It's popular with tourists, but even as a resident of nearby Jacksonville, it's still one of my favorite stops in St. Augustine. Their mojitos and sangria are delicious, and their bread is to die for. I'm a fan of their soups, and while I've tried a variety of their tapas and entrees, I always come back to the Cuban sandwich. My only complaints? The drinks and dishes are pricey...pricier than what I've found at similar restaurants. The service can be a bit slow at times. And the plantain chips that come with the Cuban are just average. But I dream of that sandwich and can't go too long without stopping in for one! read more

Been coming here for years whenever I'm in Saint Augustine. The atmosphere in the restaurant is very cool. Feels like you are walking into a cool Cuban villa. The food is good, however their prices are a little high in my opinion. Especially their entrees so I'd recommend having this as your nicer dinner when here. We went for lunch so the prices weren't as bad. Of course I had to order their 1905 salad. This salad is so basic but absolutely delicious. They have a secret vinaigrette dressing and then add Worcester sauce to it. I don't how or why but this combo is absolutely delicious. Highly recommend getting this. I also got the black bean soup. It was very basic but had a lot of flavor. They add the soul to your ride right at your table. They toss the 1905 salad right at your table too. It's a neat lil presentation. Also really good here is their sangria. Didn't get it this time but it gas a really good flavor to it. I'd give this restaurant more stars but it is just a lil too pricey to me for other places around there. It's definitely a neat place to check out. read more

The Columbia - Black bean soup - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

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The house made salad is delicious as is the black bean soup. Most people seem to enjoy their entree options, but so far we haven't found one we absolutely love. We would return to try again, but it's not on our "must do" list. read more

Amazing food at a fair price. Be prepared for a one hour long wait if not more. I recommend making a reservation a few days in advance.

I rarely give perfect ratings on Yelp, but this place deserves it. I have come here many times over the years, and it's my favorite place in St. Augustine. The food is excellent, the ambiance is killer, and the service is outstanding. Let's start with the food - the 1905 salad and Cuban sandwich are to die for. Pro tip- get the salad with shrimp. The apple cinnamon tea is probably not something most people would order here, but try it. It's amazing. The service was great - fast, friendly, and attentive. Everything you want in a restaurant. The prices are affordable, and it's really just a very pretty restaurant. One of my all time favorite places. read more

The Columbia - The 1905 salad. - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

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While I did not eat today at the Columbia, we did buy an anniversary meal for my 80+ year old parents who were celebrating a 62 anniversary together. With the assistance of a fantastic manager (Susan I believe) we were able to get them a reservation, surprise them with the meal being paid, and the staff went way out of their way to make sure my parents had a fantastic meal! My parents have been going here for many years, driving up the 1.5 hours from our small hometown in central Florida (Umatilla) to have a cuban meal, cuban coffee, and enjoy St. Augustine's Christmas charm. THANK YOU to the staff at Columbia for this wonderful gift! You went WAY beyond the call of duty for this. Sincerely, Ruth-Ann Bode read more

Amazing restaurant, we walked in right before closing without even realizing it and they were super accommodating, not rushing us at all. The food was all wonderful, our waitress even included plastic silverware with our left overs and added some Guava for the bread in the morning. Will definitely come back again! read more

The Columbia - Some of the best food we have had in a long time, amazing staff that was very accommodating. - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

This place was AMAZING! Veg paella was amazing, half bottles of wine are fantastic deals if you want to try a couple different things. I was SO impressed by our server, Danica (sp?), she was incredibly knowledgeable about the menu, had an amazing attitude & never failed to check in on the table. The atmosphere was very classy but also local, loved everything about this place! Can't wait to be back and try the other veg friendly options (there are a couple!) everything was fresh, full of flavor & made with up matched authenticity. Overall a wonderful experience, a lovely date spot & a fantastic evening. The portions are also huge, leftovers will last me lunch & dinner tomorrow! Don't hesitate because of the prices, the experience & authenticity of food as well as fantastic service have made this the best restaurant experience I have had in quite awhile! Thank you so much Dianca! read more

Ordered the Spanish soup and the Mahi Mahi Verdano (the one with the crispy crust I forget the exact name). The fish was really well done, nicely seasoned. The rice and the plantains were good. Although the fish was supposed to be grilled, it looked a little greasy; kinda like it was fried. Perhaps it was the oil in the sauce that made it look so. The sauce was poured over the fish. Anyway didn't hamper my enjoyment of the dish. read more

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We are vacationing in St Augustine. We decided to try The Columbia. It was fantastic. Best meal in Saint Augustine. Sabrina was our server. She was very pleasant. Great service. Gave us recommendations on the menu and wine selection. Made a great salad at our table. Thank you for a great night Sabrina!! read more

Aweful experience. Took an hour to get two meals and the restaurant was only half full. Service was also very poor read more

This restaurant should close it's doors immediately. They are an embarrassment to Saint Augustine. There is never a reason to treat your patrons like trash. I have eaten in restaurants all across the world and had to come home to Florida to be treated this bad. We had reservations three days ahead of my fiancé's birthday to make it special for her. When we walked in the door the brat that was pretending to be the hostess tonight decided we were not worthy of her time. She pretended not to see the reservations in front of her in a Covid based time in the middle of the week in January. Your reputation means nothing when you fail to treat your patrons with respect. I have been a part of this city for over 14 years and will not put up with this treatment from any restaurant or cafe. Spencer was trying to help, but her name tag said Elizebeth and we will never trust this place again. Thank you (sarcastically) for sticking us on the back against the wall with a 3 day reservation for my Fiancé's birthday. We will never see you again. If there were a lower rating, I would give it to Columbia. read more

Let me start off by letting you know that the service here by everyone we encountered was GREAT. We made reservations for my moms birthday dinner and they definitely made her feel special by bringing a birthday card signed by everyone to the table and the manager wishing my mom a very happy birthday. The Flan was actually good as well. Now, the actual food for us was not amazing. Maybe we had high expectations but it left much to be desired. We all agreed around the table that it was just "ok" and we wouldn't go out of our way to come here again. I had the lobster cannelloni and it was more cheese sauce than anything. My mom had the baked pompano fish with yellow rice and it wasn't anything really special, my sister had pork loin with yucca, white rice and beans and sent it back because the pork loin was not good and got a steak salteado instead which was better but again, not great. Nothing we couldn't have made ourselves at home better. The portions could be bigger as well. Beautiful restaurant, great tourist spot, but for food and the price, would not recommend. We've had more memorable meals because they were so delicious elsewhere. Lastly, when I called on the phone to make sure my moms birthday was special, the person I spoke to stated they normally bring a complimentary flan to the birthday person with lit candles and that she would make a note of that for our server, my mom got the flan but no candles, which would've actually made it a little more special her getting to blow them out on her b day dinner. read more

1905 salad is incredible, and the Barcelona chicken/shrimp combo was on point. Lobster bisque based sauce was fantastic. Tried the stuff shrimp too which was also excellent read more

This place has dropped in quality. It's a cheap Americanized restuarant, trying to pass off as Spanish Cuban! Cheap stickey rice; sangria made with cheap wine. This place is for unsuspecting tourists that don't know better. read more

Great service and presentation. Salad is fantastic. Sangria is a must. Table side preparation of salad and sangria is impressive.

Excellent sangria tinto (my fave...!!) Been here (twice each at Celebration & St Augustine) have had corn & crab fritters, costelillitas de cerdo habana (baby pork ribs) - tapas, mahi mahi cubana, chicken & yellow rice, salteado, red snapper adelita, crab enchilado - all excellent...!! Yes, the bread (esp with evoo) & their famous salad are both yummy good. read more

The Columbia - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

A beautifully decorated restaurant with a great atmosphere. We enjoyed all of our food and had great service. I definitely recommend the bread pudding, it was delicious and a huge portion. It was so big that the 4 of us could not finish it. read more

Love the 1905 Salad! The staff is always great and Crystal is one of the best servers! We eat here atleast once a month.

One star is way too much for the kind of service and food we got. When we first arrived the hostess attitude was aggressive. we had a group of 11 people so we tried to ignore her attitude and wait for our table and we'll be happy (little that we knew what was next) so, we were divided into two tables (6 & 5) ok that's fine. One table was in second floor and the other in first floor. We got the one on first floor. The waitress didn't show up until 15 to 20 min after we sat down first thing she said "I am exhausted" ok? Sorry? we tried to be understanding so we made a joke out of it so she said that we were her only happy table yay!!! Ok? Thank you? now let's start with our order... drinks 3 waters and a coke and sprite she left, 10 min. Later she came back without our drinks because she forgot what we ordered really? This is not happening! Ok let's move on got our drinks after a while. 45 minutes later she took our food order by this time our friends with the group of five were already eating their food!!! Then!!! about 5-10 min later our waitress came back to take our order again!!! because she forgot what we ordered this time she wrote the order in a piece of paper by 9:50pm we were getting our food. I got the Cuban sandwich it was good, my husband got the completa cubana, nasty!! with crunchy rice (under cook) and the meat look like a frozen piece of meat that was cooked in the microwave didn't look like a Columbia restaurant dish, my daughter got the black bean soup with rice and the rice was crunchy too, and my son in law got salteado with crunchy rice lots of onions and peppers and very few pieces of meat. did they run out of meat and well cooked rice?? This was our first experience in this restaurant We ate at the Columbia restaurant in Tampa before and totally different in service and food as well. I will not recommend to anyone to eat at this restaurant!! NO WAY from beginning to end bad! bad! experience. Definitely not worth the wait the travel nor the money. We would of received better food and better service at some mom and pop Cuban cafe. read more

Jeff H, the manager of the restaurant responded to my review on this establishment asking if i had said anything to the manager. To him I say, you call yourself a Cuban/ Spanish restaurant. These cuisines are fairly heavy on the seafood. If you can't get the national dish of Spain right and cook your seafood to oblivion, and it passed the front line and made it to the table, what good would it do to say a word to the server, who seemed to be way overstretched and uneducated on what they were serving? I don't go to a restaurant that charges the kind of money that you do expecting to educate your staff. Hire people that know what the hell they're doing and pay them enough to keep them. I can cook paella the way its supposed to be, I can cook seafood without turning it into rubber, apparently much better than your chefs, I expect better than what I can cook for that kind of scratch. A1A ale house makes a better paella than the Columbia, or used to. Maybe send tour "chef" over there to try it and get a few pointers. You have a beautiful restaurant in a historic Spanish settlement, get it right. read more

5 STAR in name only. Been to this restaurant serval times, as well as all the other location. Service and quality of the food was below their standard this day. Let's just said when you're done with the soup and salad your plates are removed from the table. Not when you're giving me the bill. Your entree should be where you are totally impressed, not so much. The paella was more chicken than seafood. My suggestion go to a local restaurant in the historic district and forget about going to this location because of the name. read more

We were told The Columbia was a good spot to eat and we decided to try it out. The restaurant looks incredible. We sat in a very cool courtyard by a nice fountain. The service was fast and extremely friendly. We even noticed our server was great with his other tables. He really went above and beyond. My wife ordered her entree and he explained how they made it so I had to get it as well. It was excellent. Great experience top to bottom. read more

The locations in Ybor, Sand Key, and Sarasota are so much better. Even the airport location is better than this location. I love this place but tonight at this location nothing was the norm for the Columbia. The wait was under quoted and we waited a lot longer than told The server was mad she got us so we were given another guy across the restaurant and I'm Sure he wasn't happy either. Service was slow and not very attentive at all. The salad was a miss and we got desert to go and both were half prepared. Listened to an argument coming from the kitchen. Not good! Won't visit this location anymore. After a blah apology and no mention on the wasted money on my 2 deserts to go I change my 2 starts to only one for poor resolution to a terrible visit. read more

You know I went there tonight I was not impressed at all.. service was horrible food was terrible.. With all the reviews I was truly expecting something so much better. read more

Food is excellent but overpriced because of small portions if you don't mind spending your money it's worth it

OMG. This is the place to go it has it all. Ambience and charm and great sangria and food.

Everyone was extremely kind during our visit. Starting from the hostess to the server (and server in training). We got the 1905 salad which is so yummy, and we also got the paella which again was amazing! Definitely one of those restaurants that doesn't disappoint. read more

I'm stunned that this place has less than a foot star rating overall. We went to another fish place on St George but wanted a more formal seeing with quality food and service. We remember passing this place earlier and we're do impressed with the exterior we went back to Columbia and were not disappointed. Or wait time was only ten minutes, for two, and the dining room was amazing with all the windows, skylight and decorations on the walls. We both ordered different fish dishes. Wife had the Mahi Mahi, I had the Corvina and they were both so good we didn't share which we always do. She did give a taste of her plantain which was so amazing I'll order extra on the side when we return to St Augustine. 5 star food, 5 star service and 5 star atmosphere. read more

What a great place to eat. the atmosphere is fun, the food is excellent as is the sangria. I would recommend this place for dining options in St. Augustine or any other of its locations. read more

This restaurant suffers from an identity crisis in that the arrogance, ego, and attitude displayed by staff is a definite mismatch from what their service level and culinary quality actually is. Right from the moment we arrived for our reservation, we were greeted by eye rolls, being ignored and made to feel like we didn't exist while we stood right in front of the hostess stand inches from her face, and indignant looks. Honestly we felt like we, and all the other guests in the restaurant were a true inconvenience to the business rather than the reason for their existence. After finally being seated 37 minutes after our reservation time (getting another eye roll when the hostess seating us saw that we needed to carry a stroller up the steps), we had to wait for an inordinate amount of time before help came. By the time the server took our orders, gave us an indignant sigh when we mentioned food allergies, and we actually ordered and received our meals, we weren't even hungry anymore. This is simply one of those tourist traps with a seemingly nice aura that masks dismal service and mediocre food. Save your money and find a better place in St. Augustine. read more

We really had good time there yesterday and the service was awesome, specially our server Thomas Hamilton made an outstanding impact in our eating experience there. We were there for more than 2 hours because we really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Columbia restaurant in St. AUGISTINE. My son unexpectedly threw up and Thomas Hamilton changed the whole table cloth for us right away. 5 star service by Mr. Thomas Hamilton. Please make sure the management recognize him as a top leader. Great job Thomas! Kamal R. Orlando, FL kamalroop1113@gmail.com read more

Unfortunately I can not recommend this restaurant. Bad food and poor service. Went on Christmas Eve as part of a party of 11. Food was sub-par. I don't think anyone in our dining party felt the food was good. Our server did a better job trying to sell us souvenirs than he did getting us drinks or warm food. My wife and daughter have both eaten lunch here before and really enjoyed it. Both agreed dinner tonight was bad. Worse Christmas Eve dinner ever. McDonalds would have been better. Skip this place. read more

We had a 715 reservation got in by 725 very busy service staff were really hustling. our server Jessica did a wonderful job very attentive came right to our table. Had the shrimp Bayon. Outstanding We have been there many times for lunch this was the first time for dinner we will be back. The warm bread was very good read more

Was told that there was great food and service here so we decided to head over directly there. Getting into the restaurant there's no way there's a trained manager on site, the host were all over the place. After a 30min wait got seated. The middle room was crowded to many tables for the location. Servers passing by with trays of food drinks and more over our head. Our server was just sleeping Welcomed us didn't only asked about the bottle of water we didn't even know we were getting charged for it. No recommendations, no refills no how's the food. -server was definitely sleeping. No managers touched the table to see how everything was. The food was definitely no cooked right the stake sandwich was dry and over seasoned. The rib-eye was dry to the bone. I was in the business for over 12 years, this place needs new manager to train the staff that helping each other even if it's not your table help that server out . Almost all the tables had dirty plates on them, customers looking around (again no managers to help) . That was the first time going and last time going. The only thing good here was the bread that was crisp and the water. read more

Incredibly disappointing experience. The food was flavorless and cold. The only menu item worth eating is the 1905 salad. Perhaps management should bring back the entire menu from 1905? read more

We have been here many times. We love St Augustine and we always go to this wonderful restaurant when we are in town. The family business has been successful for over 100 years. The building, the decor and the atmosphere are all very good. It feels familiar, and we always feel like the staff strives to make every diner feel special. They succeed. It is great value for money, the food is wonderful, the menu is unique and we both think if they shut down and served nothing but the 1905 salad, they would still be busy. We love this restaurant and feel as though we are going home as soon as we walk through the door. A visit to this eatery adds value to a trip to the oldest city in the USA. read more

We stopped by to have lunch at the Saint Agustin location after hearing about it. My experience was pretty bad because of the service. The location is very nice and well kept, but our waitress was really lacking of overall attention. My husband has specifically requested to have his cuban sandwich without mustard and she came back with the sandwich with mustard in it. When my husband made her notice that the sauce was in it, she didn't apologize and she order an other sandwich with no mustard for him, as if it was normal to ignore somebody's request. I find it to be a real waste of food too, either if it's her fault or of somebody's in the kitchen, because my husband didn't eat the first sandwich. In addition, the waitress was never around, we had to wait a long time and call her to our table to be assisted. She has never refilled my water and I had to drink my husband's to be able to eat. Lastly, in order to get the check my husband had to walk around the restaurant to find her because she was not showing up at our table. Terrible experience because as paying customers, we value food and service the same. We will not go back for sure. Bad bad experience!! read more

Visited this restaurant at the recommendation of our conceriege. Normally conceriege get little kickbacks but are staying about 45 mins away so I felt his recommendation was genuine and heartfelt. If he was visiting St. Augustine, this is where he would go. We loved it. The restaurant has that Spanish flair the minute you walk in. Lots of hustle and bustle, big groups celebrating and lots of date nights too. A little something for everyone. We ate in the main courtyard area which I liked. My husband got a sampler plate with so Much food he couldn't possibly eat it all. I ordered a fish dish called Lido Key. Grilled fish topped with crab drizzled in a lemon butter served with "good rice" and asparagus. It was so good. We also got the 1905 salad which is made tableside. Strips of hard cheeses and ham make this a hearty salad. I tried the white sangria and a mojito. Both were delicious although i will give the edge to the mojoito! The service was exceptional. Our waitress was the perfect blend of attentiveness and we loved watching how hard the staff works to turn tables quickly. If your in St. Augustine, you really can't go wrong at this place! (PS. They have a small Parking lot right next door that you can Park at if you are eating there. Super convenient! We were even able to find a spot at 7:30 on a Saturday night!) read more

Felt this place was overrated. Salad was 5 stars but my Cuban was a bit dry. Silverware and glasses were dirty. Great area though. Local to where you want to be. read more