Few restaurants become institutions. Fewer still become symbols of a city. Columbia Restaurant, founded in Ybor City in 1905, is both.
For five generations, the Gonzmart family has guided Columbia not by quarterly reports or outside investors but by family decisions made in the dining rooms and kitchens. That stewardship has made Columbia not only a business but a cultural anchor for the Tampa Bay Area.
Columbia’s story shows the power of family ownership, the ability to adapt as Tampa has grown and the lessons business leaders can draw from a century of resilience…