Back in the mid-80s, we took a family vacation to San Antonio. It must’ve been around 1985, because when we visited the Alamo I asked to see the basement, a’la Pee-Wee Herman. That’s about all I remember about the Alamo. I should probably go back someday.
While visiting San Antonio back in 1985, we ate breakfast at a place called Sombrero Rosa. The name was easy to remember because the top of the building was a gigantic pink sombrero — a “sombrero rosa”. The main memory we have of that place is, it’s the first place we ever saw (or ate) a breakfast burrito. After that, breakfast burritos became a regular staple around our house.
Due to a page and a few phone calls and a favor, I find myself in San Antonio, 15 years later. I thought it might be fun to find Sombrero Rosa once again. Instead, I found this:
As you can see, the sombrero has been painted white, and the top part appears to have been removed. I would have called this post “sombrero blanco” (for “white”), but this place is closed, too — thus, the “nada”.
Oh well. The Embassy Suites makes an okay omelette, too.
Oooohhhh! Another landmark gone. I loved Sombrero Rosa’s greasy breakfast burritos. That was just 3 blocks from Gail’s apartment. On up that road about a mile was the mexican restaurant we had supper at. An hour or so after supper Linda began puking beans. She continued through the next day, honoring the Alamo among other landmarks. Memorable trip.
Next time you are in San Antonio or Austin just ask around where you can find good breakfast tacos. That’s the thing now.
I’m vaguely reminded of a place in Albuquerque where once stood a Malibu Grand Prix race track/arcade and now it’s a used car dealership. It’s always a downer to me to see a specifically-shaped building like that lose its original eccentric identity in the course of changing ownership.