April 18, 2017

Katz’s Delicatessen – New York, NY

Katz’s Delicatessen is all that and more. You’ve seen it on When Harry Met Sally, and probably half a dozen shows on the Food Network. Over the years, I heard great things about Katz’s Deli. I laugh at some of the outrageous reviews on Yelp about Katz. So I thought to myself, “it can’t be that good, nothing is THAT good”. Well, as I would later find out, IT IS THAT GOOD.

I seemed to miss it every time I’m in NYC so I decided to make it a point to try it out on my most recent vacation. With my family owning and operating a deli in California, I thought I knew a good pastrami sandwich, my dad made the best one. Katz’s deli was not a disappointment, It was actually a very pleasant surprise that they do live up to the hype.

Service was FUN to say the least. I was fortunate that I lined up at cutter #5, as seen in the Samsung Pay commercial. Crazy bustle is an understatement, but part of the experience. I ordered a Pastrami sandwich, Corned Beef Sandwich, and a Corned Beef Rueben, which was more than enough for the four of us to share.

I graciously accepted the sample slices of pastrami and corned beef to taste while the meat was being cut for our order. The corned beef melted in my mouth, and the pastrami burst with flavor. I handed the cutter my ticket and picked up my tray to carry back to the table.

The highlight (understatement) for me was the Reuben. They need to paste a picture of this sandwich in the food dictionary under Umami. The accompanying Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and amazing sauerkraut made this the perfect sandwich. Heaven, Bliss, and as many other words as I could use to describe this sandwich do not do it justice.

This is one of the few places on earth everyone needs to try. I will make the drive from Austin to Houston just to see if the Houston location is as good, or, at least close to the experience that I had in NYC. I guess if I have to, I will get it shipped to me.