Columbia Restaurant Menu

Our Family's Favorite Recipes

Tapas

Miranda's Ybor City Devil Crab Croquettes

"Croqueta de jaiba" as they were known during the Great Depression. A simple croquette made from seasoned cooked blue crab meat, paprika and garlic then breaded with Cuban bread crumbs and fried. These two crab croquettes are always served with a side of Columbia hot sauce.

$11

Gambas "Al Ajillo"

Shrimp sautéed in extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and chili peppers.

$15

Calamares Fritos "A La Romana"

Tender calamari seasoned and lightly fried.

$17

Shrimp & Crabmeat Alcachofas

Baked casserole of shrimp, crabmeat and artichoke hearts topped with grated Romano cheese. Served with Cuban crackers.

$15

Black Bean Cakes

A favorite tapa selection of vegetarians and lovers of black beans. Served with guacamole and sour cream.

Vegetarian

Queso Fundido

A rich Rioja sauce of tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives and red wine topped with melted imported white cheese with toasted Cuban bread.

$12

Vegetarian

Champiñones Rellenos

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

$12

Vegetarian

Empanadas

Carmen, wife of Casimiro Hernandez, Jr., was the queen of preparing these delicate pastry turnovers stuffed with different fillings. Back in the Depression, food leftovers or fruits would be used to fill the dough and fried. This once blue plate item is considered a delicacy in our home.

Empanadas de Picadillo

$10

Empanadas de Pollo

$10

Empanadas de Ropa Vieja

$10

Platanos Maduros

Fried sweet plantains

Vegetarian

Sopas

Served with Cuban bread and butter.

Spanish Bean Soup

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."

Black Bean Soup

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

Vegetarian

Salads

All salads served with Cuban bread and butter.

Columbia's Original "1905" Salad®

The Columbia's legendary salad tossed tableside. Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and our famous garlic dressing. In the 1940s, Tony Noriega, who ventured to New York City during the Depression to find work, added a "secret ingredient," Worcestershire sauce, to the recipe. 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 and roast pork. Iceberg lettuce, originally known as crisp head, got its name from the layers of ice covering heads of lettuce being shipped to Tampa via Henry B. Plant's trains. As the trains pulled up, people would yell "Here come the icebergs!"

Columbia's Original "1905" Salad™

$16

Smaller version served with entrée

$10

"1905" Salad™ with Turkey

$16

"1905" Salad™ with Shrimp “Al Ajillo"

$20

Chopped Tomato Salad

A favorite of our father and grandfather, César Gonzmart. Florida tomatoes, tossed with julienne sweet onions and '1905" dressing.

$10

Vegetarian

César Salad

Crisp romaine lettuce tossed with Romano cheese and toasted Cuban croutons.

César Salad

$12

Smaller version served with entrée

César Salad with Grilled Chicken

$16

Half and Half Combo

Choice of two, one half of a Cuban sandwich, one half order of Columbia's "1905" Salad or a cup of soup.

$14

Sandwiches

Served with plantain chips. Add soup ... 7, Add half "1905" Salad ... 8

Columbia's Original Cuban Sandwich

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.

$14

Pressed Meatloaf

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

$16

Mahi-Mahi Cubana

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.

$18

Mojo Chicken

Grilled breast of chicken, melted Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and garlic alioli sauce on Cuban bread.

$16

Roast Pork Sandwich

Cuban-style slowly roasted pork, pulled from the bone, served on Cuban bread brushed with mojo, topped with sautéed onions

$16

Sloppy José

Cuban version of a Sloppy Joe. Shredded choice beef simmered with onions, green peppers and tomatoes on Cuban bread.

$14

Entrees

Served with Cuban bread and butter.

Chicken and Rice "Ybor"

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.

$18

Picadillo "Criollo"

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

$16

Lechon Asado

Garlic and citrus marinated roasted pulled pork, topped with sautéed onions. Served with white rice and topped with black beans and platanos.

$18

Ropa Vieja

Originally introduced to Cuba by Spanish sailors. The name means "old clothes" because the choice beef is shredded, sautéed and simmered with onions, green peppers and tomatoes until tender. Served with platanos and white rice.

$16

Mahi-Mahi "Cayo Hueso"

Fresh boneless fillet of mahi-mahi marinated in citrus juice and grilled. Served with mojo-marinated onions, yellow rice and platanos.

$22

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. Choice of chicken or shrimp.

$18

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 imported white cheese.

$16

Vegetarian

Desserts

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Our Dad's favorite, made with Cuban bread, white chocolate and topped with a rich Bacardi rum sauce

$12

Flan

Spanish egg custard

Mama Guava Cheesecake

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

Churros "Tres Amigos"

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