WHAT You Have Never Eaten at The Hat?

I grew up near this place. Yet in all those years and even in recent times when we often drove by this eatery I had never eaten there. The wonderful and most recognizable neon sign stands out during the day and at night. When relatives come from out of town my brother takes them to eat the famous pastrami sandwiches. Recently my nephews were talking about "The Hat" and I said I had never eaten there. They both responded increduously, "WHAT, you've never eaten at the Hat? Uncle Mike would love that place!"

So this past Saturday when we had time on our hands and found ourselves in the San Gabriel Valley we said, "Let's have lunch at The Hat!" The original location is located at a busy interesection of Garfield and Valley Blvds.

You will stand in a long line but it moves very quickly.

Mike ordered drinks, a pastrami sandwich and a chili tamale. We watched in amazement at the orders being picked up by people in the know.

Here's our order a killer pastrami sandwich.

I forgot to take a photo of the chili tamale but it was very tasty too.

Here are some other things you can order. We didn't even know what some of them were but they were gigantic portions and people seemed to really love them.


Wet fries? Who knew...I still don't know what that means.

Okay here's an order I recognize...chili fries (someone else's)

They also serve fries with pickles and pastrami

or this monster dish of chil fries with cheese, tomatoes and pickles.

If you ever find yourself in the San Gabriel Valley/Monterey Park area (or several other locations) stop by and sample

the food at this landmark eatery. It's a fun experience. Make sure you're hungry!

Wikipedia says this:

The Hat is a Southern California fast-food restaurant specializing in pastrami sandwiches.This iconic eatery, once local only to the San Gabriel Valley has been offering its "World Famous Pastrami" to Southern California residents since 1951. Its customers consume 13 to 15 tons of pastrami per week.
The first restaurant opened in Alhambra. It was across the street from the historic Garfield theater (on Valley Blvd and Garfield).

The pastrami sandwich, or pastrami dip, served by the restaurant is a signature item. It comes on a french roll with mustard and pickle with over 0.5 pounds (0.2 kg) of meat. You may also add tomatoes. Along with the large portions of pastrami, the restaurant is also known for serving french fries in a paper grocery bag. The Hat offers no table service, so all of the items are wrapped to go, but paper plates are given to customers who wish to "dine in."

1 W Valley Blvd

Alhambra, CA

91801

Neighborhood: Alhambra