Sometimes I like to eat the fattiest foods possible until I feel like I’m about to explode, and what better way to do that than to go to the world famous pastrami place The Hat. Before I get into detail about how freaking amazing this was, I would like to mention that this is not a meal intended for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s start with some background history for this restaurant.  It was established in 1951 and has been serving pastrami sandwiches ever since. It exploded in popularity and nowadays customers consume over 13 tons of pastrami per week throughout California. Geesh.

For this review I had to get what The Hat is famous for, a pastrami sandwich along with an obesity-causing plate of fries covered in chilli and a mound of mouthwatering cheese.  Being in journalism is hard, I know. And this was definitely not a vegetarian/vegan-friendly review. At first glance, there’s nothing special about the plain bun and mediocre pickles and mustard. What set it apart from all others is, yup you guessed it, the  pile of pastrami. Now I can agree that this isn’t the most beautiful piece of food you’ve ever seen, but oh boy does it make up for that with the taste. And to be honest, I think if it had been any fancier, it would have just taken away the whole I know it’s not good for me but I’m hungry vibe. Aside from food, the person who took my order was polite and offered napkins. Much appreciated. The wait wasn’t long at all, especially since I was smart enough to go on a Tuesday when there were no more than fifteen people in line. And if you’ve ever been on a weekend, you know that I got lucky compared to the tons who visit on their cheat days.

Overall, I wholeheartedly suggest going to The Hat for any stomach-grumbling occasion that comes your way.