We met 2 other couples for dinner and had a wonderful time. We started with a pitcher of Sangria Cava which used Jaume Serra champagne which is one of my favorites. It was delicious. I had a tapas trio of lobster flatbread, pork riblets and stuffed mushrooms. The flatbread was the highlight of my meal. Perfectly cooked and seasoned it was delicious. The pork ribs were very dry but that was my fault because I didn't realize they were served in a vinegary sauce. Once I saw that they were great. The lowlight was the stuffed mushrooms. They were stuffed with spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese and garlic. They were very bland and didn't really taste of the garlic. They could have used some chorizo or bacon to give them a sharper flavor and a little texture. When Danica (our server) suggested them she asked if I liked mushrooms and I have to agree with her they were very mushroomy. My wife had the pompano in papilla. Pompano stuffed with shrimp and crab and baked in a paper bag. She said it was delicious and from my bite it was cooked perfectly light and flaky. She also had a side of asparagus which was gone before I could get a taste. They must have been great. One couple had the empenadas which she loved, her husband had pork loin which had a hole drilled through it and stuffed with chorizo. There wasn't much left on his plate when he was through but gravy. The third wife had grilled red snapper which was too large to finish. Perfectly cooked too. I'm unsure what the last person had as he was on the far end of the table. All-in-all a wonderful meal excepting the mushrooms. Worth the 45m drive from Jacksonville. read more

We attempted to have dinner today, January 23rd. The service was awful, we were waiting just for the tea for 25 minutes. The server was totally inattentive. We decided to leave and before that asked to see a manager. After 10 min the manager was found. He didn't even think to apologize. All he said: I will talk to the waiter. I don't think we will ever visit this place again. For the level of promotion they have and prices they charge this is absolutely unacceptable. read more

We have been coming here for over 15 years now and consider Columbia a safe fall back if we don't want to try something new in St Augustine. The food has been consistently good over the years but the service has ranged from fabulous to poor. That is why I really can't give them more than 3 stars. Poor service can make the best meal unsatisfying and that is what we had again on our most recent visit. It took a very long time to be greeted, get our drinks, check back that our dishes came out OK and even get our check. But on to what is good. The red sangria is excellent - not too sweet (miss the bull though). I am not a sangria person and don't have it elsewhere - but we do split a pitcher (or two!) here. The seafood is also excellent. I highly recommend the Paella Marinera, Croquetas de Langosta, Pompano "Lido Key" and Grouper "Jimmy" - all excellent dishes. read more

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I love this place. And I got one of the best services ever. They should promote Rafael as a manager! He was so courteous, nice, humble, everything you want in a server. I hope the manager sees this. The food was delicious I ordered the grilled mahi mahi. This is one of my favorite rest in St. Aug. read more

The Columbia - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

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I would highly recommended reservations here. I hopped onto an app and did so for a late dinner. The inside is beautiful, with an open style seating. High ceilings and beautiful, colorful tiles. For starters, they served crispy, fresh bread with butter. Ahh. Heaven. I had red Sangria, which packed a punch. It tasted like my family's recipe from Spain. I had Roast Pork "a la Cubana", which was pork loin with black beans, white rice, yuca, and plantains. Onions come over the beans, so use caution of you don't like onions. For dessert, I had key lime pie. This wasn't your ordinary pie. This was a cloud on a plate. So light and fresh. You have to order this. Service was exceptional. I will be back. read more

Only way to describe our experience there is WORLD CLASS SERVICE. What started out as a reservation for 10 grew to more than 20. They were accommodating every step of the way. We were initially welcomed/greeted by several staff members including the manager. They couldn't have been any nicer. Our table was ready on time and we were all happily seated. The service and the food were outstanding, and we were all amazed at how well the 2 servers handled everything with such efficiency and always with a smile and friendly personalities. Everyone in our group walked away raving about our dining experience and I couldn't agree more. The Columbia Restaurant is a place not to be missed if you're looking for great service and a great meal. read more

Excellent service and delicious food, in a historic building with loads of character and charm. We make sure to dine here every time we're in town. Great menu for those who are gluten-free. Some of our favorites are the Shrimp with yellow rice, grilled grouper, grilled snapper, sweet plantains, and the key lime pie. read more

If your looking for ambiance this place has a nice Spanish flair. The portions are generous but its pricey. The food is good but not amazing. For 4 of us the bill was $135 with only one drink and no dessert. I can think of better places to spend my money. 3 strike your out. Not my favorite. read more

We went to The Columbia Restaurant while visiting Saint Augustine. Our server, Alexandra was very nice and knowledgeable of the menu. We ordered Empanadas de Picadillo as our appetizer. They were flavorful and tasted great. I ordered the Shrimp "Bayón" and my fiancé ordered Paella "a la Valenciana" for dinner. We were blown away with how amazing the food was. The meals were large portions as well. 10/10 highly recommend Columbia Restaurant if you're looking for great food in a fantastic atmosphere. read more

The Columbia - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

It's an absolutely beautiful restaurant. Service was impeccable. Our server (girl with bold colorful eyeshadow) was on top of all of her tables, making sure everyone had what they needed/wanted. The food is mediocre, just like the Tampa location. I ordered a cuban dish that had pork. The pork looked like it came from a cat food can, it didn't taste great either. But the flan dessert was AMAZING! I'd go back just for the Flan. read more

Excellent atmosphere staff is amazing great food. In the heart of St Augustine! A must!

Damn this place was good! Staff was nice, place was nice on the inside too, food was crazy good and overall just a great restaurant to go to while you're in st Augustine. Paella was made fresh to order, takes 30 mins to prepare, lots of seafood and good flavors. Someone at our table got ropa Vieja and that was the dinner for the day. If you go here make sure to try that plate, super delicious. Crab cake was good. read more

The Columbia - Inside - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

Visited on a weeknight--steady crowd but no wait. Ordered the Bambino (New York Strip) and was fantastic. Interior atmosphere was great and waiter (Carlos) was very punctual--can't wait to visit again. read more

Wonderful place to eat and enjoy yourself. I've eaten here since I was a child and I'm always reminded of good times with my family when I eat here. The food is superb and the atmosphere is enchanting. read more

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This is definitely my favorite downtown restaurant in St Augustine... it's very lively and busy with servers that are just as entertaining! The food is absolutely delicious! I highly recommend the garlic shrimp appetizer with their amazing fresh bread for dunking! The sangria is made table-side and is great! Menu is so great, something delicious for everyone! Highly recommended read more

The Columbia - Delicious sangria - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

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Love the waitress who created our atmosphere, appearances, & ambiance. Food was unbelievable creative, gourmet delicious & visually appealing. The mojitos were out of the world because we asked our waitress to decorate with excessive mint & rum! Two pitchers made our evening t their waiters & surprise desserts got us euphoric! read more

Came here for my moms birthday dinner and the food was absolutely amazing, with one exception which was my entree. To begin with, we had a reservation for 7:30PM but arrived early to the venue. The staff was very kind and sat us ahead of time even though we were an hour early. Our waitress came off a little rude at the beginning, since she didn't introduce herself or seemed very pleased with how long we were taking to order even though it was our first time there. She was still very attentive and refilled our drinks quickly, so quickly we hadn't even noticed they were almost empty and she had brought out another one. The toasted cuban bread was complimentary and absolutely delicious, they were generous giving about less than half a loaf to everyone at the table. For appetizers we ordered the picadillo empanadas, and let me just say i am a picky eater and have never liked empanadas but these were absolutely amazing! I just couldn't get enough of them, unfortunately they only bring two per order, but thankfully i was the only one that wanted since everyone else at our table got filled with the cuban bread. I ordered the 1905 side salad that was prepared at the table which was thrilling to watch but also absolutely delicious. My family is cuban, so to do cuban food this well thus far we were impressed. I wish i could give this place five stars because everything until then was delicious but when my entree came out, the stuffed shrimp was awful. The yellow rice was sticky and unappetizing, the shrimp felt undercooked and seasoned and the crab meat tasted like it was canned. It ruined my night honestly, they did give us complimentary flan since it was my mother's birthday with a candle on top. If you're not into flashy birthdays where the waiters sing around the table this was definitely nice since they put the flan on the table, lit the candle and left. No embarrassing singing with strangers! read more

The Columbia - Picadillo Empanadas - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

Service was excellent but the food was subpar. The breaded steak needed more seasoning but the ropa vieja made up for the lack of flavor. Our waitress was manning quite a few tables but she was excellent and did not miss a beat! read more

Have to stop by and sit at the bar, the food is amazing, the sangria is the best and you get waited on by Michelle C who is the best person in the industry I have ever met. She has worked there for 25 years, she makes you feel right at home. The managers need to recognize her loyality and that she has quite a few loyal customers. read more

Extremely disappointed. We were on our way to Charlotte SC and decided to take a detour to St Augustine. We started our walking tour and decided to stop for lunch and this place looked so inviting. We waited for 20 minutes for our table which didn't seem bad as they were a bit busy. Once we sat down, our waiter David was quick and attentive. He took our drink order quickly but then it took too long to get our drinks. Another 20 minutes went by and we got bread. Another 25 minutes went by and we asked to David what the hold up was. He said the order of the Cuban Combo was taken longer than expected and if we'd like to order something else. I asked if it would be longer if I did and he said honestly yes so I didn't and now I'm writing this review and still no food. Food arrived at an hour after ordering and then it was wrong. First, it shouldn't take an hour to make a Cuban sandwich (my husband order but not mine) I ordered the Combo de Cuba which was no where in sight. They gave me half a Cuban sandwich and salad. David offered to get me my real order. I had to refuse. I don't have time to waste anymore at this place. I'm not impressed with service or food. My husband ate his sandwich, he said it was okay but no big deal. I refuse to eat mine as I don't care for sandwiches. This place may have great ratings and maybe on another day they do well but definitely not today. Today they were horrible! Also, I dislike leaving bad reviews as they can be detrimental to a business, but I can't let this go unnoticed. read more

The Columbia - 1/2 Cuban sandwich and salad - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

What a lovely restaurant! The interior is gorgeous, service impeccable, and the food lovely. We were a group of 5, were seated in the patio area, and ordered the paella Valencia, the grilled snapper, a salad, and the tapas combo which was excellent value (one seafood + 2 non seafood $30). The calamari tapas was very generous in serving, as was the mushrooms. The chorizo I found dry and tough, it my was least favourite of our dishes that evening. The paella was beautiful, filled with gorgeous fresh seafood but we found it too salty for our taste. The standout dishes were the calamari and the grilled snapper. The calamari was so tender and fried to a gorgeous crisp, it wasn't in the least greasy. The grilled red snapper was cooked to perfection, served with yellow rice and vegetables. Very generous servings here, so best order to share. A fabulous find in St Augustine, highly recommended read more

The Columbia - Spanish Near Me - St Augustine, Florida

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The Columbia in St Augustine is definitely worth the visit when you're in St Augustine. With so many good options, I feel the menu at the Columbia has enough of a variety that all members of your party would find something they would like. Be mindful that if you visit on a busy day, expect a wait time since large parties tend to eat there. My family ordered the following: - the original Cuban sandwich: crispy bread, packed full of meats - croquetas de langosta: it's a lobster crab cake. Tasty, yes really small - fideua de mariscos: it is seafood pasta on linguini. All you see is seafood. Grab your Cuban bread and dip it on the sauce - thank me later - paella a la valenciana: it's seafood paella and our top order of the day. If you're not into black beans and rice, I would substitute it out. I honestly would not order the roast pork for I ordered it in the past and it's dry, bland - trust me. read more

One of my fav spots in St. Augustine! 1905 salad and spanish bean soup is to die for. Vibes are immaculate. We had the sweetest and best server, Addy, whose dad is apparently the chef. Highly recommend! read more

Asked around for the best Paella in town...was recommended this restaurant. We came early based on previous patrons' reviews. The place is busy and bustling just 15 mins after opening for lunch. It is good to review their menu prior to coming, in order to have a vector on what you want to conquer during the meal. We had the 1905 Salad, calamares fritos "romana," croquetas de langosta, and empanadas de Picadillo to start out as tapas since we knew that the paella would take about 30 mins to cook. We refreshed ourselves with a pitcher of the sangria-tinto. We enjoyed all the tapas with empty plates. The calamari was so addicting, perfectly fried without any residual, greasy oil. The paella "Española" was our main course. I was a bit saddened that the lunch portion was small. However, snacking on the tapas with the lunch portion paella turned out to be a winning idea. Paella was a tad bit salty, but it didn't bother me. We ended our lunch with some flan, guava turnover "carnita," and cafe con leche. Service was impeccable, decor is Spanish inspired, and we will return for dinner, in the near future. read more

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Food was below standard....very bland and above cost. Had the red grilled red snapper and it' was a couple of frozen fillets . For the price it should have been fresh snapper since were a couple of hundred yards from the ocean. That was expected from a fancy restaurant so close to ocean. Fresh seafood! Waiter helped himself to an extra 10 dollars in tip after I left him a 20% tip of a $200 bill.....my credit card notification was at $10 over. Went back talked to manager and they said was a mistake. Conveniently $10 over not under. He knew we were tourist and most tourists don't check their credit cards usage after a visit to restaurants. Could have been a mistake possibly but don't think so. Beware! read more

Love this place so much excellent service beautiful place food is delicious chicken and rice is amazing in the black bean soup is wonderful, and the bread was fantastic the Cuban sandwich is just something you have to try I definitely recommend this place if anybody's in Saint Augustine such a great place to hang out and enjoy your food read more

Salty as hell food. Don't order the paella. This is coming from a person who lived in Spain and have eaten the best paellas in the world by renowned Michelin star chefs from various parts of Spain. Now you don't need to be a Michelin star chef to make a good paella. Who the hell salts the hell out of paella to the point of it being inedible. Would never come here again. I truly had high expectations. Somehow this place has managed to stay in business for 100 years I have no idea how. The Brazilian waiter was decent th food was trash. read more

I have been going to this place for 20 years and each year the service has become worse. Took my son last week while visiting from Montana and the waiter put the bread on top of the menu instead of the bread plate. Very sad that turning tables has become more important the staff then the experience once provided for decades, not to mention the food quality has also been lacking in the last 4 years. read more

Foods ok, way over priced though. They bring bottles of water to the table when you sit down and no one tells you they are $6 per bottle.

Always good, though we limited our food intake this time. Service was fast, timely. Minor issue, our 1905 Salad was so oily that George Bush wanted to invade it. Still, it was a great meal, friendly staff, a good experience and a must-visit when in Augie. read more

This is a very well known and popular restaurant that has several locations. We ate in the Tampa location many years ago, so really didn't know what to expect in the St. Augustine Columbia Restaurant. It's a very large space which accommodates a lot of diners. On the evening that we were there it was fairly busy, but the staff was very efficient and accommodating. We were seated and immediately offered drinks and a menu. The cocktails from the bar were very good and refreshing----Mojito, Gimlet, Glenlivet Scotch were all prepared nicely. We all ordered "1905" salads to start which were very fresh and tasty. They were accompanied by generous portions of hot cuban bread---very crunchy, aromatic and flaky! The main courses we ordered were Red Snapper "Adelita" for me, Stuffed Shrimp for my husband, and our friends had Cannelloni de Langosta and Grouper "Jimmy." All were brought out piping hot and flavorful. Everyone enjoyed their meals. We all shared two portions of almond cake with strawberries which was the special dessert of the evening! Our party was very happy with our dinners and expressed a wish to return on another occasion! read more

It's taking me a while to write this review. Because I was so disappointed in the service. My husband and I were there in January a month later I went back with seven girlfriends, who had never been and the service was horrendous. We were seated immediately upon arrival as per our reservation. Our waitress was pleasant at first and asked us for a drink order.Four ladies ordered dirty martinis iwe wanted them with the olive juice on the side so we could put it in ourselves. She comes back with four dirty martinis already made in wine glasses, and proceeded to tell us that they ran out of martini glasses. You are a restaurant you do have a dishwasher. Upon telling her that we did not like the ones that she brought us because they were too salty. Hence the reason we put our own olive Juice in, she came back with four glasses of vodka and a glass of olive juice. The vodka was not cold at all. It was poured right out of the bottle and brought right back to us in wine glasses again, we all decided that that wasn't gonna work for us either so she brought us different drinks and upon doing so my girlfriend had asked to keep her olives the waitress proceeded to tell her I need to take all these glasses back so my manager can see them . One of the ladies also expressed how Id been there the month before and had a wonderful martini and her comment was well You know we have different bartenders !At that point you would've thought the manager would've come over but no we continued our dinner celebrating our friends birthday there was also an issue with a cup/bowl of soup ordered. Another unpleasant exchange of words. I was so embarrassed to bring seven ladies there from out of town and had such a horrible experience. We all walked out of there. Very disappointed. It had nothing to do with the food. It was all about the service. read more

As soon as we booked our vacation to St. Augustine my husband made a reservation for this restaurant. We were originally planning on going for dinner but happened to be in the area for lunch. The wait was about 10 minutes. We really liked the decor and ambiance. Unfortunately our experience left a lot to be desired. From the moment we were seated it took a very long time for someone to come take our drink order. When they finally did we told them we were ready to order our food also. The waitress told us she would be back to take our order. After another long wait she finally came back to take our order. She brought us each a good sized, piping hot, delicious piece of freshly baked Cuban bread. My kids each got the kids palomilla steak with fries. My husband and I ordered the 1/2 a Cuban sandwich and soup. We also shared the gambas al ajillo as an appetizer. I had a cafe con leche and my husband had an espresso and we all split a crema catalana. So the main issue was ALL of the food was extremely cold. I ended up not eating the appetizer (I hate cold shrimp) In the waitress' defense, it seemed like they were understaffed. She was cleaning tables, taking orders, running food out and doing everything alone. I think our food sat out a long time waiting for someone to bring it out to the table. We noticed other tables sending food back to be "heated up" also. It seemed to be a rampant issue. Also my cafe con leche was $4. I usually pay around $2 and it tastes much better than what they served here. As someone who grew up eating this kind of food I was not impressed. We will not be back. read more

Overall a decent place to visit. Is it worth the wait that's still debatable. We had a party of 7 and My bill was $179.78 which I charged on December 28, 2018. When I got back home Dec 30 I found that they charged me $318.78. WTF. NOW IM HAVING TO DISPUTE THE BILL. Amazing!!! Be sure to check for waiters over tipping themselves here read more

I've been coming here for nearly 30 years and it is ALWAYS a good experience. The Columbia is a family tradition- 4 generations of us have enjoyed so many delicious meals here together. The 1905 salad, the Cuban bread, the black bean soup, the garlic shrimp, the gift shop, the architecture of the restaurant...it's all just so perfect and my absolute favorite thing about visiting my family in Florida. read more

Floridians make a pretty mean brunch, anything tastes better drenched in sunlight. If you don't mind feeling like an 80's Cuban gangster, then step right in. Say hello to all your little friends... in the form of tapas, the perfect vehicle for the brunchiest of foods. The salad with shrimp was by large the most talked about dish. Flavorful in the early going The surrounding area of St. Augustine is absolutely gorgeous, especially during the fall. Take all the time you need! read more

Super disappointed with my visit to this location. Made reservations in advance and were seated right next to kitchen. Seriously?! People at the bar were gawking at us the whole time. My friend and hubs got the paella with seafood. It takes 30 minutes to prepare this dish. It came out way too salty. It was inedible to eat. They ordered another dish but it was disappointing because it's not what they originally wanted. The restaurant did not even comp the dishes that were bad. What a let down. Tried to give this location another try on 12/30/18. It was about 3:00 and the hostess was nasty and told us unless we had a reservation " we are completely full." The ironic thing is, we could literally see 10 empty tables in front of us. This place can kick rocks- there are endless other restaurants for us to choose from. read more

The original Columbia restaurant (in Tampa, Florida) is a staple of the city and a restaurant that I've frequented since I was little girl. While on a trip in St. Augustine, I finally got to try the Columbia restaurant there and it did not disappoint. Let's start with the decor- they did an excellent job of recreating and matching the decor to the original restaurant in Tampa. Of course it's not exactly the same as the original, but they did a pretty great job. If you've never been to the Columbia, the decor is very ornate- I recommend that you take a walk around the restaurant to see the different styles of the different rooms. Next, the food- everything we had was incredible!! To start, the Cuban bread is always fresh and delicious. The crab cakes were some of the best I've ever had. The scallops were amazing. And the flan was to die for! I highly recommend if you've never visited any of the Columbia restaurants read more

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Spectacular. Cocktails *****, service *****, food *****! We only had a few small bites as we wanted to visit a few other places but the Gazpacho and Black Bean Cakes were delicious. Great option for vegetarians! read more

Went for lunch. Sat at the bar and bartender was very friendly. The one reason for 4 star was the scallops priced at $18 were sooo tiny. I would never get those again. My eggplant dish and my husbands chicken was very good. The flan was exceptional. Overall nice experience. read more