Review of Columbia Restaurant

Had high hopes for this place, based on previous reviews. Arrived for lunch on a hot day in a nice, red white and blue, USA tank top, and asked for outside seating. Was told that tank tops are not permitted even though there were plenty of women in sleeveless, backless tops, and even half shirts. To their credit, they did provide me with one of their t-shirts, which I had to put on over my existing shirt, and it made me even hotter than I already was.

I asked if the sangria was gluten free, and was told "no". I then asked if the Margarita Pepito was gluten free, and again was told "no". Mind you, both times the waiter had to go back and ask, because he wasn't sure, so just getting answers to that took about 10 minutes. When I asked about another drink, I was told the only option I had was Tito's, and that's it — in their entire bar. I got a ginger ale. My wife got the sangria and wasn't impressed.

I ordered Gambas “Al Ajillo” for an app and it was 5 extremely tiny shrimp drowned in a very pungent oil. I absolutely love spicy and flavorful food, but it was just overkill and not worth $14 by any stretch of the imagination. My suggestion would be to serve extra-large to jumbo shrimp in the same oil to have a more balanced overall taste and justify the cost.

For the main course I had Paella “Española”. It was a hearty sized portion of food, but once again it was just overkill on the flavor. Way too rich to the point where it was hard to get it all down.

IMO the chef here needs to learn the art of letting the basic taste of the food shine through the flavoring.

The service was great with the exception of our waiter not knowing off-hand what is and isn't gluten free, when it came to gluten free drink options (which again were non-existent except for Tito's).

Unfortunately the food just didn't live up to the hype, and the tank top rule is rather odd given how casually everyone there was dressed (beach garb).

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Very

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Separate gluten-free menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Average