Lions Club Plaque - Columbia Restaurant - Ybor City, Florida, USA.
N 27° 57.613 W 082° 26.101
17R E 358845 N 3093624
The Columbia is the oldest & largest Spanish Restaurant in the USA. Opened in 1905. The Lions Club of Ybor City was founded at this restaurant in 1951. Located in Tampa, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMQ0QQ
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/24/2015
Views: 2
The Columbia is the oldest & one of the largest Spanish restaurant in the World. It was opened as a cafe for cigarmakers by Casimiro Hernandez, Sr. in 1905 & has remained to this day under the management of the founding family. The entire building is surrounded, by stunning ceramic mosaic artworks, & topped by an artistic Neon sign.
The Lions club Plaque mounted on the wall near the entrance of the Columbia restaurant reads; The Lions club of Ybor City was organised on Apr-19-1951 at the Columbia Restaurant. Meetings each Thursday at 12.15 Noon.
"TALLAHASSEE - State senators took several moments Wednesday to congratulate Ybor City's Columbia Restaurant on its 100th anniversary.
The landmark restaurant opened in 1905, founded by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez Sr., and has been owned and operated since by the next four generations of the family. It includes in its claims to fame the distinctions of being the oldest restaurant in Florida and, encompassing an entire city block, the largest Spanish restaurant in the world." Text Source; (
visit link)
"The original Columbia Restaurant, located in the historic Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, is the oldest continuously operated restaurant in Florida, the oldest Spanish restaurant in the United States and one of the largest Spanish restaurants in the world with 1,700 seats in 15 dining rooms taking up 52,000 ft² over an entire city block. Founded in 1905 in, the landmark is still owned by the Hernandez/Gonzmart family and serves Spanish and Cuban cuisine." Text Source; (
visit link)
Web Address: (
visit link)