Columbia Restaurant looks skyward

Tampa International Airport has become a news machine. Whether it is adding international connections to its flight roster, expanding the terminal or installing taped greetings from Tampa Bay Lightning players, it seems TIA always has something new to announce. One local restaurateur hopes to capitalize.

Richard Gonzmart, president of Columbia Restaurant, tells Coffee Talk that he was asked to license his restaurant's name last year but declined. The new leadership at TIA, and the airport's efforts to brand Tampa Bay as a prime tourist destination, have changed his mind.

Gonzmart began flirting with the idea of expanding into the airport after buying a frozen deep-dish pizza from Chicago-O'Hare International Airport 17 years ago. “I thought it was amazing,” he says. “You have to have a taste of the community in the airport.”