NOSTALGIA

The sign in front of the Conzonire brothers’ place of business violates a city ordinance but they do not fear the long arm of the law. Alhambra proclaimed the sign a historic landmark in 1989.

“The Hat Pastrami Burgers Hot Dogs” is announced in red and yellow neon at the northwest corner of Valley and Garfield. Nine feet high, seven wide and mounted atop a slender white pole, the sign soars well over the 15 - foot height limit set in the 1985 ordinance.

Built and opened for business in 1951, the Hat , with its front sidewalk counter, a back patio and spacious parking lot, represents a vanishing species--the sandwich stand. While many of its comrades have disappeared, victims of spawning giant fast-food chains, the Hat survives and thrives. In the last decade three more locations--Pasadena, Monterey Park and Upland--have been opened. But none possess the retro chic of the original; past its 40th anniversary, the Hat is so far out of style that it is back in again. But this is not faux retro a la Edie’s Diner; this is a genuine hangout that was saved by its bobby-soxer patrons.

In 1981, the Hat was scheduled for demolition to make room for a small shopping center. “We decided we just couldn’t let that happen--it was like a part of our lives,” says Corky Conzonire, 48, who owned five Belly Buster sandwich stands at the time. The Hat and places like it were where Corky, Alhambra High Class of 1960, brother Joe, Class of 1970, and their future wives hung out as teen-agers. In later years, they would drive past the stand, agreeing, “It would be fun to own that place.” So they bought it. The cuisine is as remarkable in the lite-free ‘90s as the sign. “The Best Pastrami Sandwich in the World” says a large sign near the menu board. Though the pastrami sandwich is the cornerstone--the Alhambra Hat sells about 30 tons of pastrami each year--they sell plenty of roast beef dips, hamburgers and hot dogs, too. The menu, a survivor of an era when no one knew what cholesterol was, also features onion rings, tamales, fries with brown gravy and 15-cent coffee.

Whether their pastrami sandwiches are indeed the best in the world is up for debate, but one thing is certain when you have a sandwich at the Hat, you know you have eaten something.