Breaking Out in Covid Days

6th August 2020

Today my friend Ashley and I "broke out" to have lunch at Tampa's historic restaurant: "The Columbia " in Ybor City --  


"The original Columbia Restaurant, located in the historic Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, is the oldest continuously operated restaurant in Florida, the oldest Spanish restaurant in the United States and one of the largest Spanish restaurants in the world with 1,700 seats in 15 dining rooms taking up 52,000 square feet over an entire city block. Founded in 1905 in, the landmark is still owned by the Hernandez/Gonzmart family and serves Spanish and Cuban cuisine."  (From the Columbia website)


There Ashley and I were joined by Ashley's maternal Aunt Barbara, who drove down from Inverness, FL  


We had a jolly time, with good food; in an utterly gorgeous building,  which occupies  an entire City block.


Of course we and the restaurant observed wise social distancing protocols. 


It was good to get out of claustrophobic Sarasota for a wee while.


The Columbia's various dining rooms are gorgeous

Sky light
Balcony with thumb.
Fountain
Gorgeous chandelier
Serious eating Barbara (l)  Ashley (r)


The Red Room
Social distancing when piddling!


For those who wonder about such matters I had the Columbia's "1905 Salad"   lots of healthy greens and garlic, a wee bit of meat and cheese  -  a huge (too huge) portion) so I ate about 1/3 and Ashley took the other 2/3 home for her family dinner.

I took home a quart of the Columbia's superb Gazpacho  -  lunch today and tomorrow!





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