TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

At The Columbia, It's 1905 For A Day

ADVERTISEMENT

By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2007

TAMPA - Harold Gainer could almost taste the Merluza ala Rusa: breaded fish topped with lemon butter, parsley and chopped boiled eggs.

The meal would only set him back $2.95. At those prices, he expected the dish to be even tastier.

Sunday, Gainer and hundreds like him lined up around the block to take advantage of 1905 Day, an anniversary celebration for Ybor City's landmark Columbia Restaurant. Every year, the restaurant treats customers to its famous Cuban cuisine at bargain-basement prices.

Chicken and yellow rice cost $2.95; flan, 35 cents. Sangria went for 95 cents and coffee for a nickel. The Columbia's three Tampa Bay area restaurants in Ybor City, St. Petersburg and Clearwater all offered the anniversary prices.

The doors opened at noon at the Ybor City location. By 11:30 a.m., customers snaked down Seventh Avenue and wrapped around 21st Street.

Roberto Acosta, a Tampa native of Cuban heritage who lives in Naples, showed up at 11:15 a.m., jonesing for some flan.

'It's about authentic as you can get,' he said. 'It's got that homemade taste and flavor. Some people make flan with cream cheese. I want straight flan.'

Several people in line had been to 1905 Day many times before. The Lavin family meets here every year. Derek Lavin, a Florida State University student, drives from Tallahassee to meet his mother, Robin, and sister, Amy, who live in Naples. Grandmother Justine Bennett lives in Tampa.

'We have a family reunion,' Bennett said. 'We all meet here.'

One pair of customers had no idea what they were in for. Carol Banker and Jim Morgan of Tampa, who met at church that morning and decided to stop by for lunch, thought the long line just meant the food was really good.

They laughed after realizing how small their bill would be.

'You're a cheap date,' Morgan told Banker.

Lori Carmichael of Clearwater said she and her mother, Fran Mathews, just love the Columbia. They said they planned to go all out, from drinks to dessert.

'It's such a great place to be. The food is excellent,' she said. 'This, to me, is Tampa.'

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT