The Hat

Classic, reliable burger and fries restaurant that uses fresh ground beef and whole potatoes. The pastrami is good, as are the chili fries and gravy fries. It’s been in this location for 65 years.

Following the advice of some Unilocalers, we ordered a pastrami sandwich (with mustard & pickles) and chili cheese fries, and split them. Both were great, and large! My friend is a big eater, but even he couldn’t finish off his portion and the rest of mine.
The place is roomy & clean inside. Booths are set up for small groups of 4, with two larger booths in back (5 — 6 adults). So if you go with a large group, be aware that you will need to sit at different booths.

Always clean and plenty of parking. Food is delicious and good size. Only wish they had a drive thru. One pastrami dip and fries is enough for two people!

The portions are huge and the prices are reasonable. So delicious! The pastrami chili sandwich is so good and it lasts me all day! We have been there several times for dine in and take out. The line moves fast and the wait time isn’t long.

Better than most Sandwich places I’ll go for beef rather than Pastrami.

Went here for lunch with my coworkers. We arrived a little after 1pm and found ample parking and tables. I only had the wet fries and they were delicious. My friends got several items, mostly pastrami, items. They enjoyed it all. Service was very fast.
Come and enjoy good food.

Pastrami dip, wet fries and an orange bang. That’s my usual. Huge portions. Definitely should be shared. The pastrami is comprised of 2 heaping halves of french roll packed with thin cut, flavorfully dipped pastrami with pickles and mustard. The Hat has been doing it for a long time and they’ve got it down. Never disappointing. The wet fries are a huge portion of perfectly cooked fries with brown gravy poured all over it. Once in a while you get a really crisp french fry with just the right amount of gravy on it. It’s a bite of heaven. So good… I’ve seen them make pastrami-​chili cheese fries and it looks like a monster. It also looks like a meal for 2 or 3 unto itself… Have an orange bang as your drink and you have yourself a very tasty, well rounded albeit unhealthy meal. So bad yet so good.
Parking is in the provided private lot. It gets packed on the weekends. There is usually a security guard. Street parking is also available in the surrounding residential area. Check street signs before parking.

One of my favorite places in Pasadena!
Tasty food that you can split between two people. A SMALL order of fries (steak fries. you know– the thick cut ones) is one of those brown lunch bags half filled! I large order is… just a RIDICULOUS amount of food. So, if you pride your self on temperance, order a small and split it with a friend. My usual is the tuna sandwich with an order of fries. But, the pastrami is tasty as well!

If pastrami is your thing this is your SPOT ! The portions are more then enough for 3 so go easy with your order. I mean its a fav of so cal pastrami lovers. Get! a sandwhich pass on the chilli fries chili is a lil bland.
+portion is big
+meat taste fresh
–a bit pricey
— not too flavorful for the refined palette

I may just be used to my food from The Hat, tasting a certain way but I didn’t think this food was a good as the other locations and I’ve been to Alhambra, Brea, and mostly Glendora. The Sandwiches have become more expensive than I remember and somewhat smaller. They still give you way too many fries but they didn’t taste as good as the fries at the Glendora location. They needed to be salted and seasoned as to not be too cardboardy.

Growing up in SoCal, this is the type of pastrami sandwich that we grew up around — From the hat to those small hamburger joints like Troy’s that offered a big pastrami. It’s a big sandwich of salty greasy pastrami (lots of it) on a mustard smeared roll. To eat it correctly, you must have a side of yellow peppers, bite off the tip and pour the pepper juice onto your sandwich.
I understand it is not to everyone’s liking but as a kid growing up in LA, you were brought up on pastrami sandwiches like these as well as Tommy’s and in and out.
I love it! I love the memories of this place. It’s been here forever for a reason.

Classic grease pit. When I feel like making a decision I will regret the next day, I come to The Hat.
They make a respectable pastrami sandwich, but nothing great — pastrami seemed to be a little too fatty. Chili cheese fries are decent until the oil takes over and turns the fries limp. Just like anything else on the menu, you can only eat so much before you begin to hate yourself.
It will probably be a while before my next visit. I’m sure my heart will thank me for it.

CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP FOOD for a Pretty Penny!
I don’t usually write reviews but this place is false advertisement.
After hearing that this place was supposed to be good and famous for pastrami, I was excited to try it. HORRIBLE MISTAKE.
THIS PLACE IS NO WAY WORLD FAMOUS FOR PASTRAMI. My pastrami sandwich was cold dry and had a horribly cheap bun that couldn’t hold my sandwich together and kept falling apart. It was dry and unappetizing.
I also got a side of fries that was served in a bag (even tho I was dinning in) and worst of all the fries were frozen bagged processed potatoes that they put in the frier for a minute or two. The fries were almost uneatable (I could only eat maybe 5) they tasted so cheap and undercooked, tasted like a fake potato.
I ended up spending 28 $ for two Pastramis and one small fries!!!
I COULDN’T FINISH THIS MEAL AND FEEL SICK.
IF YOU LIKE QUALITY FOOD RUN FROM THIS PLACE.

It’s pastrami… it’s what they do! Will admit– I’d never heard of this place before and a good pastrami sammie is something I crave once or twice a year… Happened to be in Pasadena looking at our reception venue for our wedding and on the ride home– we were hungry, saw the sign about infamous pastrami and pull over we did. Glad we did!
Premise is simple– the menu is no frills… we ordered the pastrami dip (one sandwich each) and a large order of fries to share. All of your condiments you pick up while your food is being prepared. Nice size restaurant– plenty of seating… plenty of staff to prepare the food… the manager was very nice and helpful since he knew it was our first time there. And it’s very clean– a plus!
Our order came– didn’t disappoint… the meat is nice and tender, love the touch of the pickle and I love fries– there were SO many fries between us that we ended up taking the bag home and I swear I reheated them twice and they were just as good with some added seasoning. The bread for the pastrami dip was nice and soft and you got plenty of meat with each bite. Not bad on the wallet either. If you’re looking for a quick, cheap place to get a good pastrami sandwich and some killer fries– this is it!

My friend told me about their juicy pastrami sandwich, so I decided to give this a shot. Based on the pictures, it was a very thin cut pastrami, something like what you find at Togos.
I ordered the pastrami dip and chili cheese fries. You have to eat the pastrami sandwich right away since the bread was too thin and was soaking up too much juice. There was less pastrami compared to what you get at other places. It was typical, nothing special.
The chili cheese fries were HUGE!!! Enough to share with 3 – 4 people so beware. The meat in the chili was had a very mushy texture. There was nothing beefy about the chili.
All said and done, it was a typical pastrami sandwich. The added juice made it a little better than average, that’s all. Maybe Langers set the bar way too high for me when it comes to pastrami.

The pastrami is great, flavorful and moist. And the bun is soft and tasty. Fries are decent.
I think Norton’s in Santa Barbara is better.

What’s with California and burger joints? I’m not complaining. I’m just curious as to what caused California to be the birthplace of the worlds most famous joints: McDonald’s, In and Out, and the Hat.
60 Years and going strong, the hat offers something different and that something is Pastrami.
My husband and our father ordered the chili cheese fries and I thought I was going to throw up. I’m judgmental like that and don’t like the look of chili, but they claim it’s delicious.
The real reason Im writing a review is to compliment the stellar service of the workers. They are all so kind, diligent and committed to their work and that’s what makes The Hat special. Everyone who worked on Friday July 10^th was amazing and they all deserve a bonus.

This is a fun restaurant to get some tasty and quick food. Obviously this restaurant is based around pastrami, which is very good, but they also have burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and stuff like that. They also have some unique variations on their fries. Check out the wet fries which are fries covered with gravy.
Whereas some pastrami based restaurants server fairly small pastrami sandwiches, this is not the case here. The sandwiches are big and a meal onto themselves.
If there is a downside to The Hat it is that they only have one restroom for men and one for women. The last time I was here a homeless guy went into the restroom and that was that, the line just grew and grew. Finally, the staff had to bang on the door and ask him to leave. :-)
Overall fun place. Check it out !

I wonder how many times I can say OMG on my review for The Hat. I was introduced to this place about 12 years ago when I worked in Pasadena. My coworker and I would split a Pastrami Dip and their infamous Cheddar Cheese fries. We would also end up taking our left over Cheddar Cheese Fries back to the office and 4 other people would finish it. OMG! It was so good. We would save our Fridays just to go to The Hat because after a hard week, everyone deserves to eat at the Hat.
They have 10 locations, I wish they will start venturing out to the San Fernando Valley, I will be their first customer!!!

I always like The Hat. Their servings are generous… Love their condiments stand, all you want. This location is big n clean with a parking lot.
Man, their pastrami sandwiches keep getting more and more expensive. All the other stuff on the menu remain a decent price if you’re not wanting to spend too much.