- December 4, 2025
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One of the first sights greeting visitors to St. Armands Circle is the iconic blue-and-white sign standing against the sky, flagging one of the area's premier and longest-standing restaurants.
This landmark of the island operates under a brand that began in 1905, and that legacy is now passing to another generation.
Casey Gonzmart Sr. recently made official his retirement as chairman of the board overseeing the 1905 Family of Restaurants. He is a fourth generation member of the family that started the flagship restaurant.
He is a direct descendant of Casimiro Hernandez Sr., who brought his Spanish-Cuban heritage to Tampa when he immigrated at the turn of the century. He opened the Columbia Saloon in 1903, renamed the Columbia Restaurant in 1905. It remains Florida's oldest operating restaurant.
Continuing the family legacy are owners/operators Casey Gonzmart Jr., his eldest son; Richard Gonzmart, his brother and president/CEO of the company; and Andrea Gonzmart Williams, his niece and holder of many roles, including director of operations for sister restaurant Cha Cha Coconuts, located on the Circle next to the Columbia.
The senior family member has overseen the family of restaurants through all the hurdles and hurrahs, and his hospitality career has spanned 60 years.
His three family members in the business will retain their current roles, and the position of board chairman will retire with him.
Gonzmart Sr. said in a statement released this week about his July 25 retirement that it is "truly magical" to see the family legacy pass to a fifth generation.The significance is not lost on Gonzmart Jr., who was born in Sarasota and has worked directly with the restaurant from a young age. He played a pivotal role in writing down essential recipes, like the famous black bean soup, that have passed from person to person.
He recognized in a Business Observer 40 Under 40 feature how rare it is for businesses to exceed three generations of consecutive family management.
"Every single generation has worked in the restaurant from the ground up, so nothing has ever been handed to anybody,” Gonzmart Jr. said in the interview. “I don’t know how other businesses do it, but for us, between myself and my cousin, we’ve worked in the kitchen since we were 10 and 11 years old. We weren’t handed the keys and told, ‘Here, go do it.’”
Now, he, his uncle and his cousin will be taking on a new level of responsibility for carrying the torch.
Jeff Houck, vice president of marketing, noted that the post announcing Gonzmart Sr.'s retirement made more than 75,000 impressions.
Community members joined in reminiscing about the enterprise's legacy, recalling their visits from childhood to the present day.
He has made plenty of memories at the restaurants over the years, starting when he worked in the kitchens at a young age and continuing after his board appointment in 1994.
The restaurant reassured patrons that while it will always be adapting to changing circumstances like ingredient availability, staples like the "1905" Salad and Cuban sandwich aren't going anywhere. Customers can of course still look forward to ever-evolving specials like the stone crab dishes so popular to the St. Armands restaurant, which opened in 1959.
Gonzmart Sr. has valued serving as a leader of the restaurant on St. Armands — which he helmed for more than 20 years before moving back to Tampa — and the six other restaurants under the 1905 Family Of Restaurants. But he also sought deeper community connections in Sarasota.
He has served as president of the St. Armands Circle Association and the Suncoast Foundation for Handicapped Children. He also served on boards for the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau; Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium; and John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, among other leadership roles.
But he hasn't served in those roles just in name. He has been actively involved in the community for decades, and officials have rewarded his efforts with titles including "Outstanding Citizen of Sarasota" and "Business Person of the Year."
Even with a well-established brand, each generation charged with running the family of restaurants has dealt with its own challenges in 120 years, from world wars and prohibition to more contemporary issues, like a pandemic that devastated restaurants worldwide and hurricanes that flooded the St. Armands Circle location.
However, the family has always found a way forward. Gonzmart Sr. said in the statement he takes pride in being able to entrust the legacy to the younger generation.
“It’s the most beautiful transition we could imagine,” he said. “Our little cafe founded more than a century ago has fed countless families, celebrated thousands of milestones and created a home away from home for our community. We've weathered every storm together, and now we're about to embark on the most exciting chapter yet.”
The restaurants are poised to continue even beyond five generations. Gonzmart Sr. is retiring in Tampa with his wife, Heidi, where he plans to spend time with his children and four grandchildren.
