Columbia Restaurant Airport Cafe

This is a chain with a location in the airport.Food (3/5)- had the Salteado which sounded like a good unique mix of chicken rice and veggies. Found it a bit bland and the chicken was a bit on the tough side. Yellow rice was pretty average too. The Latte was good though.Service (4.25/5) - server was friendly and knowledgeable. Also attentive and checked in frequently. Food came fairly quickly.Atmosphere (4/5)- not bad for an airport. Inside and outside seating and the tables are spaced well and doubles so I could do some work while eating.Overall (3.75/5)- would try it again for a different item. Not a bad option if you are early or flight is delayed.

I'm a fan of the Columbia restaurants in Ybor and at the Tampa Bay History Center. It's nice to have local food options at the airport instead of the usual chains, so I was glad to see Columbia's airport cafe literally right next to my gate. Unfortunately I was a bit let down by this location.I got seated right away at a table out front, and decided to order a 1905 side salad (minus the ham) and an order of the picadillo empanadas. I didn't have to wait too long for my food, but after that, the server disappeared. And since my salad was sorely lacking in the dressing department (it just tasted like oil without any other seasonings), I was hoping to ask for a side of dressing... except she was nowhere to be found. I was about to get up and search for her, but the hostess noticed I'd been looking around for a while and asked if I needed anything. She's the one who brought me the dressing, and I never saw the server until it was time to get the bill.As for the taste of my food, the salad was just OK... it's a lot better at the Ybor location. I wonder if they just didn't toss it properly and let all of the seasoning in the dressing settle to the bottom. At least the empanadas are quite good. If anything, I'll return just for those. And honestly, I'd probably just opt for a to-go order so I don't have to wait forever for the check.

The Cuban sandwich was authentic, flavorful, and perfectly toasted--truly one of the best I've had! The plantain chips were crispy, fresh, and paired well with the sandwich.The staff were friendly, efficient, and made the quick airport stop feel warm and welcoming. For anyone passing through Tampa and craving a taste of Florida's Cuban influence, Columbia is a must-visit. Highly recommend.

Just an overall positive experience especially for an airport dining experience. Generous portions, good service and tasty food. The dining establishment was clean and welcoming. We were warmly greeted and quickly served. Would return when at the airport again.

Honestly you can't go wrong with a quick morning breakfast here. Everything is cooked to order, fresh and delicious. I especially enjoy the coffee and freshly squeezed OJ. When you got an early morning flight and if you have time, do yourself a favor and skip Starbucks to have breakfast here.

Spanish tortilla is nothing like a Spanish tortilla. Thing came out like a tire that's how rubbery it was. Fully cooked with no run, this is basically one egg purée with potatoes on it, flipped over. Such a waste. Comes with one dryyyy piece of bread and a little thing of smuckers jam. I'm at a restaurant, you don't even have your own spread for the bread? A little cheese and garlic? Come on.Wait staff was half asleep and never checked on me. I paid in my little app thing at their behest. Man next to me was overcharged by a lot and the staff tried to say it was just the added tip but he still did the math and was overcharged. Someone from the kitchen came out and apologized and he ran to his flight after.Ambience is more mall food court than anything nice... even for an airport.Get a granola bar from the new stand you will be happier

This is a nice restaurant to sit and wait for your flight. The service was attentive, but the food just wasn't great.We stopped here for a meal before our flight back to Los Angeles and decided to try the Cuban sandwich, a specialty, along with a salad. We also ordered a grilled cheese with French fries for my daughter. While I understand it's an airport restaurant, being a Colombian establishment, I expected a better Cuban sandwich. Everything tasted bland, and both the sandwich and my daughter's grilled cheese had stale bread.If you're just looking for drinks, this is a great spot to relax. However, I probably wouldn't return here for food.

Good food especially for an airport. That's the only reason for the second star.To say the service is terrible is an understatement. I come here often so this is not a one off experience. The morning staff is rude and do not want to help. The hours say 4am till the last flight but they NEVER open at 4 am. I've watched staff ignore their customers and talking to each other but doing nothing to feed the people waiting.Today when I came in at 4:20 they said take out coffee only and food starts at 4:30. I said fine I'll wait. They let me sit and order coffee but another customer came in at 4:28 (no exaggeration) and they told him and his family of 4 they were only open for coffee costing the restaurant 4 paying customers. By the time they would have been seated and ordered it would have been well after 4:30.This place gets away with the bad service because food options are limited and the food is decent but they truly act like they don't want to be here and you are irritating them. To be fair it's mostly the female servers that are rude. There are two older gentlemen that are great but the morning female crew clearly hate their jobs!

As a former "Tampan", I look forward to returning to the Bay Area and getting my Cuban food fix. Happy to have the Columbia at Delta's E Gate at TIA. I chose the Cuban sandwich w black beans and they were good and the atmosphere from their standalone restaurants are recreated here at the airport

Absolutely the worst experience in dining I've had anywhere. It's the airport so get the low standard. Sat at the bar and couldn't get a drink after being reprimanded for trying to use the QR code splattered all over the restaurant. Ordered food which never came, simple glass of wine took 20 minutes and the staff was clearly way stressed out. I very rarely leave a zero tip but the folks earned it.