Columbia Restaurant (Ybor City)

Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City is Florida's oldest restaurant (operating continuously since 1905) and the world's largest Spanish restaurant. Occupying an entire city block with 15 distinct dining rooms and 1,700 seats, it is a Tampa institution that every visiting family should experience.

The building itself is the first attraction. Hand-painted Spanish tiles line the walls. A central courtyard features a splashing fountain surrounded by tropical plants.

Each dining room has its own character -- from intimate tile-walled spaces to grand halls with soaring ceilings and wrought iron chandeliers. Walking through the restaurant feels like touring a museum of Spanish-Cuban decorative arts.

The 1905 Salad is the signature culinary experience. Named for the year the restaurant opened, it's prepared tableside by a server who wheels a cart to your table and assembles the salad with showmanship -- measuring olive oil from a height, adding Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and lemon, and tossing with oversized wooden implements. The performance is theatrical and consistently captivates children.

The salad itself -- iceberg lettuce with ham, Swiss cheese, olives, tomatoes, and the house garlic-lemon-oil dressing -- is a proven crowd-pleaser.

The menu is Spanish-Cuban, reflecting Ybor City's immigrant heritage. Standout dishes include the Cuban sandwich (Columbia claims to have invented it -- the debate with Miami is ongoing), arroz con pollo, paella, and deviled crab croquettes. The kids' menu offers smaller portions of Spanish favorites.

Portions are generous and the cooking is consistent -- important for a restaurant that serves millions of meals.

Flamenco dinner shows add a cultural dimension that few restaurants can match. Professional flamenco dancers perform in the Siboney Room with live guitar accompaniment on select evenings. The artistry and intensity of flamenco -- rapid footwork, dramatic arm movements, expressive emotion -- transfixes children and adults.

The show is included with dinner in the Siboney Room (prix fixe menu, reservations required).

Columbia sits on 7th Avenue (La Septima) in the heart of Ybor City, Tampa's historic Latin Quarter. Walking the brick streets before or after a meal, families pass cigar shops, murals, the Ybor City Museum State Park, and architecture from the neighborhood's 1880s-era cigar manufacturing heyday. The cultural context enriches the dining experience.