Columbia Restaurant - St. Augustine

Is a pretty place but I thought this was a Spanish restaurant but in reality is Cuban. If you love cumin this is your place. Sangria has no taste of wine at all. The best thing I ate there was the warm bread with butter. Overall, good service, not so good food.

The staff was friendly, but they brought the entree first and then they brought the appetizers. I asked the waitress and she said that she someone had forgotten to bring the appetizers.

It was a birthday dinner for my mother. Overall a great experience...

Restaurant team member honked and flipped us off because we parked in a spot they wanted. They were in a car behind us so impossible to know that spot was “theirs”. Parking Attendant came up and chewed us out, says those are “team member” spots, mind you, not a single sign suggesting they belonged to team members. Confirmed with restaurant that employees aren’t supposed to park in that lot. Started the experience of the restaurant off poorly, however, our server Pearce was on point.

Won’t return to this restaurant for sure.

The waiter Sean was wonderful, the food was very tasty and cooked to perfection. The atmosphere was beautiful, the music was lovely to listen to while we ate. The place was recommended to us, and we will recommend it to others who plan to Visit St Augustine.

Was fabulous

We traveled to St Augustine for a long weekend and many of our friends and family said we “must eat at Columbia Restaurant”. We consider ourselves foodies in a sense and love to dine out and try new restaurants. We travel often and try to research the area and plan where we are eating before what we are doing.
With all the hype of this restaurant, we were excited for our upcoming dining experience. Needless to say, we were disappointed. Maybe our expectations were too high or possibly the entrees we ordered were not prepared as usual. We’ve had REALLY good Cuban and Latin American food at a couple favorite restaurants in Savannah and New Orleans that were far less “fancy” as the Columbia Restaurant. Our meals Friday night were not even comparable. My husband ordered his favorite dish “ropa vieja” and he said it was barely edible. I had the Cuban sampler to try a bit of several different items. The pork was tender, but missing something. The empanada was mediocre at best and the yucca had so much garlic on it that it was inedible. The only item I would say was above average was the chicken croquette appetizer.
We also tried a glass of both the white and red sangria that everyone raves about and maybe it’s just our palettes, but we couldn’t drink them. When it was time to pay, we discovered our server was kind enough to take them off of our final bill without us asking. We told him it was fine and we had just wanted to try the sangria, so we expected to pay for it regardless if we enjoyed it or not.
Our server gets 5 stars for his attentiveness and keeping our beverages refilled. The restaurant venue and ambiance are beautiful, but the food left a lot to be desired and let’s be honest, the food was the sole reason for our visit.
When we visit Tampa, we may visit the original location there, but honestly we probably wouldn’t dine at the one in St Augustine again.

I went to this Restaurant because of all the good reviews. It is conveniently located in the historic section and a very large restaurant so plenty of accommodation. Unfortunately, I had greater expectations on the food. I had the vegetable Paella which was a disappointing. The vegetables were not sole leaving it mostly rice. The flavor was acceptable but not exceptional.

We ordered sangria and fourapps- scallops, queso, calamari, & crab cakes. Everything was okay & nothing impressed us for the price. The crab cakes were very delicious.

The food and Sangria was delicious. And I ALWAYS have to have the 1905 Salad. The service provided to us by Travis was outstanding. And so nice that Columbia Restaurant has their own parking lot behind the restaurant!

Always our favorite restaurant in downtown St. Augustine.

Easy free parking, friendly, helpful hostess’s. The upstairs bar eating area is too noisy. Has to ask to ask to change table. 3rd floor not open for lunch. Soup and salad lunches took a long time.
Food is very good and a good selection of foods for lunch. Like the combo meal.

Wonderful time! Plan to come next time we are in town.

The food and service was excellent! I definitely would go back!

This restaurant needs to adjust its policies. Coivd 19 should not keep a table from being bused as diners are finished using plates.

Not nearly as good as it was. Big disappointment

First time having lunch at the Columbia. I have always gone for dinner and dinner was always very good. Lunch menu is not as good.

I can’t tell you how wonderful our lunch was great service beautiful restaurant outstanding food and the touch of flan for our 40th anniversary was great, we will continue to come back again and again

We have been to Columbia on several occasions. Tonight we were seated by a host that didnt make any eye contact and was disinterested. Drink service was very slow. Never was asked about refreshing drinks. Dinner was okay. Nothing special. Certainly not worth the price.

My husband and I went there for our anniversary dinner on our little trip to st augustine and fell In love with the place, the food is amazing and the people are so nice there, highly recommend

I went with my husband for our honeymoon. We had the most wonderful experience.

I love the restaurant but perhaps you have to think in a new menu. I am not complaining it is just a suggetion

Service was good and attentive. The food however was terrible for 5 out of 6 at our table. The paella was bland, buried in soggy rice and served on a regular dinner plate. Had no taste whatsoever.

All seafood in the paella was cooked to oblivion. All grayish, no color. I mean scallops are supposed to be browned with a bit of a crisp, same for the calamari pieces. Looked the paella was put together from leftovers. Terrible. Same is true for the grouper plate. Best of the whole experience was the red sangria.

The house salad 1905 was good though, as it should be. I mean it’s a simple salad.

The waiter noticed and we confirmed to him that we were not happy at all. So he offered a dessert on the house and also took one of the paella’s off the bill. Which is nice, but that’s not why we visited Columbia’s. We were there to for a good dinner. Given the price tags we expected great food. Unfortunately, we got short changed.

To make things worse, the seafood eaters (4 out of 6) had some bad stomach reactions the next day. Not going into details here.

Overall a bad experience. This restaurant simply doesn’t live up to all the hype.

The Columbia has always been a favorite of mine. The food and drinks are excellent and we always have a good time when we go.

Worst Paella a la Valenciana we've ever had. Rice was soggy, served in individual plates, the cook definitely had never prepared it before. We were really looking forward to a great anniversary celebration and this experience ruined it. The place also smelled really bad, there was a wet floor sign right next to the stairs so I think that was the cause, but they didn't wash the mop before cleaning.
Food was bad, it's really a shame, the architecture is very nice, but that's it.

Food was mediocre at best. Ordered the group, which was phenomenal, but veggies were overdone and bland. Rice that came with it was mushy and inedible. Also ordered the la completa cubana. The pork was flavorful but completely dry. The steak was bland and dry and stuffed with choriza meant it has one small sausage round in it and it was bland. Yuca was ok. Platanos was not good and once again rice and beans were bland and mushy. We left most of the plate untouched. The mango tango drinks were great, atmosphere was very nice. Server was ok. Would i recommend? No. Will i go back, def no

Took a long time for food and drinks. Steak was too rare both times. Food, cocktails and dessert all ok. Churros were a hit though!!

I’ve never had a bad experience at this restaurant until this last visit. The “check in” process was unorganized & hectic! The hostess completely ignored me when it was my turn to check in. She didn’t even apologize when she finally acknowledged me!!
Once I received the text that our table was ready, the line to check in was seven people deep! After another ten min wait, I finally had to get the second hostesses’ attention to be seated.
The food was slow & lacked flavor😞

My husband and I went to the Columbia House for lunch. The food was excellent as was the service. We will definitely be going back!

The food was so good!! And the mojito absolutely changed my life. Can’t wait to go back!

This restaurant serves great food with wonderful service!

Upon arrival the hostess stand was crowded, chaotic and appeared disorganized. Thankfully we were seated fairly quickly and our server, although very busy, was knowledgeable and friendly. For the cost of the dinner all four meals were adequate at best. Items with cheese in the menu had an over abundance of cheese overtaking the taste of the dish. I feel as though hey just want to feed you with huge amounts of food rather than attempting to make the plates special. My meal had a mountain of rice with some seafood around it. The bread served to each person was as big as a half loaf.
So if you’re looking for huge portions but so so taste, this may be your place!

Our anniversary dinner was exceptional. Our server Brittany was a joy to have around. She took care of our needs and then some with her energetic self. Upon returning we will ask for her as our server every time.

The food was very disappointing. It was overdone and rather tasteless.

Freezing temp crazy

We had the Grouper Jimmy, crab cakes, epanadas, and the 1905 salad. All were very delicious.

We love this restaurant! Drove down from Jax Beach for date night and had another great experience. Stuffed grouper was delicious and the chicken and rice is always consistent. Have to get 1905 salad!

Everything about our experience was tremendous. Somewhat expected a tourist trap. What we actually experienced was delicious Spanish cuisine, impeccable service, and a beautiful setting.

Love this restaurant, we ate there 2 x's this visit. The mojitos are my favorite😋

Fabulous restaurant. Great food. Service, not so great. Sat at table for over 10 minutes. Finally went to hostess and asked does anyone know we are here? Someone finally came. When we were done eating our lunch she disappeared again and we had to wait quite a while for the check.