Restaurant Review: The Columbia in Ybor City

I have to say that this past weekend was pretty good overall.  Seeing both the Buccaneers and the Rays win last night brought it to a nice finish.

Yesterday afternoon, KC, Charlee and I took a ride over to St Pete to attend
SWFBUD’s 2008
Bicycle Bash by the Bay event organized by local bicycle dealers from the Tampa Bay area. Overall, it was a fun way to kill a few hours while learning a little more about bicycling in the area and the different products and services that local dealers have to offer.

The best part of our weekend, though was a trip to
The Columbia in
Ybor City on Saturday night.

As a matter of personal history, I worked at this very restaurant from 1992 – 1994 while working on by B.A. at USF.  I had a lot of fun and made a fair amount of cash while I was there.  I also made some friend that will last a lifetime.  Coincidentally, that was the only job that I had ever been involuntarily dismissed (fired) from in my 22 year work history.  Go figure.

As far as Saturday night went, living downtown, we were able to use Tampa’s
TECO Line street car system to travel over to Ybor (as opposed to driving).  They recently raised their prices to what I thought to be a fairly hefty $5 round trip adult fare.  Considering the street cars are powered by electricity and all of the things the city is doing to promote alternative transportation options, I don’t really see how a fare increase is justified at this point in time, but I digress…I suppose $20 round trip for 3 adults, 1 student and 2 children is okay for an occasional, infrequent transportation option to avoid the hassle of parking.

Once there it was a short 3 block, walk to the restaurant then a 20 minute wait to be seated.   We actually had a reservation, but showed up 10 minutes late, so the wait partially served us right.

Not that the restaurant is suffering financially by any means, but they do seem to be leaving a lot of potential revenue at the door by not having a cash bar or cocktail servers within close proximity of their main entrance.  Having the kids with us, we weren’t necessarily in the mood for adult beverages, but it was obvious that others in the cramped waiting area were a little frustrated with the fact that the 2 bars in the establishment were off limits as a result of private parties that evening.

Once seated, we ordered up a pitcher of Sangria, which was delivered and served with the standard paper wrapped Cuban bread.

We shared a
1905 Salad, which was as good as I had remembered.  It was served tableside which made the experience a bit more engaging than your basic salad service around town.

My sister and I split the Paella Valenciana, while KC enjoyed a tasty Delmonico Steak.  The kids had a Cuban sandwich and a Palomilla steak (stuff adults would typically order at lunch).  We wrapped things up with an order of flan (caramel custard).

We didn’t choose to attend one of their nightly Flamenco dancing shows, but based on the promotional material around the restaurant, it appears as though some of the dancers that were there 14 years ago are still doing their thing 6 nights a week.

Overall, the Columbia is still as fun as ever.  I would give this weekend’s visit a 7 out of 10, even if they have raised their prices by about 45% since I served my last 1905 Salad and plate of Boliche, but whose prices haven’t gone up?