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First time trying Cuban food and I have to say I am now a fan. This place was awesome. We went there for a business dinner with a party of 7 and sat in the main area of the dining room near the stage. Wine was wonderful! Appetizer tower was great! Roasted pork was so tender you didn't need a knife. Too full for dessert, but willing to bet that would have been a hit too.
The Flamenco dancers were a bit cheesy, but put on a nice show. It was the right length, not being too long, but enough to give us a little extra flavor.
Would definitely go there again!
I'm sorry, but this place sucks. If it wasn't iconic to Tampa, I'd tell you to completely stay away but I guess its worth at least one visit just to say you've been there.
The food is mediocre Cuban food that is WAY overpriced. That's not the worst part. The worst part is the service. Every time I've been there (i've been forced to go to attend business lunches and dinners) the service has been terrible. I mean terrible. Slowness, rudeness, wrong-orderedness, bad-attitudeness, expensiveness. This place has all the bad and very little good when it comes to service.
When in Tampa, You have to stop at Columbia restaurant to get the true feeling of the city.
First, the shows they put on will knock you out of your seat but more importantly is the quality of the food.
Sure, you can go to NYC and get food off a food cart. In Tampa, you can get Cuban food off a small vendor.
To eat at Columbia restaurant is a treat for the soul.
I ordered the Roast Pork "A La Cubana"
Generous slices of roast pork with a delicious marinade. Served like back home in Cuba with black beans, white rice, yuca and platanos
God is this good....
Okay, I finally tried to the original Columbia and I was impressed. It was just as good as the one at the history center plus it had real Spanish waiters. and the decor is awesome!!!!! The prices for lunch are very reasonable. This would be a nice place to bring a lady to impress her!!!!!!
Okay, first off let me tell you this. I ate at the Columbia at the HISTORY musuem in Tampa right… Read more »
Very good food, horrible service. I would give Columbia 4 stars if not for the horrendously slow and inattentive service. The food itself is clearly 4 stars in my opinion...authentic, fresh, and high quality ingredients.
I had the half cuban sandwich and half 1905 salad for lunch. I would gladly eat both of them again. Their latin food is great here. The service wouldn't scare me from coming back here for a under $10 lunch. However, if dinner is a lot more expensive, I would expect a lot higher quality service.
To elaborate on my thoughts of crappy service...it took me 30 minutes to get seated and waited on even though I got there at opening time on Sunday at noon and there was no line to get tables. Approximately 15 minutes to get seated even though many open tables and 15 minutes for the waitress to appear after the host seated me.
I tried to issue 31/2 stars but I could not make it work. I know its an option as I have seen other people give 1/2 stars, so if anyone is dope enough to know how, holla at me!
On to the review. Went here for lunch on Memorial day after checking out the new IKEA. Went on a whim, as we drove by it and have had many nice meals at other locations (St. Pete and St. Augustine) I wanted to check this out because it is the "original" and we were right there.
Service was very good and the building was very interesting. Good Sangria. I will say the food was a little underwhelming. I had the 1905 Salad, and what's not to like? A salad prepared tableside (sucker for that!) with ham and swiss cheese and then more cheese? Brown lettuce is what's not to like.
I ordered the Paella and though it was prepared fresh (obvious because of the 30 minute wait, but the server did point that out, so no prob there) but it lacked the crispy bottom that I expect from an awesome Paella. And it just lacked seafood, 4 very small clams, and 4 medium size shrimp and that's all. Loaded with chicken though!
Left wishing I had ordered a Cuban Sandwich and been done with it.
I was in Tampa for a few days for work and asked the hotel to recommend a good place for Cuban food. They suggested Columbia and I get the impression that lots of other hotels were doing the same.
Atmosphere: Fun. Very open layout, loud, and perfect for a big group to grab some drinks and make a ruckus. Decor was a little disneyish, but I'll forgive that since the place is like 100 years old. I don't think I would recommend it for a date in light of the noise, unless you're just trying to get her drunk and don't mind if you can't hear her talk...on second thought, great place for a date if you don't mind all the tourists.
Service: No complaints. Our server was timely, made good recommendations when solicited, and was generally congenial.
Food: Overall I thought it was quite good, but I have a feeling you could do better for the price ($20ish entrees) elsewhere. The drink menu was outstanding.
I started with a "Bloody Gazpacho". It's exactly what you think it is: gazpacho and vodka. Awesome. We did a couple of apps for the table. Crab croquettes were a little fishy and the mussels were just a tad on the rubbery side. Great flavor though. I had the Snapper Alacante for my entree. The fish was perfectly cooked, as was the rice. Both the rice and sauce had a ton of flavor. I would absolutely recommend this dish, but I was jealous of my coworker's La Completa Cubana: "A Cuban feast of Roast Pork, Boliche, Empanada de Picadillo, platanos, yuca, black beans and yellow rice." It looked bomb-diggity, as did another coworker's Arroz Con Pollo.
Overall I would say that the food, atmosphere, and service make Columbia worth visiting if you don't mind that it's a tourist trap.
I went here last night for the Flamenco show. It was pretty cool, I haven't seen any Falmenco before, so I don't have a barometer to measure how godd they were, but it was definitely cool to see while eating dinner, and we were pretty much frontside. I've been to two of the locations now, several times, and they are fairly good across the board. I got the Paella, which being completely honest wasn't that great. I make my own at home, and when the Paella I make at home is better than what we get at the restaurant, I feel a little cheated. The Blue Crab Cakes were great. This place is always worth a stop through just for the 1905 salad. Service was prompt and courteous.
I knew that The Columbia was a place I wanted to take my friends for dinner on our recent 4-day weekend get-away to Tampa Bay. I've eaten here several times while on business trips -- my former boss loved the food so much that he and I even hit their Celebration and Clearwater Beach locations as well on subsequent visits to FL. But the Ybor City spot is my favorite.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the building and ambiance of The Columbia on 7th Ave is great. Beautiful tile work, cool furnishings, and expansive seating in several unique dining rooms, halls, nooks and crannies.
On our most recent visit, the service was good but a bit harried on a busy Saturday evening. Even though our server appeared to be running around like a chicken with his head cut off, prepping and pouring soup, dressing/tossing salads table-side, dropping off hot, fresh bread, fixing problems with drinks, etc., he still managed to get the job done without any delays or mishaps.
After a small version of their original "1905 Salad" which was basically tossed greens, julienned ham and swiss cheese, olives and a garlicky dressing, I ordered the Palomilla, a marinated top sirloin steak cut thin, grilled and covered with a delicious combination of onion, parsley and lime juice. The yellow rice that accompanied the steak was fantastic -- moist and flavorful.
The Columbia was a hit with my friends and a highlight of our weekend. The worst part? I wasn't on expense account this time! =)
We hadn't noticed this was one of the first restaurants in Florida, and that it's almost always packed so we felt very lucky when we waited for no more than 2 minutes before being seated. A huge restaurant with three separate dining rooms; where each room bigger than the next. We felt like we were getting a tour of the place as the hostess walked us over to our table, we sat down and ordered a pitcher of sangria right away.
It was three of us eating so we ordered like usual, a bunch of stuff for the table. We went with the shrimp ajillo, queso fundido, empanadas de picadillo, paella, and the Guava cheesecake for dessert. The food was good, the service was amazing, but that dessert........... ............ (that means I'm speechless!) I would return to this place without questioning the 4 hour drive; the experience we had at this place is one we will always cherish.
This had been the start of our road trip and if anything can be determined by the start, we knew we were in for a great vacation.
Came here with a party of 7 (with advanced reservations, we had to wait for about 5 minutes), and firstly, the atmosphere was amazing. The picture of the inside kinda shows you what it's like.. looks like an old Cuban atmosphere (never been to Cuba, but having watched Season 1 of Alias, I think this is what it would look like haha!) and if you come in the evening, there may be flamenco dancers who put on a good show!
We had an array of food that included the entrees, paella, and tapas, and ordered a pitcher of mojito. They made the mojito right in front of us and it comes with a sugar cane in each glass, which I thought was a nice touch! The food itself was fine, not spectacular, but ok. The paella was not crisp on the bottom and so for me, not the best.
Big picture though, if you are going to Tampa, go try it! How can you go wrong with the longest standing restaurant in Florida?! It's more for the people who want the atmosphere and want a uniquely Floridian/Latin experience.
is this a columbian restaurant? i could of sworn from the menu options that it was either cuban food or from Spain.
Either way i enjoyed my lunch. The waitress was very friendly and very helpful in explaining the dishes. She took our order and immediately brought us CUBAN bread with butter and our drinks. I had the Sangria, it not great, and a bit expensive but ok. I had the stuffed chicken with yellow rice, which was very fresh and delicious.
There menu includes different tapas and other cuban meal selection. The atmosphere is very authentic and i couldn't really appreciate it during the day but I must look amazing at night.
One if my favorite places to eat. Paella is fresh, the 1905 salad is great and even the bread pudding as a great alternative for breakfast.
WHAT?! An hour and a half wait for a table for two? This place is huge, gigantic, absolutely massive why such a long wait....ohhh my gawd!
We're gonna have to wait for 200 Red Hat Ladies to finish their ummmmm meeting.
Off to the bar for a Mojito and a show. Our bartender made little crawly crabs using a paper napkin and a lemon. Don't ask, it was entertaining enough to make me forget I was surrounded by massive swarms of red hats, at least until the rum kicked in. Why do mojitos taste better the closer you get to Cuba?
If you're faced with a long wait order something to hold you over at the bar. I had Devil Crab Croquettes. The menu calls them, "A version of the original Ybor City Devil Crab Croquettes as sold on the streets by bicycle vendors in Tampa's Latin Quarter." Hmm OK, I like street food. I'd order them again for sure. The hot sauce was just what I needed!
The table was ready in about 40 min not 90 as quoted. HOORAY!
I ordered the Boliche "Criollo" a roasted rib eye steak stuffed with chorizo and roasted in flavorful gravy. Served with black beans, white rice and platanos.
Mom had the Roast Pork "A La Cubana", her favorite Cuban dish of roasted pork swimming in garlic sauce and onions.
I really wanted to finish dinner off with some guava shells but Columbia doesn't serve them. Guava cheesecake for two it was. The cheese cake was a bit of a letdown but I have high standards thanks to Porto's back home in LA.
I was impressed at the quality of the food in light of the massive turn over. I'm not sure how many people pass through their doors everyday but it seems like they have earned their stars.
Founded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., the Columbia Restaurant is Florida's oldest restaurant and the world's largest Spanish restaurant. The Columbia celebrates its 103rd anniversary in 2008.
Congratulations!
Historical Ybor City at its best! Get the 1905 salad, soup, and their bread for a $7 induction to this fabulous place. Has flamenco dancer entertainment and beautiful old tiles and Italian renaissance decorating the place. Yellow beans and rice. yum. Great options. Bon Appetite!
This was our first visit to Tampa, Florida and were so glad when a friend made reservations for our group at Columbia Restaurant.
The restaurant has an extraordinary decor that was great for lots of touristy photos on our part. We were sad that the live Flamenco dancing shows do not happen on Sunday nights. We also would love to go back for the cigar rolling demonstrations that they have during the weekdays. All good reasons to back again.
We were all quite pleased with our dishes. We started off with White Sangria that our waitress made fresh table side. Delicious. I had the pollo "rojoiano" that was accompanied with an awesome rice and veggies. Loved It!!!
After dinner we walked around Ybor City which is a really interesting place in itself. This restaurant is definitely worth a visit or two.
You can not find much better Cuban food than this. It is simply delicious. This particular restaurant is the original, and the oldest restaurant in Florida. It is gorgeous inside, and on weekends they have Flamenco dancing shows. The food speaks for itself. I always order a 1905 salad prepared tableside, along with the white sangria-cava. Entrees are always a standout, you simply cannot go wrong with anything here. It is also located in Ybor City, an interesting neighborhood to explore after lunch or dinner.
I have been wanting to come to Columbia for a long time. I know it is a major tourist trap but the food was the best. I have been to their sister restaurant in Celebration Florida a number of times but being at the original just made it that much better.
Our server was great and knew her stuff. I had their signature filet mignon with the bourbon sauce and it was great. I finished off the meal with flan and coffee.
We were in one of the side rooms but in the main room they had flamingo dancing. That was loud and I believe if you are in that room you pay for the entertainment. The building itself is a sight to see... spanish tile everywhere! I highly recommend reservations since they are busy most of the time. Enjoy!
Coming to Florida I had this place on my list. If it's a legendary old restaurant I want in. Plus is it true JFK was here with Marilyn Monroe? Rumor patrol! Their mojitos were alright - their Sangria is much, much better. We started with the Devil Crab Croquettes which were quite tasty along with the seafood paella which did not dissapoint. The service was awesome our waiter had a lot of personality and we had a great dinner. From a Florida-outsider I can appreciate this cute Cuban/Spanish restaurant.
We were looking for a good place to eat in Tampa on a Saturday night, and Columbia was the unianimous recommendation from the concierge, our cab driver, and a few locals.
Arriving in front of the restaurant, the architecture alone makes you catch your breath. The aroma as you enter does the same.
Even though it was a Saturday night and we had no reservations, we were seated immediately. Service was impeccable, and the food...oh my god, the food. The only thing we weren't too fond of was the Queso Fundido, which tasted vaguely Italian and didn't quite go with the rest of our tapas choices. However, the Croquetas de Pollo were delicious, as was the Caldo Gallego. The standout for us was the Mejiliones y Chorizo "Andres"--definitely recommended!
Can't comment on the dessert list as we were too full afterwards, but the white sangria was just right--refreshing and light, but with a little kick provided by the fresh lemon and lime.
The best part? Drinks, appetizers, and dinner for two came to a grand total of $40. In NYC, this same dinner would have been well over $100...
Excellent for a Date Night.
Decent for a Business Lunch.
The entrees aren't special, but the atmosphere is five star, the service is topnotch, and the entertainment (in the dancing room) is fantastic.
I almost spit out my bloody gazpacho when the 18 yr old (at most) waiter corrected my flamboyantly confident buddy about the difference between a pinot gris and a pinot grigio....f---king hilarious!
The food was good, not great. The atmosphere, WONDERFUL! Good times!
I really like this restaurant but I feel as though it is very hyped and it hasn't been as good as it may have been years back. I like the quiet Clearwater beach location by Sand Key. The food is good but it can be hit or miss and it is also kind of overpriced. However, the entertainment and the history at the Ybor location is always worth the visit.
This is a great place to bring a group of friends. . . .don't come if ya want to "relax" as it's a bit loud, but the food is absolutely wonderful and if you're in the mood for a good time the atmosphere is perfect for it. I had the Snapper "Adelita" and it was perfect. Our table ordered a bunch of Sangria, and while I'm not a fan - they really seemed to enjoy it, and it seemed to be the signature drink. As per usual, I was drinking reds - good wine list - fired up a Rioja - Marques de Riscal. Tasty. If ya haven't tried a "Rioja" - it'a region in Spain and the focus is primarily the temparnillo grape. Very happy with dinner here.
Found myself on business in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Asked the concierge for a restaurant of local flavor. Columbia hit the spot.
Think Cuban immigrants and the founding place of American cigar companies that still operate today. Quite interesting!
Columbia has been in operation since 1905. Ybor city is one of two national historic cities in Florida. This is where Cuban immigrants came to America in the late 1800's. They established the cigar industry here. The city is paved with original bricks, and the main street is quite quaint with refurbished structures of years gone by.
The Columbia is one huge restaurant. It can seat 1700 people in 15 dining rooms. Menu is a mix of Spanish and Cuban dishes. There is also live flamenco dance performances during the evenings. The bar is truly historic and has a great touch and feel to it. Live jazz, exceptional tapas, tons of spirits, and cigars made in the factory down the street all add up to a unique experience.
The menu was extensive. I settled for the paella while my colleague went for the flank steak. The taste of the food was in the ok range. Portions were huge. Locals always have a take home box.
The flamenco dancers were original and superb. Great colorful costumes. Four ladies and two men went through several dances. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Great historic feeling inside, and they have kept up the appearance well. Historic pictures along the wall tell the story of the Cuban immigrants and the founding of the cigar industry.
The food gets 3 stars, but the overall historic ambiance pushes up the overall total to 4 stars. Worth a visit if you are in the Tampa Bay area.
Average, over-hyped food. I'm sure that at one point in this restaurant's 100+ year history they made some mean Cuban fare.. just not now.
Price is too high for food this mundane.
The ambiance is the draw, old Florida riche. Impressive and great for tourists. Visit the store to buy crap to send to your grandparents.
The service is unspectacular. Loosen up your neck because you'll need to keep your head on a swivel to track down the wait staff.
We went here for my Mom's 40th birthday party. I have never been before, so I was excited since I have heard really good things about the restaurant. I'm not a big fan of Cuban food, but I eat it every once in awhile.
I ordered the chicken and shrimp "barcelona", which the menu says comes with lobster bisque in the sauce. I love lobster bisque, but I was slightly disappointed when the sauced tasted nothing like lobster bisque. Either way, the meal was delicious, there was nothing to really complain about since everything was cooked to perfection. The bread was great, the house salad was great...but of course I have yet to discuss the best part.
The SHOW. That is the best part of Columbia and makes it worth anyones time. The dancers have intense deep looks on their faces that display confidence and looks right into your soul as they make music with their hands and feet. It was a great experience and I think everyone should go to the Columbia, at least once in their life, to see it.
I realize this place is a landmark tourist attraction. They have live flamenco dancers, throw-back Spanish decor, and so forth, so when people visit, it's the place you gotta be to get "local" flavor. Fine. I could even try to overlook that It smelled like fish and bleach when we walked in.
Regardless of its tourist status, there is no excuse for the fact that they serve hands-down the worst frijoles negros and yuca I've ever tasted. I imagine this is a fatal error at a Cuban-style Spanish restaurant. On a tastier note, the mojito is good.
The food is mediocre (after two visits). The service was horrific. 7:00 reservations resulted in 7:40 seats. The manager did not apologize, but rather blamed patrons who didn't leave fast enough. This is a huge restaurant; that's a ridiculous excuse. The waitress said it was always like that. She was clearly overworked, with way too many tables. Our service was comically terrible as a result.
I would suggest out-of-towners avoid in favor of a place like BT or Sideberns. Or for a real Tampa culinary experience, go to one of many good Cuban restaurants. Columbia is, at least presently, a gimmicky, fool-you-with-the-atmosphere restaurant.
When I had a reason to be in Tampa recently with a colleague from Minnesota, I wanted to show her the Columbia, a restaurant I remembered from the two years I lived there nearly thirty years ago! Located in historic Ybor City which was home to the Cuban
cigar rollers, the Columbia has a hundred year history and numerous awards over that century.
Every night except Sunday, there are two flamenco shows. We dined on a Sunday night in one of the smaller dining rooms ( the large room had a private party with a flamenco performance which was a bit annoying since we could see nothing but the noise prohibited conversation on our part ). We found the staff very indifferent as well - all the more so since we had just come from a six day Royal
Caribbean cruise in which the crew were always so attentive and pleasant!
Nontheless, after debating whether we would even remain for dinner, we finally decided to eat ( it was after 8PM and we were starving! ). We ordered a pitcher of mango mojitos which were VERY good. Next, we shared the "Tapeo de Mixta," a comination of Shrimp and
Crabmeat Alcachofas ( a baked casserole of shrimp, crabmeat and artichoke hearts topped with grated Romano cheese - this got total approval from us!, Costillitas de Cordero ( tender baby lamb back
ribs, glazed with guava barbecue sauce - a nice change from your usual pork and beef barbecue, and Calamares Fritos ( excellent ), complete with the little tentacles.
One of us had the famous black bean soup which was delicious but our favorite was Caldo Gallego, a delicious concoction of northern beans with smoked ham, chorizo, turnip greens and potatoes. I finished an entire bowl and wished I had room for more!
While the Columbia is famous for its paella, none of us opted for it, mainly because of the thirty minute wait. Instead, I chose Camarones Rellenos "Jesse Gonzalez" -colossal size Singleton shrimp stuffed with lump crabmeat baked with lemon butter. Served with "Good Rice" and fresh vegetables, it was absolutely one of the best dishes I've ever consumed, redolent of butter and garlic, and piled high with the crabmeat.
My friend, Sherry, ate the Florida Grouper "A la Rusa" - Gulf fresh fillet of grouper grilled and topped with lemon butter, chopped parsley and egg & served with yellow rice and fresh vegetables. The serving was huge and made a great breakfast the next morning.
Charlene ordered Chicken and Shrimp "Barcelona" - boneless chicken breast sauted with shrimp in a lobster bisque, brandy, white wine carrots and onions. It was served with yellow rice. We had a taste and thought it, too, was scrumptious.
All of us opted for the guava cheesecake on the dessert menu, an absolutely outstanding confection that I wish we could find in the San Francisco area. It tasted so much of guav....ummmmmmmmm.....so, other than the somewhat surly service, we found all the food we ordered to be superb and well worth the price and visit to Ybor City.
Ahh,the Columbia @ Ybor! Went there for a late feast with my mates after a hockey game at The Saint Pete Times Forum (Toronto won!).From the moment we walked in,we knew we made a good call.Make your way through the semi-upscale crowd to the the massive bar area to be greeted by a very friendly bar keep.After a couple(?) of awesome dry Martinis,we plodded past the live stage show (Flamenco dancers!) to the massive dining room for our feast.Gotta tell ya,the dining area is one of the nicest I've seen in Tampa! The dining room setup really does reflect what the food is all about.I got the amazing 'cuban platter' ( could not pronounce "La Completa Cubana" after ? martinis).We were there on a weekend,but it didn't seem that busy because the place is HUGE! Great location,friendly people and amazing cuisine = GO W/O reservations!
IMO,better than the one in Saint Augustine.
I hate it when you visit a new city and all the hotel concierges and taxi drivers and pretty much everyone decide to send you to a rather expensive generic place. NOW I'm being a little unfair here. It wasn't that bad. The food was fine but nothing special but it was ok. Not all that memorable as I ate there only a few days ago and dont remember what I got.
Oh the mojito was really good. But how hard are those?
4/07 lunch. Visiting from West coast, I think Columbia is an institution by itself. It should be listed as a World Heritage Restaurant site.
The huge building has 5-6 themed dining halls. Each one is meticulously decorated and furnished. I felt like going back to the Spanish colonial days, and could wine and dine and dance all day long. There are so much history in that 102 year old restaurant, and the generation of families that have operated it.
We sat in the covered garden area (patio?). Plenty of plants and ornaments around a fountain. Columbus related paintings on the walls. Sitting there was a life time experience for us.
Unfortunately I cannot say the same about the lunch food. Her salteado (inspired by Chinese saute and stir-fry) had shrimps and veggies. It tasted delicious, but nothing stood out, except the subtle sweet and sour flavor. My combo of roasted beef and pork was not as tender and juicy as I liked. But the plantain and yellow rice all tasted uniquely Cuban. Lunch service was not exceptionally good for a place of that stature. ( 2 stars for food)
In retrospect, we missed to order the bean soup, paella, or seafood dishes, as reviewed by other yelpers. Well, there is always a second time to this special place in the future. When we do, dinner with flamenco dance show is a must!
Food arrived cold and undercooked.
The history alone makes this place a "must see" on any business trip to Tampa. Approach it like a museum with the benefit of cafe con leche. My snapper was really, really good. In fact, I shared it with a co-worker, because his pork was just okay. The cuban bread, hot. I re-visited this icon as I used to live in Tampa and wanted to return to Ybor City for nostalgia. The place has been here since 1905 and claims to be the largest Spanish Restaurant in the WORLD. Well it's big, seats 1700 patrons, can you believe it? 15 different dining rooms. Go for lunch, not dinner, and you'll avoid long waits.
An eleven-room dining establishment that seats 1600, is heavy on classic, Old World charm, and takes up an entire city block, this is Florida's oldest and the world's largest Spanish restaurant, opened in 1905 in historic Ybor City. It's inconceivable that a kitchen could maintain any reasonable quality when feeding the masses like this, but Columbia somehow manages to pull it off, without resorting to what tastes like assembly line cooking. The most popular draw here is paella, a melange of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, clams, chicken, pork, and sausage mixed with green peppers, onions, and tomatoes and heaped over piles of yellow rice. The neighborhood's ethnic flavor comes through with a nightly show of flamenco. There's a cigar bar with live jazz and a retail store. Open daily except Sunday, because any staff that handles this much traffic in a week definitely deserves its day of rest.
This place is not too bad. It sucks that it's the ONLY Cuban restaurant that area hotels recommend, apparently because the other one in Ybor City, Tropicana, closes as the sun sets. When I get there Columbia proudly proclaims that it is the "Gem of Spanish Restaurants." It is not really Spanish. I appreciate the decor, size and history that the place offers, but the whole Cuban/Spanish blend is odd. It is mostly Cuban food, but it wants to be Spanish, too. The mojito I ordered was perfect. The sangria was also just right. The food is just fine, but not better than any Cuban hole-in-the-wall in Miami. Go only for lunch because the dinner wait is ridiculous and prohibitive.
I have been there 4 or 5 times, and the food is AMAZING. I went there on Valentines day, just a few weeks ago. I had the best Fillet Mignon that I have ever had, and I've eaten a lot of steak! The Sangria is superb, and the flan is delicious. The atmosphere is classy, yet friendly. Not stiff or rude at all.
Disclaimer: i was pretty ripped by the time we had dinner here and some details are hazy. House wine was good quality (i think) and the mixed platter special of steak,chicken, fish and chorizo was very nicely done and oh so garlicky. The tab was picked up by a vendor rep so I've no clue what anything cost or if it was worth the scrill. I do know that we had a great time, good food and this part of Tampa is very cool (touristy but uh i was a pretty stereotypical tourist at the time).
My mom and her sisters grew up in South America. We came here in a large group the night before Easter, and everyone had an amazing meal. My one aunt had even been living in Venezuela a few years prior, and she too raved about the food.
The atmosphere is really neat, and Ybor City has so much history - just be careful when you're walking around, similar to the Quarter in New Orleans. The service was just what we needed and the prices were reasonable. We loved this place...one of the few unique and genuine dining experiences Tampa has to offer.
Take it from my South American raised mother and aunts....the food is some of the best (and most authentic) you will find in the States.
Tampa, FL
Category: Restaurants
Tampa, FL
Category: Restaurants
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Category: Restaurants
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Category: Nightlife
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