Date: Sunday, April 7
Time: 6:00 pm
Place: The Hat, at Ludlow and Stanton
Regina will be there to welcome you and she'll be serving up burritos, tacos, and the whole nine yards with her special flair. Plus! There's an extra incentive. Tell them "Jeremiah sent me" and you will get a free small margarita. Woo! If you know The Hat's margaritas, a small one's enough to get you off and running.
You'll also get a sense of deep satisfaction and righteous superiority just knowing you showed up to help save a Lower East Side institution, defying the evil forces of hyper-gentrification as they squeeze every last drop of soul from this city.
Be there! Eat, drink--and please help spread the word.
It's not enough to simply have been around for a long time. They still have to provide good food and service. After reading your blog entry, I thought, I'll head on down there during the week and try this place out. After reading through their yelp reviews, I reconsidered. One or two isolated bad reviews can be ignored, but when there is a clear trend, there is usually a reason.
ReplyDeleteIncoming from a family matter in California - if I can make I'll be there!
ReplyDeleteI don't relish seeing Mexican restaurants going out of business, but if they're on their last leg, then they're on their last leg. Cash mobs don't add legs.
ReplyDeleteCan you put up a PayPal thing for this, I can't go, but would love to donate and maybe others would too. Love the Hat!
ReplyDeleteshmny, why are mexican restaurants going ou of business? trends change, is this the reason? what is the newer ethnic direction?
ReplyDeletedid the landlord raise the rent?? i dont think this has anything to do w/being a "mexican" restaurant, its a landlord problem.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the area, i did not know 1 person who called this place the Hat. It was always known as El Sombrero and it was pretty shady in there back in the day (pun untended). That place was only good for the frozen margaritas you can buy to go. Not much of a reason to go there after they stopped that. I was never a fan of their food, it was more Spanish than Mexican and there was a Spanish food joint on every block before the wd40's and alias's took over. Still, it,s one of the last of the originals, will be sad to see it go.
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean that being a Mexican restaurant had anything to do with their problems. I like Mexican food, that's why I said I don't relish seeing Mexican restaurants go out of business.
shmnyc, it might not add legs for the business but it will almost certainly help the staff there that, in a large part, rely on tips to get by. Whatever extra they may make from something like this will go a long way in keeping them above water when they are no longer employed.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 9:42am,
ReplyDeleteThis is not an effort to help the staff. If you want to help the staff, you can advocate for their minimum wage to be raised above $2.13/hour. You can also organize a "cash mob" to give money directly to the staff.
More people dining equals more tips, which directly helps the staff.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 6:38 PM,
ReplyDeleteIf by "directly" you mean "indirectly". If you want to help the staff directly, go in and give your money *directly* to them. But this effort is not meant to help the staff, that was my point, when I responded to your cousin Anonymous 9:42 AM.
The Hat is awesome. The food is great. The salsa is warm and the nachos are not what you expect. Its my favorite place for my birthday. I was there less then a month ago.
ReplyDeleteand will go back soon.
I lived in this building and I ate there ONCE. That should tell you a lot.
ReplyDeleteThe building rent controlled and the landlord used every legit trick in the book to jack rents up. They destroyed the beautiful mosaics on the landings to refurbish the stairwell to justify raising rent. Then it was the doorway. Then it was the mailboxes. So I'm sure El Sombrero has had their rent raised and raised and raised again.
But here's the thing: this restaurant has a PRIME location. They serve margaritas and food for drunk people and they are at the intersection of Doucheville St. and Dbag Boulevard! IF the product was good, they would be PRINTING MONEY. Cash mobs don't help bad businesses improve, they just prolong the suffering.
It's like the outrage at St. Mark's Bookshop - there are so many thriving indie bookstores in this town and new ones open every day, that don't seem to need a cash mob every month to stay afloat. I wonder why that is? I realize this is not a popular opinion but sometimes establishments go out of business because there is no demand for their business.
First of all, let me say I love your blog. As a born and bred New Yorker, it's truly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteUsually I agree with mostly everything you post. This restaurant though...let's just say I'm not sorry to see it go. It used to be a great place to eat, especially after having a few at Max Fish. No more.
Back in the early 2000s, you used to be able to order a margarita to go in a large Styrofoam cup. Then I guess the Bloomberg fascists put an end to that, because now it's a thing of the past. Then the quality of the food went down and it hasn't been the same.
With that, let me state for the record that I really hate Bloomberg, his lackey Christine Quinn and anyone (proudly) associated with him. Counting the days until his ass is gone.
Thanks Bloomberg. Thanks for ruining NYC. I hate you.
Lacklustre food and rocketfeul margaritas aside, this place was loads of fun back in the day when summer kicked in to get together after work/before a night out and get loose.
ReplyDeleteThe area was a great mix of freaks and folk doing their thing and I must admit a twang of regret that I won't stroll past my old haunt 'The Hat' next time i'm on those streets.
woow.. used to be the placce to go if ur broke and buy rice beans salsa withour without cheese. soemtimes it was so bad.. but when ur hungry or depressed . it used to get going on like weekend nights party and drunks. i have not been there as i said i dont want to eat that stuff no more.. but last time what happen to el sombrero two down block???? was about two years ago. was just thinking bout this.. been under for while and not go to that area much lately ... and no max fish also might contribute to the loss of buss.
ReplyDeleteused to be nick name El Scumbrero for the fact get sick from food all time. sometimes the beans were like refried from look like mexico a year before.. and served cold dry. it would always turn off but for some reason you go back...
ReplyDelete