripe, Florida tomatoes tossed with julienned Spanish onions and our Original "1905" Dressing made with imported Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, oregano and white wine vinegar

The Columbia’s legendary salad tossed tableside. Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and our famous garlic dressing. The award-winning salad won honors from USA Today as “One of 10 Great Places to Make a Meal Out of a Salad.” The signature salad, named for the year the restaurant was founded in Tampa’s Latin district of Ybor City, was inspired by immigrants to the Cigar City: Romano cheese from the Sicilians and the famous garlic dressing used by Cubans to marinate fresh roast pork, plus Florida tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, julienne of baked ham and Swiss cheese

One half bone-in chicken with green peppers, Spanish onions, tomato, smoked ham, hearts of artichoke, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil baked in a casserole with Spain’s Molino Roca Dinamita rice. Splashed with white wine and topped with green peas and red pimentos. (Please allow extra time for preparation.)

Baked boneless fillet of fresh grouper stuffed with crabmeat and finished with a tropical passionfruit butter sauce. Served with yellow rice and vegetables

A large bowl of black bean soup topped with chopped tomatoes, sweet onions and our World-Famous Original “1905” Dressing. A favorite pre-race meal for marathon runners and triathletes

Traditional Cuban pot roast, featuring a tenderized eye of round beef, stuffed with chorizo sausage, marinated with garlic, oregano, bay leaf and extra-virgin olive oil, slowly roasted with onions, garlic, red wine and a rich beef gravy until tender, sliced and served with black beans, white rice and fried sliced sweet plantains. Favorite of R.G.’s!

Two tender cannelloni pastas filled with Maine lobster meat, shrimp, pan-seared scallops and sautéed shallots blended with a lobster sherry cream reduction, smothered with a lobster sherry Mornay cheese sauce and pieces of lobster

The Cuban Sandwich is Tampa treasure. The "Mixto," was created in the late 1890s for the cigar workers. The sandwich underwent changes as immigrants from different countries came to Ybor City. The Spanish brought the ham, the Sicilians Genoa salami, the Cubans mojo-marinated roast pork, the Germans and Jewish Swiss cheese, pickle and mustard. Layer together in between Cuban bread from LA Segunda Central Bakery and life is great. Today we are using the original 1915 recipe of Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., using the same proportions of meat with the Cuban bread brushed with butter on top, pressed to a crispy finish

Lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and mayo. With fries

The best fish sandwich north of Havana. Grilled fresh mahi-mahi seasoned and topped with sautéed onions, mushrooms, green peppers and smothered with Swiss cheese on Cuban bread with plantain chips

Mojo-marinated char-grilled breast of chicken, melted Swiss cheese, piquillo peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and alioli sauce on Cuban bread. Served with plantain chips

Meatloaf topped with Swiss cheese, yellow mustard, pickles and pressed on Cuban bread

The traditional dish from Tampa's Ybor City, one quarter chicken baked with yellow rice, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, spices and extra-virgin olive oil

Compart Family Farms pork shoulder marinated in a delicious garlic-citrus sauce, slowly roasted until tender and topped with sautéed onions. Served with yuca, black beans and white rice

Cuba's most popular blue plate special. Finely ground beef braised with onions, peppers, raisins and olives and served with white rice

Crispy, golden fries

Fried sweet plantains

Fluffy steamed white rice

Traditional Spanish-style yellow rice

Slow-cooked cassava with garlic mojo

Golden-brown Spanish pastry dusted with cinnamon sugar. Served with three sauces of rich, warm chocolate, caramel and guava

Gustavo Hernandez was the third son of the Columbia founder, Casimiro Hernandez Sr. Gustavo branched out and founded the Tropical Ice Cream Co. in Ybor City in the early 1940s, producing freshly made tropical ice cream for the Columbia and other restaurants. The most famous and requested of all was the coconut ice cream served in a coconut shell. Today, we are proud to once again be making and serving this Columbia classic

A favorite of the Gonzmart family when visiting the "Los Caracoles" restaurants in Barcelona, Spain. "Natilla," Catalan cream, is sprinkled with sugar and caramelized with a flaming torch

We think our flan is the best we have ever tasted. One taste and we think you will agree. The recipe dates to 1935 when the Columbia opened Tampa’s first “Conditioned Air” dining room, the Don Quixote. Our grandmother and great-grand-mother, Carmen Hernandez, helped the Columbia gain national fame with her great recipes, especially her flan. Spanish caramel egg custard, prepared the old-fashioned way, using only the best natural ingredients

Carmen Hernandez baked this dessert at her home for our family on Sundays. Tropical sweet guava and melted sweet cream cheese baked in a soft crispy pastry, dusted with sugar granules, drizzled with vanilla bean sauce. One taste and you will understand why it was our favorite dessert

The original Key lime pie recipe was thought to have been created in Key West, the birthplace of our grandmother and great-grandmother, Carmen Piloto Hernandez in the late 19th century. When the family moved to Ybor City, they brought a prized Key lime tree to plant at their home, beginning a tradition of enjoying fresh Key lime pie at family gatherings. Today our pies start with a graham cracker crust, and our filling is made from pasteurized egg yolks, condensed milk and “Nellie & Joe’s” Key lime juice. That’s it! Key lime pie is the “Official Pie of the State of Florida.”

Our father and grandfather’s favorite dessert. Simply put, this is the best bread pudding that we have tasted anywhere we have ever visited. Our version is made with white chocolate, LA Segunda Central Bakery Cuban bread, Sunny Florida Dairy milk and Florida eggs. Topped with a rich Bacardi rum sauce. Enough to share

Honoring Tampa's nickname as "The Big Guava," this New York-style cheesecake is topped with tropical fruit

Tito's Handmade Vodka combined with muddled fresh strawberries, fresh basil and fresh lime juice. Shaken and served on the rocks

Named for our 2nd-generation Chacho Hernandez who loved his spirits and for roasting the best coffee in Ybor City from 1926 to 1983. Made with lalo Blanco tequila and espresso liqueur shaken with a touch of sweetness, served chilled and topped with three espresso beans

A refreshing blend of 6 O’Clock gin, pineapple juice, fresh lemon and simple syrup, shaken and served tall over ice and garnished with dehydrated lemon

Passion fruit syrup, pineapple, lime and our hand-selected Private-Barrel Casa Noble Reposado Tequila shaken and served on the rocks. One sip will take you around the world!

Blue Ice Double Espresso Vodka with Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur. An adult-version of an Ybor favorite

Van Gogh Espresso vodka with Licor 43 and our favorite freshly pressed Naviera Coffee Mills espresso

Café con leche with imported Torres Spanish brandy and Kahlua and topped with whipped cream