by Mike Lunsford, Editor-In-Chief of the Great Geek Refuge

I love food. I’ve made that pretty clear at this point as I’ve written food blog pieces AND created an entire fictional sports league of football teams mashed up with local food icons. When my family and I go on vacation, we also take the opportunity to try the best restaurants we can in the place we’re visiting. We are big Disney World fans and this trip to the greater Orlando area brought a unique opportunity for me to try authentic versions of the foods I talked about in one of my National Foodball League articles!

In my Tampa article I found two items that were unique to the area: deviled crab croquettes and the Cubano sandwich. My wife, the former travel agent who has more knowledge of which hotels and restaurants are good in practically every city, informed me that the Orlando suburb of Celebration had their own Columbia Restaurant location. Why is that name important? The Columbia Restaurant is a world-renowned establishment that is famous for their authentic Cuban food and Cuban American specialties - like the deviled crab croquettes and the Cubano sandwich! IT WAS FATE! We had to go!

The Columbia Restaurant started in 1905 in the Ybor City area of Tampa. It has been run by the same family since it’s founding and is Florida’s oldest restaurant. It is famous for it’s Spanish/Cuban food (it’s also the oldest Spanish restaurant in the US) and for the enormous flagship location in Tampa. It’s large enough to host flamenco dancers and can seat up to 1700 people! This history only added to why it was imperative that we eat here.

Plus, there’s a suit of armor in the lobby. I kinda had to eat here.

The problem with places where I’ve had a Cubano before is they make the sandwich feel like it’s a low-class food. They don’t take care with the components that make up the sandwich and just assume that a “close enough” approach works. Roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard on bread that’s pressed? CHECK, we can do that. I am not a picky eater, so let’s clear that up right now. I will still eat these crappy Cubanos and probably enjoy them. However, now that I’ve had the original, I know what they’re SUPPOSED to taste like. All those other Cubanos are just ham sandwiches. This one was a work of art.

I’ve discussed the debate that a Cubano shouldn’t have salami on it. Miami seems to think it shouldn’t. Tampa disagrees and since they invented the sandwich, I tend to lean towards their take. Plus, I’ve now had one with salami and it’s much better. But truly, the biggest difference? The thing that puts this particular Cubano above all others? The bread. Fresh Cuban bread with salted butter to be exact. Goodness gracious, y’all. They also bring fresh warm, crusty Cuban bread to the table.

The meal didn’t stop there. My partner in crime when it comes to these food adventures is my son, Jax. If I’m willing to try it, so is he. We went halfsies on the Cubano and we each got an appetizer. I got the aforementioned deviled crab, he got empanadas. Normally a chatterbox like his old man, my son was mostly speechless during the meal as he scarfed down his empanada and Cubano. He’s not a huge fan of crab…but no worries because I am!

In my Tampa article I stated that deviled crab croquettes looked better than the Maryland staple, the crab cake. Here’s the great thing about this match up: everyone wins. Blue crab is delicious and having multiple ways to serve it only increases the ways I can consume it.

The biggest knock on any crab concoction is that there’s too much breading. The croquettes did not suffer from this. As you can see above, that thing was loaded with crab meat. In fact, now that I’ve tasted one myself, the spice blend actually makes it taste like Maryland crab soup. This is not a bad thing as it my favorite soup of all time, and it’s proof for my theory that there’s room for all delicious crab products.

Our Columbia food journey didn’t stop there. Here are pictures of the gazpacho I ordered, Jax’s empanadas, and my wife’s Grouper Jimmy which were all INCREDIBLE.

Sandy’s dish, the “Grouper Jimmy, “ was served with yellow rice, which sounds pretty bland. However, it was far from that as it is cooked with saffron, chicken stock, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and green chilies! It was a perfect example of what makes this restaurant so exceptional.

When speaking of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to, they all share one thing in common: flawless execution. The Columbia Restaurant now ranks among the best because of this trait. Is the Cubano a complicated dish with a lot of ingredients? No. Neither is gazpacho, pan-seared grouper, or fried crab croquettes. But when you have simple ingredients and you don’t overload the food with fancy sauces, your true skill and mastery of cooking are on full display. There’s no reason to hide behind anything when you let the freshness of the ingredients speak for themselves. This is not a knock on complex dishes with lots of ingredients, but a nod to how good the Columbia is without having to use culinary sleight-of-hand. On top of the amazing food, the service was incredible. It was a delightful experience and I’m so happy I got to taste the real-deal Tampa staples.

Oh, and they gave Sandy a free birthday flan.