The El Sombrero Mexican Bistro sign sits at 807 South Main Street. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 807 S Main St
Sign owner: Irma Aguirre
Sign details: This modest, family-owned restaurant has been in town since the 1950's. It was then sold to the current owner, Irma Aguirre, and closed for a brief moment for renovation in 2014. They have been serving favorites like burritos, enchiladas, taco, and tamales for six decades. Even with their modern updates, they are still staying as true to their past as they possibly can.
Sign condition: 5, the sign is still in beautiful condition.
Sign form: Hanging sign
Sign-specific description: The sign for the business extends out from the property towards the street. The rectangular sign is a bright blue that matches the color of the building. On the top outer corner of the sign sits a sombrero with a red and white striped band in the middle portion of the hat. The words "El Sombrero" are painted on the brim of the hat. There are skeletal neon tubes outline the hat and the words "El Sombrero." Next to this is a small sign, within the overall design of the rest of the sign, that is designed to look ripped on both sides and reads "Mexican Food" in red letters. Neon tubes outline these words. Underneath these elements of the sign is the word "CAFE" in bold white text with a thin black border. Neon tubes fill these letters as well. Extending from the bottom of the sign is a small rectangle with the building number "807" painted in black.
Sign - type of display: Neon
Sign - media: Steel
Sign environment: The area that this restaurant sits is right between the Arts District and the excitement of Fremont Street. The locations nearby is a bail bond store, a supply stores for gaming, lawn equipment, and discount appliances. It is also a short distance from the North Premium Outlets.
Sign - date of installation: Circa 1950's
Sign - date of redesign/move: Possibly 2014, they closed this year to renovate the building and the sign looks different today from earlier images of the sign. Before they renovated the building the sign included some sort of striped scarf/cloth underneath the sombrero. However, after the renovation this must have been painted over.
Sign - thematic influences: The sombrero on the sign also lends itself to the name of the property and the "Mexican Food" sign within the sign explicitly tells you what type of restaurant this is. It tells you the theme right away.
Sign - artistic significance: The sign itself is very simple, but the few specific design elements of the sign are very distinct to the property. The sombrero is a nice touch to emphasize the name of the restaurant and the "Mexican Food" sign is helpful in letting both motorists and pedestrians know what type of food they serve.
Survey - research locations: Las Vegas weekly article https://lasvegasweekly.com/dining/reviews/2014/nov/19/revamped-el-sombrero-cafe-mexican-downtown/ , Review Journal article https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/el-sombrero-a-mix-of-modern-classic/, asessor's page
Surveyor: Lauren Vaccaro
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-28
Sign keywords: Neon; Steel; Hanging; Cantilever construction

The Palm Piazza sign sits at 1919 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Sheet.
Site address: 1919 Fremont St
Sign owner: Zen Real Estate Holding
Sign details: This building dates back to 1936 and was made for commercial living accommodations/ deluxe motel. Previous to the Palm Piazza opening this location was called the Ariza Motel which was abandoned for a few years. Kamran Foulad in 2013 purchased this building to renovate it in an effort to revitalize downtown. The Palm Piazza opened as an apartment complex in late 2013.
Sign condition: 4- slight fading but still in good condition
Sign form: Pylon
Sign-specific description: There is a black base of the sign that is not very tall which holds a back lit plastic sign that has an image of a lady under a palm-tree leaf canopy and the location's phone number in black numbers. Above this is a blue steel backing that in the shape of a sideways trapezoid which is about half of the width of the black sign beneath it (and is laid on the building side of the sign). This portion has black back lit plastic letters that spell out "The Palm Piazza" in a bubbly cursive font towards the top of the sign. Then below this in yellow skeletal neon tubes they have "Luxury Living" spelled out in a thin tight cursive font. On the road side of the sign there is an arrow blue steel arrow that points down towards the black portion of the sign. The arrow is outlined in yellow neon tubes and has "Enjoy Las Vegas" in clear print font skeletal neon tubes.
Sign - type of display: Neon and back lit plastic signs
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic portion of the sign
Sign environment: This area is located East Fremont close to Bruce Street. There are other motels surrounding this area.
Sign - date of installation: This sign has been up in form that we see today in 2013, though it looks as though they re-purposed/redesigned the sign that the Ariza Motel (previous property name) had. The previous sign has been up since at least 2007.
Sign - date of redesign/move: 2013- Ariza Motel blade taken down and the rest of the sign redesigned for the Palm Piazza.
Sign - thematic influences: Previous to the apartment complex it was a motel and their signs still has remnants of that 1950/60's motel sign design particularly with the arrow.
Survey - research locations: Assessor's Page, Review Journal article discussing the renovation of the building https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/developer-eyeing-overlooked-las-vegas-downtown-area-gets-city-boost/, Google map sattelite/ roadside view
Survey - research notes: On the top portion of the blue steel sign there are 3 short black steel beams coming out of it which used to hold an old MOTEL blade sign which was taken down around 2013.
Surveyor: Emily Fellmer
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-09
Sign keywords: Neon; Backlit; Plastic; Steel; Pole sign

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