Sarasota’s oldest restaurant ‘closed temporarily’ after damage from Hurricane Helene

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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-Tribune with an update.

“We are hard at work and we hope to be open by the beginning of next week,” Houck said.

Chris Goglia, president of the St. Armands Residents Association, said in an email blast he had been told by locals there was flooding in the area’s northwest and northeast quadrants, as well as in St. Armands Circle itself.

Live updates: Aerial video shows Anna Maria Island after Hurricane Helene

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Columbia Restaurant and Cha Cha Coconuts reopened following 11 inches of flooding from Hurricane Idalia

Columbia Restaurant, visible in this screen capture from a Sarasota Police Department video showing flooding on St. Armands Circle caused by Hurricane Idalia, announced at 9 a.m. on Sept. 27 that it would be “closed indefinitely,” along with neighboring sister restaurant Cha Cha Coconuts, following flooding from Hurricane Helene.

About a year ago, Columbia, which serves Spanish-Cuban cuisine, and the more casual Cha Cha Coconuts sustained 11 inches of flooding from Hurricane Idalia. By the next morning, however, both restaurants were already set to reopen, with Cha Cha Coconuts welcoming guests by 4 p.m.

Houck noted in 2023 that they used remote cameras in each restaurant to monitor things during Hurricane Idalia and never lost power at either business. Additionally, Houck pointed out that both places “drained very quickly once the pumps and natural drainage kicked in.”

Damage from Hurricane Helene appears worse.

“I don’t know anything more than what we posted on social, but when I do, I will let you know immediately,” Houck said via the email sent to Herald-Tribune on Friday, Sept. 27.

The Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle is part of the Tampa-based 1905 Family of Restaurants, which includes the original Columbia restaurant in Tampa’s Ybor City, that opened in 1905 and is recognized as Florida’s oldest restaurant. It is listed as “closed temporarily.”

“Please join us in prayers for those who are suffering from the immense devastation,” concludes the Facebook post by the 1905 Family of Restaurants. “All of us are stronger together.”

Columbia Restaurant, at 411 St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, photographed Dec. 2, 2023.

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at *****@*****.tld.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota’s oldest restaurant ‘closed temporarily’ after storm damage

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