The Hat - Alhambra

I know I've got a number of international readers, so if you've ever wondered why Americans are so fat, well, this would be one of many, many reasons. It's a lesson in excess that well, just gets excessive. The Hat, a chain of 10 restaurants in SoCal which started in Alhambra in 1951, specializes in pastrami sandwiches. There's no sign that says so, but as this is the only The Hat in Alhambra, I'll assume the location on Valley and Garfield is the original? There's an outdoor eating area in the back and a counter to order at the street side of the intersection. Is it really the best pastrami sandwich in the world? Here's their menu. Cousin Q goes to The Hat, not for the pastrami, but for the chili cheese fries. It's a large order for $4.19 so he called me to help him eat. I wasn't too impressed with the chili, I like it meatier. Between the two of us and his little brother, we couldn't finish. But that's also because he got a single order of onion rings, which for $3.19 fills up a paper bag. Did you know The Hat also has a hidden menu? I didn't either until I saw this photo on Biggest Menu. And the minute I showed it to lil' sis, she insisted we order it. Chili cheese fries $4.19, with pastrami, $9.07. I called up cousin Q and his little brother and between the four of us, we weren't quite able to finish everything. But whoa! Was it good! Here's a close-up of all that lovely thinly sliced pastrami. So of course, lil' sis then told some of our other cousins about the "hidden" pastrami chili cheese fries and we ordered it again, with a side of pickles. This time we had 5 people to help polish this off. I also wanted to try that "world famous" pastrami dip for $6.49. I thought it was good, but nothing rave-worthy. I much prefer my pastrami on the chili cheese fries. Well, you know we can't stop at just that. So after lil' sis saw Henry Chan's Food Videos's video on Biggest Menu, well, she couldn't stop talking about it for a week despite my attempts to distract her with other food. So finally, I gave in and we got chili cheese fries, with pastrami, and pickles, and tomatoes. No onions for us. This was $9.29. It was packed about 6 inches high. The "artist" posing with his creation. You can watch him assembling my chili cheese fries with pastrami, pickles, and tomatoes here. Oh god, we're such gluttons! Who else ate at The Hat? Henry Chan's Food Videos recorded his chili cheese fries, with pastrami, pickles, tomatoes, and onions. The Hat (10 locations) 1 W. Valley Blvd. Alhambra, CA 91801 626-282-0140 Open every day from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.