Sunday, October 17th, 2010—Bar 280

Day 280—Saturday, October 16th, 2010

El Sombrero A.K.A. The Hat (Originally headed to Spitzer's Corner)

Live...from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! With musical guest...anyone except Richard Marx. A special appearance from BBC bar crawler, Gene Rubbico, just back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan! And now all the way from the Lower East Side in Manhattan...Spitzer’s Corner!

And here we are, Spitzer's Corner on Cheeseburger Saturday Night.

Goddamn, there's a line at the door and it's only 7pm. That's not a good sign.

The front bar is jammed, but the bouncer told me there was another bar in the back.

And he was right, but it's packed as well. Shit. Time to improvise and take that lonely walk.

Every bar I pass is packed. I think it's because there was a playoff game at 4pm, so people went out early. I'll be glad when that fucking thing is over. (I'm not a baseball fan, but I do hope the Yankees win it.)

The Hat Restaurant! (Some people call it El Sombrero, but I prefer The Hat.) I haven't been in this place for years, I used to love it in here. If I remember correctly, there's a small bar in the back.

And there it is and there's plenty of seats. Areeeba!

Bartender Gina serves up a Negra Modelo along with some Lower East Side attitude. I love it!

The lovely Stephanie was the other bartender on duty.

As you can see, they have a full bar here.

And chips and salsa magically appear on the scene. The salsa was spicy and delicious.

Here's a shot of the cozy dining room.

There's a nice view outside the windows that line the far wall.

Sombreros, Mexican art and artifacts hang on the opposite wall.

More sombreros atop the jukebox. This place really lives up to its name!

Meanwhile back at the bar, Stephanie and Gina are busy mixing drinks. It's a thirsty crowd tonight. I placed my food order, but was told you can't eat at the bar. So I was promptly seated...

Right here at this table.

And here's Stephanie with my Mexican feast.

A birds-eye view shot of the chicken and cheese enchiladas. They have giganzo portions here. It comes with beans and yellow rice.

And here I am getting ready to devour it. It was delicious.

Uh, oh, that elephant's starting to turn pink, time to go home. Goodnight, everybody!

Review

Some people call it El Sombrero, some refer to it as The Hat. I call it a nice, cozy relaxing restaurant and bar to kick back and have a nice Mexican meal and some ice cold cervezas. El Sombrero has been on the block in the Lower East Side for over 25 years and the patrons are all neighborhood regulars with some packs of NYU students invading it occasionally. The jukebox features Latin music and the tables in the dining room can be pushed together for larger groups. The atmosphere is casual and relaxing.

There’s no draft beers here, but some of the selection of bottled beers include: Bass, Presidente, Negra Modelo and Tecate. There’s also margaritas available and a full bar for any type of mixed drink. The menu includes all the regular Mexican staples such as burrtios, tacos, enchiladas and chimichangas. Some of the specialties of the house include: Crispy Red Snapper Burritos, Sizzling Skillet Sliced Filet Of Beef, Steak Ranchero and a Roasted Half Chicken rubbed with lemon and garlic, over scallion, bacon mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.

They’re open till 2am on weeknights and 4am on the weekends, if you’re looking cap off your night with some Mexican treats. ¡A las últimas noches y al sombrero del EL!

El Sombrero A.K.A. The Hat

108 Stanton St. (@Ludlow St.)

212-254-4188

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Bonus Photos!

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll remember back in May we were visited by Gene, Smoopy and Terry from Baltimore, collectively known as the BBC (Baltimore Bar Crawlers.) They blew into town for a few days to booze it up (rumor has it that between them they had over 387,421 drinks during their visit and went to over 4,698 bars, these people are serious bar crawlers) before Gene had to do a tour of duty in Afghanistan for the Air Force Reserves. Well, Gene did his duty and now he’s back. He was dry as a bone for months as you can’t drink alcohol over there, but he sent in some pictures of his trip back home and shared some photos of him enjoying his first beers and bars in Germany on his way back home. Here they are with captions provided by Gene. Welcome back, Gene, I look forward to boozing it up with you, Smoopy and Terry soon!

Ramstein, Germany. Me having my first beer in 128 days. 1 litre of some kind of dark Hofbrau. It was good!

Ramstein, Germany. Me having my second beer. A tasty Veltins.

Darmstadt, Germany. Die Theke. Found this place after walking around for a half an hour looking for a real German bar.

Die Theke is a nice little German place. Bartender didn't speak English, or take dollars! (Note from Marty: Holy moley!)

Die Theke...me having my 4th beer with two chaps from England. Cheers!

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I spoke with 365 commentator and co-pilot Al Rizo in Miami today and he reminded me that Barbara Billingsley died yesterday. She's best known for playing June Cleaver on "Leave It To Beaver."

Here's a great "Leave It To Beaver" satire from SCTV. Enjoy!