Katz's Deli

I went there as a tourist… which girl wouldn’t want to after seeing Meg Ryan perform her memorable little act in “When Harry Met Sally”? J/K. :) Though this place in reality is more like a run-down cafeteria and does not resemble the diner in the movie, let alone inspiring the “what she’s having” sentiment. :)

The checkout system is somewhat confusing. You have to know where to line up and to remember to keep the ticket until the end of your meal. But if you do visit New York as a tourist, you can certainly consider stopping by for a meal and a “I lost my ticket at Katz’s” t-shirt as a souvenir. :)

Though there’s no doubt that the meats are tasty! This is the kind of Deli that we Seattleites do not see often enough.

OMG the pastrami sandwiches are SO mouth watering…I’m drooling just thinking about it. Thick and juicy slabs of hand-carved pastrami piled high. Mmmmmm. I can never have another Togo’s hot pastrami sandwich again.

great place. come in get a ticket, then order and sit.

they have the table where Sally sat with Harry in the movie and it says “hope you’re having what she’s having” the line was adlibbed – either Billy Crystal or the director’s mother was sitting in as an extra and the film was rolling when she said that so they included it in the film.

for vegetarians, potato pancakes, egg salad sandwich and a couple of other things.

Guy at the counter started talking to me as if he knew me – he thought I was someone else. He told me I looked like Harry Potter and asked me where the guys that I usually come in with are. There gotta be a hundred guys that look like me here.

The place is a pretty famous NYC institution. Prices are a little on the higher side, but you get a good meal with decent proportions. As a visitor, I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to go here again, since there are so many other places to try.

Pastrami Sandwich is the BEST.

Very good food but a bit pricey

We finally made it to Katz’s Deli this year, after previously trying both Stage Deli and Carnegie Deli. After biting into our sandwich, it was Katz’s for the win.

We ordered a lean pastrami Reuben, Matzo ball soup and half-sour pickles. The taste of pastrami was fantastic and I couldn’t wait for the sandwich to be built. Once we gathered our order we sat at a table several down from the one made famous in When Harry Met Sally and chowed down. The Reuben was a.ma.zing. Truly spectacular…so much better than both Stage and Carnegie that it wasn’t even like comparing apples to apples.

Carnegie, however, won on the Matzo ball soup. The soup at Katz’s was missing the intense chicken flavor of Carnegie, so Carnegie won the soup round.

To give you a better idea, we were plotting how to get more Reubens delivered from Katz’s to Seattle as we’re only in NYC about once a year. We already miss that darn sandwich.

The pastrami here is a work of art. It’s perfection. The way the service is organized is extremely annoying. Don’t miss out on the fact it’s near Russ & Daughters fish place.

I grew up on 2nd Avenue Deli, but have to settle for Katz’s these days. In some ways, it’s better – cheaper and much easier to get a seat. Everything is good, but I always get a frankfurter. Or two.