columbia restaurant

excellent food, beautiful view, and great service. the food was worth the price. we went for lunch and iorderedthe black bean cake tapas, steak milanese, the small 1905 salad, and flan. my mother alsoorderedthe chocolate brazo gitano, which i ate most of. everything was excellent and david our server was excellent. i did let him know early on that i was allergic to chicken and mushrooms, but when iorderedi forgot to double check. it was after i got my meal with the rice that i was afraid that it may have had chicken stock in it when i realized it was a cheese base as well. unfortunately many things you would not expect have chicken broth in them. the first young waiter i asked did not know, but a senior waiter immediately took my plate, replated my steak, and brought roasted potatoes instead. david recovered it nicely and apologized profusely. it was a great experience. i suggest going at lunch. the portoins are much more manageable and price is a relief! overall a great experience! make sure you walk on the back deck to enjoy the view, and look at the portraits of the family.

great service, atmosphere, and food.orderedthe crab enchilado and it was delicious. they also bring out about half a loaf of bread for each diner.

mr. & mrs.. weekend for my family and i over in clearwater this past holiday weekend. our room was located just next door to the restaurant. decided to place order for pickup.orderedthe paella and cubans. food was extremely over cooked and bland. only 2 shrimps throughout enter dish, chicken over cooked, rice mushy. just down right poor quality for money spent. we frequent the tampa location which we've never experienced such horrible food. and to mention the cashier at cashout. not welcoming. just poor service all around. never again

overall we had a great experience. weorderedthe crab cakes (they were not greasy and had good flavor), husbandorderedthe filet steak salteado, and iorderedthe paella a la valenciana. my husband asked for his steaks to be cooked medium rare, which in all fairness, is probably difficult to do with such thin pieces of steak. they were cooked medium well, but he still enjoyed the dish overall. rice as good, vegetables were not overcooked, very good dish and he loved it. i had never had paella, butorderedit on a recommendation from a friend. the portions are insane, so i only are maybe a third of what i was given. i wasn't sure what to expect. but it was very delicious. i enjoyed everything on the dish, but did feel like the scallops were just slightly overcooked. overall, i did enjoy the paella though. we did order the key lime pie for dessert. my husband typically does not like key lime pie, but he did love this one. it's not overly tart, but it has a good amount of key lime flavor with just enough sweetness. we enjoyed the guava drizzle on the side too. we'll definitely come back!

lunch today weorderedpaella, everything was over cooked the chicken and fish were like wood. one dish did not have a single pc of fish or a single scallop. very disappointing.

used to really like it but they have seemed to cut back their portions.ordereda steak which was very dry and they don't serve steak sauce

old and worn out - the food tasted the same. i just didn't think this columbia lived up to the one we frequently dine at in st. augustine. it just felt old and run down. the furniture definitely needs to be updated. i was shocked to see old green plastic chairs being use for the waterside dining. the view was beautiful, and i enjoyed the open airy feel, but it's just not what i expected out of the columbia. we started with the red sangria. it was good, however i noticed the pitcher it was being served in was chipped and broken. why not throw it out? i guess it matches the worn out surroundings. the 1905 salad and cuban bread were as good as the st. augustine columbia, however our entrees left a lot to be desired. i always order the palomilla. it is my favorite dish. my husband is cuban and we make this at home quite often, but it's always been my favorite when dining at the columbia. this came out virtually tasteless. it's as if they put no seasoning on it at all. my husbandorderedthe camarones rellenos (stuffed shrimp). he ate the shrimp but said the rice and veggies were so overcooked they were mush. i believe our bill was around $75 before tip. i do not believe it was worth that kind of money. we will be avoiding this columbia next time we're in the area and stick to the one closer to home.

just landed in florida & was whisked by my aunt to her favorite fl restaurant. we decided it wasn't too early to start with sangria made at our table. i alsoorderedthe snapper--delicious! we shared some of the combo plates and everything was great--boliche, empenadas & the cuban pork with yellow rice, black beans & plantains.