Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
36 year Columbia Restaurant veteran, Jose "Tony" Roca prepares the "must have" legendary 1905 salad tableside at the historic Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. This award winning salad won honors from USA Today as "One of 10 Great Places to Make a Meal Out of a Salad." The Columbia Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Florida serving wonderful food and experiences for more than 117 years.
Did you know "iceberg lettuce" got it's name in Tampa? Originally known as “crisphead,” iceberg lettuce got its name from the layers of ice covering heads of lettuce being shipped to Tampa via Henry B. Plant’s trains. As the trains pulled up, people would yell, “Here come the icebergs!”
Every once in a while you meet a person that brings you pure joy simply by being their genuine self. Today we met Jose “Tony” Roca, senior waiter at Columbia Restaurant - Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. Tony has worked at Columbia since 1986, 36 years this month. His service was impeccable and his kindness, friendship and pride in his work, in his restaurant is what I admire most. I can’t express how much joy Tony brought to Alice and I. Thank you Tony! We will return!
We are in the Siboney dining room. Here are the other dining rooms.
columbiarestaurant.com/The-Columbia-Experience/Groups-and-Catering/Ybor-City
We were Tony's last table so he gave us a tour of this massive restaurant. Its 15 dining rooms can serve 1,700 guests at one time. It is the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. With more than 1,000 wines and 50,000 bottles, this the largest collection of Spanish wines in the world.
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Jim Anderson Photography, 2022
GoalBusters Consulting
36 year Columbia Restaurant veteran, Jose "Tony" Roca prepares the "must have" legendary 1905 salad tableside at the historic Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. This award winning salad won honors from USA Today as "One of 10 Great Places to Make a Meal Out of a Salad." The Columbia Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Florida serving wonderful food and experiences for more than 117 years.
Did you know "iceberg lettuce" got it's name in Tampa? Originally known as “crisphead,” iceberg lettuce got its name from the layers of ice covering heads of lettuce being shipped to Tampa via Henry B. Plant’s trains. As the trains pulled up, people would yell, “Here come the icebergs!”
Every once in a while you meet a person that brings you pure joy simply by being their genuine self. Today we met Jose “Tony” Roca, senior waiter at Columbia Restaurant - Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. Tony has worked at Columbia since 1986, 36 years this month. His service was impeccable and his kindness, friendship and pride in his work, in his restaurant is what I admire most. I can’t express how much joy Tony brought to Alice and I. Thank you Tony! We will return!
We are in the Siboney dining room. Here are the other dining rooms.
columbiarestaurant.com/The-Columbia-Experience/Groups-and-Catering/Ybor-City
We were Tony's last table so he gave us a tour of this massive restaurant. Its 15 dining rooms can serve 1,700 guests at one time. It is the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. With more than 1,000 wines and 50,000 bottles, this the largest collection of Spanish wines in the world.
-----
Jim Anderson Photography, 2022
GoalBusters Consulting
