Columbia is the oldest restaurant in Florida, but not this location. The original in Tampa’s Ybor City has been around since 1903 (although, until recently, it was thought it was established in 1905). The Celebration restaurant has had its high and low moments in the past 15 years; lately it has been doing better. The menu is not as authentically Spanish as they would like you to believe. It’s not even all that Cuban. But the creative stylings at least get the spicing right. Try the red snapper Alicante or the scallops Casimiro. Desserts are less satisfying.

I can’t really see the difference between this place and similar restaurants specializing in Cuban cuisine. But I can tell you I liked the food very much. And the casual picnic-style atmosphere. And especially the way I was welcomed by the staff of Cuba 1800’s.

Part of the new Delaney, a boutique hotel, Delaney’s Tavern is more than a drinking spot. The food, under the direction of chef Anthony Albino, is innovative and expertly executed. The crab beignets and shrimp, scallops & grits (with purple grits) are favorites.

The name of the restaurant derives not from an age restriction but rather from the number of steps it takes to reach it down a curving staircase from the lobby level. (Yes, I counted; it’s 21 steps. In both directions.)

There are three distinct Dexter’s but all offer the same basic menu, which is unambitious but functional. Much more emphasis is placed on producing a lively atmosphere, which often includes live music. (Check Web site for details.)
For food, the pressed duck sandwich is a classic. And the chicken tortilla pie, a tall, layered affair, is one of those things you feel guilty for liking but keep ordering each time you go.

Hot and trendy place serving hot and trendy ramen. The ramens are good, but being popular kind of goes to their heads. Prepare to be made to wait, even if tables are available.

It would seem that the place to be on a Friday night if you live in the area of Chickasaw Trail and Lake Underhill Road is Don Julio’s Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar. At least it seemed that way the Friday evening my companion and I stopped in. The restaurant in the aptly named Rio Pina Plaza was jumping like veritable frijoles saltarines.

It was so crowded that people waiting for tables were standing around on the sidewalk outside the strip plaza storefront. The only seats available, the young woman at the host stand told us, were at either of the bars, the tequila bar in the title or the ceviche bar on the other side of the room.

That suited us just fine because it was the ceviche bar that drew my attention to this particular D. Julio’s over the one in Lake Mary or the other location in Waterford Lakes.

It’s big and modern and offers so much more than sushi, although the sushi is some of the best of what it does, especially the deftly executed nigirizushi. Dragonfly also features robata grilling, a popular cooking method in Japan but still fairly uncommon in the U.S. A robata grill uses special charcoal that heats to one thousand degrees (oh, how I wish I could do that on my Weber). The intense heat sears the skewered meats that are leaned against it, which results in tender, juicy bites. We tried the chicken, and it was impressively tender. We also tried the braised short ribs, served with pickled carrots, shiitake and tamago. They weren’t the most tender short ribs I’ve had — and a bit difficult to pick apart with chopsticks — but the flavor was very nice.

There’s more to the name here than just a play on a historical figure. John Montagu, the 11th Earl of Sandwich, is involved in the business, although the project was started by his son Orlando, who is not in line to inherit the title. There’s another Earl involved: Robert Earl, founder of Planet Hollywood. Legend has it, of course, that it was the fourth Earl of Sandwich who came up with the idea of slapping meat between some bread. The usual story is that he was a gambler and didn’t want to put down his cards, but Lord Sandwich, the current one, told me over sherries in the House of Parliament a few years ago, that his ancestor was also a womanizer and it may have been a lady in his other hand. Whatever, the sandwiches here are very good and impressively thick. You may actually need both hands. The 4th Earl would not approve.