Nighttime dining during summer at Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota is an indoor/outdoor vibe, with Spanish and Cuban flavors and excellent people watching. Reservations: ColumbiaRestaurant.com 📸: @travelwithtr | Columbia Restaurant

On this date in 2009, Columbia Cafe on Water Street opened at the Tampa Bay History Center. The cafe fulfilled a promise to third generation patriarch Cesar Gonzmart, who asked his family to open a Columbia restaurant there Tampa ever built a history museum. It’s perfect to stop by before or after your downtown plans, or even before a Lightning game at Benchmark International. Here you’ll find the classic flavors of the iconic Columbia, in a calm, relaxed atmosphere with a view of the water. The

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Columbia has a rich history of servers entertaining their customers, including Joe Roman, the Hall of Famer known as “The Singing Waiter” who serenaded tables (and did magic tricks) for more than five decades. “Anybody at the table could ask him to sing this or that and he would just break out and sing,” former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012 when Mr. Roman passed away at age 84. “He had that kind of personality. He was part of what the Columbia was all about.” In that tr