The Oldest Operating Restaurant In Florida Can Seat 1,700 People At Once

Long-standing or historical restaurants are typically hole in the wall establishments, or local family-owned businesses, but there’s a huge historical restaurant in Florida.

Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Florida has over a dozen distinct dining rooms that can house a total seating capacity of 1,700, larger than some small towns.

Casimiro Hernandez Sr. opened Columbia Restaurant all the way back in 1905, and over the generations, ownership has expanded to encompass what amounts to an entire city block.

This not only makes Columbia Restaurant Florida's oldest operating restaurant, but also the largest Spanish restaurant in the world, with 15 thematically distinct dining areas.