The original Columbia in Ybor City is a genuine piece of Tampa history -- founded 1903 as a saloon,…read morebecame a restaurant in 1905, now spans an entire city block and claims the title of largest Spanish restaurant in the world. Still run by descendants of the founder. We had a Saturday 7pm reservation and the place was packed (seats around 1,700 people, per our server), but we were seated only 5-6 minutes late and service never felt strained despite the crowd. Started with warm, authentic Cuban bread and butter, then split the Original "1905" Salad -- tossed and served tableside, with Romano cheese, garlic dressing, ham, tomatoes, lettuce, and Swiss cheese. It's basically an entree on its own. The empanadas were also excellent: light crust, extremely flavorful filling, juices running with every bite. For my entree I had the Red Snapper "Adelita" -- grilled, topped with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, served over their signature yellow rice. Perfectly cooked fish, very flavorful toppings. For dessert, we compared the key lime pie against the white chocolate bread pudding. The pie was well-made -- perfect texture, perfect graham cracker crust, light raspberry sauce -- but a touch light on the tart key lime punch I look for. The bread pudding was the better dish: rich, decadent, excellent. Finished with proper Cuban espresso. The menu here is enormous -- expect to need multiple visits to make a dent in it. Everything we tried was excellent. Highly recommend, but book ahead on weekends; even with 1,700 seats, this place fills up.

A resounding YES! We came here for the first time a couple…read moreof years ago and it was such a pleasant and memorable experience, we had to come back. We were told that it would be a 30-40 minute wait, but it was hardly a 20 minute wait. The ambiance of the place is so homey, and the staff is generally pleasant. First of all, do not underestimate the BREAD. It is probably, hands down, the best baguette bread I have had in the US. We had croquette and stuffed mushrooms as appetizers. They were good. For my main course, I had the mahi mahi varadero and it was really good. It came with crab and Spanish rice, and was breaded with crispy plantains. It was good, although I generally don't like Spanish rice. HOWEVER, if I had to recommend a dish, it would be the mahi-mahi cayo-Hueso. It was marinated with citrus flavors and it was divine. Now I don't know who in our party ordered the fries, but they were amazing and felt as good as home fries. Now to the dessert, we ordered almost one of each and it was some of the best dessert I have had in my life -not too sweet, made well, and with real ingredients. I would have ordered my own cafe con leche but it was too late for me in the day but man did I wish I could have had my own cup instead os stolen sips. A record would not be complete without aknowledging the staff. Our waiter was Alfredo and he was such a nice, sweet, and accommodating waiter. He was also patient with such a large party. Thank you, Alfredo!

The guayaba chicharron is one of the most incredible pastries I have ever had. That alone would be…read moreworth five stars but the incredible coffee, great staff, and every other food item I had was also high level. This is going to be a go to stop for me in Tampa. It should be one for you too!

Restaurant was full but stay away from the fried fish, it was days old, we got sick and it's the…read moremost expensive plate on their menu.

Everything about this eatery has been well planned and prepared…read more From appetizing tostones to the combination platters to dessert. Food? DELISH! Service? Fantastic Ambiance: great setting

Came here for lunch bc my husband got a $10 off for his birthday month…read more He ordered the 1/2 chicken with rice and beans and plantains. The chicken here is unfortunately dry and not seasoned too well. The best part was probably the beans and rice. I still think of the aijiaco too which it was just too hot for me to order on a scorching August day. (Colombian chicken stew). I'll probably be back in the winter for that Aijiaco, but the chicken we will pass. Service was okay this time, and ambiance is quite nice in here.

My husband and I wanted breakfast this morning, so we decided to stop by and dine in. I had…read morescrambled eggs, a beef patty, and Cuban toast. My husband had steak with extra onions, plantains, eggs and rice with red beans. The food was so delicious, and plentiful. We will definitely be back soon. :-)

The best Colombian food in Tampa! I absolutely love this place. Very kind servers, really good…read moreauthentic soups, and bakery w all kinds of assortments of pastries you really can't go wrong here, the whole menu is full of yummy dishes. If I could come here everyday I would! it's that good fr

I don't know what happened here. Perhaps the owners are out of town. I really hope it didn't change…read moreowners because everything was noticeably different. The ladies working were not familiar at all. They also were not friendly and helpful. I was pretty sad. It did make me feel like the previous owners were gone bc either one were there. I hope they are still around and eventually when I come back, I can update this review. We ordered the Hawaiian hot dog and the arepa with beef and chicken. Something was missing. Also we ordered two empanadas. I like their green chimmichuri sauce with it, and as soon as I asked for it, she walked away and never came back. Even the pic on the outside sign shows them with that sauce, but nope never got it. They also have their usual Colombian drinks which are Postobon and Colombiana. They are more expensive and smaller sizes. We will definitely take a break from here. Hope the owners that we know and love will be there.

Have been craving some Colombian food since in Georgia there is nothing and was excited to eat here…read morewhile visiting family. We'll it did not disappoint at all. Right when you come in we were greeted and it felt really nice and cozy. We were taken care of fast and were able to order no problem. The food was so delicious and perfectly cooked and seasoned. I recommend this place to everyone. There was nothing we ate that we didn't like.

Still love this Colombian Restaurant. They have made updates to the restaurant and it feels more…read morespacious. They have a new location closer to my house but I still love this location better. The service is much better here. This time my husband and I both ordered mini bandeja paisas which are traditional mixed plates. Ours had steak, white mini arepa, sausage rice, beans, bananas. I also asked for salad instead of beans. Our plates were very tasty. They also have a Bakery with Colombian breads and desserts, we did not pick up anything this time because Many of them were gone

You can never go wrong with a bandeja paisa! If you're looking for Colombian food in St. Pete, this…read moreis the place to eat! The energy is great here- it's always full of people watching the games on tv or hanging out with family. The servers are great- very attentive, and very friendly. The bandeja paisa comes with 2 plátanos, steak, chicharrón, an egg, arepa, rice, beans- what more could you ask for! If it's too much for you, you can order the mini version. Either way you will not be disappointed! Everything was delicious!

Almost everything is delicious, but why did I say 'almost'? because I don't like everything, not…read morehere, not there, not everywhere. The service is fantastic, and all the girls are very nice. Ambiance is normal, not rushed; people line up to order, and everyone is respectful.

Every work day, I sit at the same intersection. I always turn east. Today, I turned west... and…read morethat has made all the difference, since I found Ricopan. It's in a stand alone building, right next to a large apartment complex. The turn is very easy to miss on your first visit, even with GPS. But once you've been there, you'll never miss it again. Your tastebuds will lead you home. When I got there, early on a Thursday morning, the place was humming. There are no tables or booths-it's take out only... and people were whizzing in-then whizzing out with big boxes or bags. That was a very good sign. But soon, I didn't notice the other people (cue the music montage)... I was mesmerized-transfixed, even... by all the goodies. Everything from delicate coconut pastries to corn casserole to fruit tarts/tortes, to chicken empanadas, to fancy cakes to big, puffy/fluffy cheese loaves... all beautifully displayed and labeled. It was a feast for the senses. I couldn't stop taking photos! I also couldn't decide what to get, but finally blurted out something about the corn casserole and quickly added the coconut cocada and pan bolo (guava). I am happy to report that everything tasted as good as it looked. As the 80s ballad declared: "the search is over"... I have found my favorite bakery, I love that it has both sweet and savory items. I will be back again and again. But not just for the food. It's the service! The woman helping me was absolutely delightful. She was warm and friendly and helpful and full of good suggestions. She was sunshine. That's something you can't put in a display case or add to a recipe.. Ricopan, you're a star! I'll be back! P.s. private parking lot-fair prices-very clean and they also sell coffee-maybe other drinks, too.

My son brought me lunch from here and I can't wait to go back! I got 2 empanadas and a side of…read morebeans. Love the sauces with empanadas whichwere stuffed, great flavor and perfectly cooked even after sitting while he brought them home. He also ate all of his food and loved it!

This use to be one of our faves. Unfortunately it has gone down. The quality of food is not the…read moresame. The flavor is lacking, the plates aren't what they use to be. The A/C doesn't work well. There's also no liquor license now. We were most disappointed by our food. The sauces weren't flavorful at all. My seafood was considerably less as well. We ordered a Pescado Ala macho which I compared pics from before when I ordered it as well. In addition the Tallarin Saltado lacked flavor, was mostly noodles and barely any beef. The server was nice but we could tell the overall experience was not what we once loved.