The Columbia Restaurant is just a short walk from the sandy beaches of Lido Key, in Sarasota's tourist haven of St. Armands Circle. It was inundated with several feet of storm surge in 2024's Hurricane Helene, followed by Hurricane Milton less than two weeks later.
It was devastation on a scale never seen by the family-owned business, which operates several restaurants across the Tampa Bay area, including Florida’s oldest, the Columbia in Ybor City.
In Clearwater and Ybor City, Columbia Restaurants lost power in the storms, but the damage was far worse in St. Armands Circle, a lively shopping and dining district near the Gulf beaches.
The restaurant chain, 1905 Family of Restaurants, also owns and operates the tropical-themed Cha Cha Coconuts in the circle. It was also heavily flooded in the hurricanes.
The owners had to pause repairs when Hurricane Milton struck 13 days after Helene, but managed to start serving food again by Oct. 26.
Fifth-generation caretaker Andrea Gonzmart-Williams is the great-great-granddaughter of Columbia founder Casimiro Hernandez Sr., who opened the Ybor location in 1905.
A year later, Gonzmart-Williams reflected on how the restaruant rebuilt — and the importance of hope.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
GONZMART-WILLIAMS: "It's such a relief to be one year out from the hurricanes because it was truly a very stressful time for everyone in Florida. The storms that hit us were unprecedented. I mean, outside of our lifetime, my parents' lifetime, we've never experienced flooding like that.
"We took on about 4 to 5 feet of water. We lost so much. Almost all of our kitchen equipment had to be replaced. We had to redo the banquets, the booths and our chairs and our tables. Luckily, the water didn't rise high enough, so only a minimal amount of our art got damaged, which was a huge relief. But we had to go back in and rip out drywall.
"Being closed for two months, our two locations, the Columbia Restaurant and Cha Cha Coconuts, the revenue not coming in, and then obviously, the money that we had to reinvest back into our restaurants to be able to open them back up — and we also continued to pay our staff — so the financial effect was ... it hurt.
"It was definitely six figures. We did not do an insurance claim because at that point we realized what our insurance deductible was. It's funny, when you're renewing your insurance, you never think it's going to happen. But luckily, we have wonderful construction partners that were able to get in there in a very timely manner and do it at a minimal cost.
FROM 2024: Refrigerators floating in several feet of floodwater, the Columbia hires staff to help with repairs
"Just being able to open our doors again and have our staff come back and being able to pay them and have them come to work, that was the most rewarding part. So it's not about money; it's about being able to go back to normal operations.
"We started bringing our employees back to help with the clean-up process. That way they could be a part of it. They could see the changes that were being made. And to be one of the first ones, if maybe not the first one on the circle to open, was a huge accomplishment.
"We're the oldest restaurant in Sarasota, so I felt like it was only appropriate for us to be one of the first restaurants to open back up.
"We're a bunch of optimists around here. We really are, and we try not to focus on the negative. I mean, it's like when we talk about the COVID-19 pandemic now. What good things came out of COVID? We did have good things come out of something that was so traumatic and, if anything, it makes us stronger as a company and as a family.
"You can overcome. You can fix things. It's the not being open, it's losing that sense of normalcy that's hard. You have to give your employees hope. You have to give your community hope.
"It was all hands on deck. My cousin, Casey Jr., was there almost every single day to help with the recovery process. So I would like to think we handled it in true Gonzmart form, and with the grace that my grandparents would want it to be done.
"So now, when we think there's going to be a flood, or we think we're going to be taking on a significant amount of water, we are going to be evaluating what we do with our equipment. What items can we potentially move to the second floor? Because we do have a second floor. So, moving things out of harm's way so we can mitigate what the damage is."
