First Coast
Explorer
Florida's First Coast
On St. George Street in the heart of the oldest city in America. The same family, the same recipes, and a dining room that has been this good since before anyone living can remember.
The original Columbia opened in Tampa's Ybor City in 1905. Florida was not yet a state for most of the people who first ate there. The St. Augustine location is a sister restaurant — same family, now in their fourth and fifth generation, same century-old recipes, same hand-painted tiles on the walls, same sangria made tableside the way it has always been made. This is not a theme restaurant built to look historic. It is a historic restaurant that happens to still be very good.
It sits on St. George Street in the middle of the historic district, which means it occupies the correct address in the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. When the context is St. Augustine, that is saying something. The building has been here long enough that the city has grown around it rather than the other way around.
"Upon walking in we were transported into a Spanish wonderland. The atmosphere was stunning. We went for tapas, which were fantastic. The sangria was wonderful — and I don't usually do sangria."
The 1905 Salad is the signature and the answer to the question of what to order first. It is tossed tableside — romaine, ham, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, olives, and a dressing that has been the same since the name implies. It is theatrical and it is delicious and it is the reason the table next to you ordered one before you even sat down. Get it.
The paella is the entree that defines the menu — saffron rice, seafood, chorizo, the whole production. It is the dish the kitchen has been making for generations and it shows. For lunch, the Cuban sandwich is a legitimate version of the form: slow-smoked pork, ham, Swiss, mustard, pickle, pressed. Croquetas de pollo, empanadas, and crab cakes are the starters worth ordering. The tableside sangria — white or red — is the drink. Order a pitcher. Finish with the white chocolate bread pudding or the key lime pie.
On select evenings the Columbia runs flamenco performances in the dining room. Live music, dancers, the kind of show that reminds you that dinner can be more than food. It is worth timing your visit around if flamenco is something you have any interest in — this is not a tourist approximation, it is a genuine performance in a room designed for it. Check the restaurant's website or call ahead to confirm show nights before you visit.
The Columbia is one of the most popular restaurants in St. Augustine, which is not a small distinction in a city full of good restaurants and millions of annual visitors. On weekend evenings, holiday weekends, and during Nights of Lights season, the wait for walk-ins can stretch to an hour or more. Make a reservation. OpenTable handles it cleanly and the staff honors reservation times. Weekday lunches and early weekday dinners are the quieter windows if you want the experience without the crowd.
The dress code is semi-dressy in spirit — no formal requirement, but the room is elegant and the price point is $$$ and guests tend to dress to match. Nobody will turn you away in shorts but you will feel the gap. The patio is available when weather permits and is worth requesting for the St. George Street scene.
There are restaurants that are famous and restaurants that deserve to be famous. The Columbia is both, which is rarer than it sounds. A century of the same family, the same recipes, and the same standard of care in a dining room filled with hand-painted tiles on the most historic street in Florida's oldest city. The 1905 Salad is worth the reservation alone. The paella is worth the drive. The flamenco is free with dinner.
Make the reservation. Order the sangria first. Let the rest take care of itself.