Restaurant reviews: El Sombrero, Gaineville, GA
February 26th, 2010 | 
Author: With all of the big-name, high-end restaurants out there, many tend to overlook the small town areas. I hail from a fairly small town where there aren’t many restaurant choices outside of fast food joints and restaurants that only Bill Gates could afford. There is, however, an excellent medium between the two-El Sombrero. It shocks me as well to think that a Mexican restaurant could be considered somewhere between those two extremes, but it does exist!
El Sombrero-or El Som, as it is affectionately called by its most loyal of patrons-is based right here in Gainesville, GA, and has ten restaurants in its franchise, all except two of which are within easy driving distance of the original restaurant. Its menu features everything one would expect from a Mexican restaurant (burritos, tacos, enchiladas), and some items you’d never expect (more than just sopapillas and flan on the dessert menu). The best part about their menu, in my opinion, is that they look out for the vegetarians that creep along the mists of this tiny township. There aren’t many of us, but it’s nice to find a restaurant’s menu with an entire section devoted to their meatless dishes.
Service is always impeccable, and their drink choices are almost endless-everything from the standard margaritas and screwdrivers to the higher-end drinks for the more discerning palate. There are, of course, regular soft drinks, tea, milk, and water as well.
Just like with any other Mexican restaurant, watch out for Cinco de Mayo! They’re always packed to the brim, unless you know of some of their secret “hideaway” restaurants. Even some life-long residents of Gainesville don’t know exactly where all of their restaurants lie. This past Cinco de Mayo, for instance, my family and I enjoyed a fairly quiet dinner at the El Som we call the “hole in the wall” because hardly anyone knows that it’s there-it blends in with all of the other shops in the surrounding area!
The best part about this restaurant, however, is their appetizer. As with most Mexican restaurants, a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa are placed at every table. El Som’s specialty is their queso dip-yummy! I’ve eaten at a good many Mexican restaurants and sampled many different queso dips, but El Som’s seems to have the best flavor and texture. Their tortilla chips are no laughing matter, either!
El Sombrero just proves that no matter how small one’s town happens to be, there can always be room for excellent flavor, service, and atmosphere. If you’re ever in the Gainesville, GA, area, why not find one of their many locations and stop in for yourself?
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