The Columbia Restaurant opened its doors on this date in 1905. The Columbia Restaurant is the oldest continuously operated restaurant in Florida, and the oldest Spanish restaurant in the United States. The restaurant, which began in Ybor City as a small sixty-seat corner café, now has 1,700 seats in fifteen dining rooms, taking up 52,000 square feet over an entire city block. Founded by Cuban immigrant, Casimiro Hernandez Sr., the landmark restaurant and its seven additional locations are still owned and operated by fourth and fifth generation Hernandez-Gonzmart family members.
~Florida Historical Society
