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Sixth Annual Andrea’s Sip for Life Winetasting
Spend an evening tasting tapas and sampling more than 150 premium wines from Spain, California and South America while helping find a cure for Adolescent Young Adult (AYA) sarcoma at the Sixth Annual Andrea’s Sip for Life Winetasting Sip for Life on Friday, March 9th from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Tampa Bay History Center.
100% of every dollar donated and raised will benefit the Adolescent Young Adult (AYA) initiative for sarcoma research at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.
Sample boutique wines accompanied by a variety of tapas, with the opportunity to purchase wines to take home.
Tickets for Andrea’s Sip for Life are $100 per person. For reservations, call (813) 248-3000, ext. 24. This event is sponsored by the Columbia Restaurant and the Gonzmart Family Foundation.
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The Columbia Offers Gluten Free Menu Items
For a list of gluten free menu items, please see list below:
The Columbia’s Original "1905" Salad™
Almejas "Art Pepin"
Arroz con Pollo Valencia
Beefsteak Tomato Salad
Black Bean Soup
Champinones Ajillo
Chicken & Yellow Rice
Chorizo Espanola (NO CRACKERS)
Crema Catalana
Delmonico "Sarapico"
Filet Mignon
Filete Y Gambas
Flan
Gambas "Al a Ajillo"
Gambas Barbacoa
Grilled Grouper
Grouper Bilbao
Grouper El Greco
Lula Mae Salad
Mahi Mahi Cayo Hueso
Mahi Varadero
Mejillones y Chorizo
NY Strip Sirloin "The Bambino"
Paellas
Palomilla
Pincho Mixta
Queso Fundido (NO TOAST POINTS)
Roast Pork "A la Cubana"
Shrimp Criollo
Spanish Bean Soup
Snapper Adelita can be made if not dusted with flour, just seasoned and grilled. Topping is okay.
These Sauces Are Not Gluten Free
Boliche Sauce
Columbia Sauce
Barcelona Sauce
Alicante Sauce
Chacho Sauce
Amontillado Sauce
Mornay Sauce
What is gluten?
Gluten, is a mixture of proteins present in the cereal grains. The long molecules of gluten, insoluble in water, are strong and flexible and form many cross linkages. This gives flour its characteristic chewiness and permits breads and cakes to rise during baking as the gases within expand and are trapped in the gluten superstructure. Various flours have different ratios of gluten to starch (called hardness) and are appropriate for different types of foodstuffs. Thus soft flour is used for cakes, harder flour for pastry, hard flour for bread, and the hardest, or durum, for pasta. The hereditary disease called nontropical sprue is characterized by an inability to digest gluten. In this disease the gluten acts as an antigen (see immunity) and forms immune complexes that cause damage to the mucus lining of the intestine.
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Columbia Menu Available for Takeout
Our Columbia lunch and dinner menu items are available for takeout. Please call one of our seven locations place your order, and for pick-up details.
Please click here to find one of our Columbia’s that is near you to call in a takeout order.
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The Columbia Café on the Riverwalk, Tampa Expands Menu with New Items
Open for Lunch & Dinner Daily – Waterfront, Outdoor Seating
The Columbia Café on the Riverwalk in Tampa has expanded their menu to include several new, additional items. The Columbia Café opened in February of 2009, and is part of the Gonzmart Family of Columbia Restaurants, owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation family members.
The Columbia Café menu can be found here.
New Menu Items:
Tapas
Coca de Langosta y Chorizo
Coca, the Catalonian flatbread, this version is brushed with Columbia’s 1905 sauce, and then topped with Spanish chorizo, diced vine ripe tomatoes, Maine lobster and Manchego cheese. Baked until crisp, then drizzled with piquillo pepper alioli. 8.95
Platanos Maduros
Fried sweet plantains. 3.95
Entrees
Picadillo “Criollo”
Cuba’s most popular blue plate special. Finely ground beef braised with onions, peppers, raisins, olives and capers. 8.95
Chicken Salteado
Inspired by the Chinese who lived in Cuba in the 19th century, a very hot iron skillet with extra virgin olive oil is used to sauté boneless pieces of chicken, onions, green peppers, fresh garlic, mushrooms, diced potatoes and chorizo, splashed with a hearty red wine. Served with yellow rice. 9.95
Mahi Mahi “Cayo Hueso” (Key West)
Boneless fillet of Mahi Mahi marinated in citrus juices and grilled. Served with yellow rice, platanos and mojo. 9.95
Desserts
Fresh Baked Guava & Cream Cheese Pastry. 1.95
Stefano’s Gelato - Flavors of the day
Small ........................................3.50
Large........................................4.50
The Columbia Café offers a full bar and serves lunch and dinner daily with an outdoor terrace on the water and waterfront indoor table and bar seating. The bar is a replica of the Columbia Restaurant bar in Ybor City, founded in 1905. Live music is featured outdoors on the Riverwalk patio every Friday and Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. The Café is open daily, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The Columbia Café is located at the Tampa Bay History Center, on the Riverwalk, next to the St. Pete Times Forum, and within walking distance from the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, Embassy Suites Tampa Downtown, the Tampa Convention Center and the Florida Aquarium.
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5th Generation Columbia Family Member Andrea Gonzmart Interviewed on “Flavors of Tampa Bay”
Take a tour of our waterfront Columbia Restaurant in Sand Key on Clearwater Beach with Andrea Gonzmart, 5th generation family member on “Flavors of Tampa Bay.”
The interview can be seen here.
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The Columbia of Ybor City Named Best Legendary Restaurant and Best Cuban Restaurant
The Columbia Restaurant of Ybor City is the Winner for Tampa Bay’s “Best of Metromix 2011” in the categories of Best Legendary Restaurant and Best Cuban Restaurant. Thank you to Metromix for the nominations, and to everyone who voted for The Columbia!
Andrew Huse, author of The Columbia’s book, The Columbia Restaurant: Celebrating a Century of History, Culture, and Cuisine and The Columbia’s executive chef, Geraldo Bayona were invited on Studio 10, a television show on WTSP-TV to talk about the Columbia’s Metromix nominations, and to reveal the secret of “What Makes The Columbia’s Cuban Sandwich so Good?!”
The interview can be seen here.
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The Columbia Offers Vegetarian Choices
The Columbia Restaurant has added vegetarian choices to their lunch and dinner menu in their six locations that include Ybor City, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach and Celebration.
Vegetarians and those looking for healthier menu choices will find three dinner entrees to choose from, and a lunch entrée to try in our vegetarian section. Also listed are menu items that can be made vegetarian.
Vegetarian Dinner Entrees
Eggplant “Riojana”
Sliced eggplant breaded with ground plantain crumbs, smothered in our rich Rioja sauce of tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives and red wine topped with melted Galician Tetilla cheese.
Pasta con Trufas “Cristalino”
Fresh pasta pockets stuffed with truffles and cheese simmered in a rich creamy sauce made with Spain’s premium Cava sparkling wine, Cristalino.
Vegetarian “Cubana”
Yuca, black beans, white rice, platanos, tostones and sautéed fresh vegetables.
Vegetarian Lunch Entree
Eggplant “Riojana”
Sliced eggplant breaded with ground plantain crumbs, smothered in our rich Rioja sauce of tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives and red wine topped with melted Galician Tetilla cheese.
Soups – by the cup, or bowl
Cuban Black Bean and Rice Soup – a bowl is very large, enough for a meal.
Frijoles Negros prepared exactly like our grandmother, Carmen Hernandez did. Served over a bed of white rice and topped with diced raw Spanish onions. 100% vegetarian. tanos, tostones and sautéed fresh vegetables.
Gazpacho Andaluz -Spain’s famous cold soup of puree of ripe tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumbers and garlic. Topped tableside with finely diced vegetables and toasted Cuban croutons.
Menu Items that can be made Vegetarian
Tapas
Black Bean Cakes – ask for without guacamole and sour cream.
Salads
Beefsteak Tomato Salad – ask for without cheese
This was the favorite salad of our father, Cesar Gonzmart. Thick sliced beefsteak tomatoes, topped with sliced red onions, and crumbled Spanish Cabrales cheese. Served with extra virgin olive oil and Sherry wine vinegar.
Columbia’s Original "1905" SaladTM This can be ordered without cheese and ham.
The Columbia''s legendary salad tossed at your table. Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and our famous garlic dressing (our 100 year old family recipe of fresh garlic, oregano, wine vinegar and Spanish extra virgin olive oil).
Entree
We also have an assortment of side items that when combined, make a nice platter, including Platanos, Mushrooms and Yuca. These can be combined with yellow rice.
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Enjoy Waterfront Views at the Columbia Cafe on the Tampa Riverwalk
Enjoy waterfront drinks, tapas and World-Famous “1905” Salad™ with a waterfront view at The Columbia Cafe on the Riverwalk in Tampa. The Columbia Cafe is inside the Tampa Bay History Center, next to the St. Pete Times Forum.
The Columbia Café offers a full bar and serves lunch and dinner daily with an outdoor terrace on the water, and waterfront indoor seating.
The menu has been chosen to reflect some of the traditional Spanish and Cuban dishes that have made our family restaurant famous for over 100 years.
The Columbia Café is open from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m daily. There is an admission-free entrance on the Channelside Riverwalk.
Address:
801 Old Water Street #1905
Tampa, FL 33602
Telephone: 813-229-5511
E-mail: columbiacafe@columbiarestaurant.com
Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Serving Lunch & Dinner daily, closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Children''s Menu
Banquet space available
Founded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., the Columbia Restaurant is Florida’s oldest restaurant and the world’s largest Spanish restaurant. Locations include the flagship restaurant in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City, St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, the Historic District in St. Augustine, The Pier in St. Petersburg, Sand Key on Clearwater Beach, Central Florida''s town of Celebration, and the Columbia Café on the Riverwalk at the Tampa Bay History Center. All Columbia Restaurants are owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation members of the founding family.
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Columbia on Facebook
The Columbia Restaurant is on Facebook. You can view videos and photos, read about special events sponsored by The Columbia, and get information about all the restaurant locations.
You can also post your own videos and photos about The Columbia, and share stories about your experience at our restaurants.
Please click here to see the Columbia Facebook page
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The Gonzmart Family and The Columbia Featured on The Today Show
Richard and Andrea Gonzmart were interviewed live on The Today show by Al Roker on Thursday, January 29, 2009. Viewers nationwide enjoyed hearing about Florida’s oldest restaurant, owned and operated by members of the 4th and 5th generations of the founding family.
They also learned what makes a Tampa Cuban Sandwich unique. …(it’s the salami!) The Columbia’s Original "1905" Salad,™ named one of “One of America’s Top 10 Best Salads” in USA Today, along with Paella were sample by Mr. Roker.
The Columbia Restaurant Flamenco dancers were also featured on the show. The Today show televised their broadcast live from Ybor City as part of their pre-Super Bowl Coverage.
If you didn’t get to see The Columbia’s interview, or the Flamenco dancers performance, you can view both of them at Youtube.com, (type in “Columbia Restaurant Today show”) or on the Columbia’s Facebook page,
Please click here to see the Columbia Facebook page
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Columbia’s "1905" SaladTM Selected as “One of America’s Top 10 Best Salads”
The Columbia’s Original "1905" SaladTM was selected as “One of America’s Top 10 Best Salads” by the Salad Guy, author Wiley Mullins in USA Today. The Columbia is the only restaurant in Florida named to this list.
Wiley Mullins, author of Salad Makes the Meal: 150 Simple and Inspired Salad Recipes Everyone Will Love, shared his list of favorite places in the United States with Kathy Baruffi for USA Today.
Regarding the Columbia, Mullins says, “The 1905 Salad is famous throughout Florida, and salad lovers travel near and far to enjoy it. No wonder it’s trademarked!” “Tossed and created at your table, this masterpiece of a meal includes the juiciest beefsteak tomatoes you’ve ever tasted, lettuce, tender baked ham, Romano and Swiss cheeses, olives and a deliciously smooth garlic dressing.”
The others places named to the list include Ching’s Table in New Canaan, Conn; City Grocery Café in Oxford, Miss.; Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY; Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.; 84 High Street in Westerly, RI; Café Pasquals in Santa Fe, NM; Firefly in Lenox, Mass.; Hall Street Grill in Beaverton, Ore.; and True in Mobile, Ala.
Link to story: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2008-05-08-10-great_N.htm
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Longtime Waiter Appointed Columbia Ambassador - Will Lead Free Tours of Columbia Ybor City
Now you can experience a walk through Over 100 Years of Columbia Restaurant History with a guide who has over 50 years of first-hand knowledge.
Joe Roman, 80, started working at the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City in 1954 at the age of 26. He has always taken great pride in his work and it earned him a good living, on which he raised two sons with his wife of 59 years.
In 2002, after 48 years of work, Joe began to cut back on his hours due to problems with his knees, and then had to retire. He was very distressed that this meant he would not reach 50 years of service.
“We knew how important it was to Joe for him to reach that milestone,” said Gonzmart. “We created a position just for him in conjunction with our 100-year anniversary in 2005. Joe has been named our "Columbia Restaurant Ambassador." In this role, he continues what he does best, greeting guests and sharing the Columbia story with them. He will be giving tours of the restaurant. We don''t have to train him in our history, he lived it first hand.”
You can enjoy your own free tour of Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City with Joe anytime from 12-2 p.m. Monday –Friday. There is no formal sign up sheet, you can let your server know that you’d like to take the tour with Joe, and your server will have Joe visit your table and lead you on the tour at your convenience.
Joe Roman is a favorite among guests because he often spontaneously breaks into song. He earned his nickname, “The Singer Waiter,” in 1962, the year the first song that he sang to guests was released, Tony Bennett’s classic, I Left My Heart In San Francisco.
Joe has built his entire life around working as a waiter. He and his wife have two sons and four grandchildren. He was able to raise his family entirely on his salary as a waiter. He was born and raised in Ybor City, and takes great pride in sharing the history of the area with visitors and locals alike.
Joe has also received other honors for his loyalty and longevity. “For his dedication to his work and to our family, we inducted Joe into our Columbia Restaurant Hall of Fame in 2000,” said Richard Gonzmart, fourth generation owner of the Columbia. “We created our Hall of Fame to honor employees who have contributed to the legacy of Columbia Restaurant.”
In 2006, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio proclaimed August 16, 2006 as “Joe Roman Day” in the City of Tampa, Florida, to honor Columbia Restaurant’s Ambassador for over 50 Years of Service in the Hospitality Industry, along with acknowledging Mr. Roman’s commitment and dedication that have made a lasting impact on our community and its citizens.
In August of 2004 Joe was honored as the recipient of the Iris D. Larson Hospitality Award at the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism held in Orlando, Florida.
The Iris D. Larson Hospitality Award was created to recognize hospitality/tourism industry professionals who exemplify the qualities of selfless spirit of service and leadership in their work experience.
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