Columbia, which opened in 1959 and is Sarasota’s oldest full-service restaurant , is among the many St. Armands Circle businesses that sustained major flooding caused by Hurricane Helene , along with its sister restaurant, Cha Cha Coconuts, which opened in 1989 and is located next door on St. Armands Circle’s namesake street.
“Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota and Cha Cha Coconuts next door are closed indefinitely,” read the original post on Cha Cha Coconuts’ Facebook page, published at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 27 . The post was later updated to read, “closed temporarily.”
Jeff Houck, vice president of marketing for the 1905 Family of Restaurants that includes Columbia Restaurant and Cha Cah Coconuts, said via email to the Herald-Tribune that they are “still assessing the damage, but there was significant flooding throughout the circle.”
Later on Friday, Houck reached out to the Herald-Truibune with an update.
“We are hard at work and we hope to be open by the beginning of next week,” Houck said.