Katz’s Delicatessen
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 04:45PM 
Katz’s Delicatessen is one of the seminal NYC restaurants that everyone is supposed to try. Then again, many New Yorkers haven’t been to the Statue of Liberty either, and it has been here longer than Katz’s—just barely.
Over the Christmas holiday, we finally rectified that omission. Deciding what to order wasn’t a challenge. The menu sprawls a bit—perhaps more than it should—but the pastrami sandwich is the signature item. In a one-star review for the Times in 2007, Frank Bruni reported that the pastrami out-sells the corned beef two-to-one; they make 1,000 of them a day.
The setting is bare-bones, and the cavernous space is far from charming. As you enter, you’re handed a little blue ticket. We aren’t sure what it is for, but a sign warns that if you lose it, you’ll pay an extra $50.
You can get in line for counter service, or get table service. Fans will probably tell me that if you haven’t been to the counter, you haven’t been to Katz’s. We chose table service anyway.
Bruni warned that table service is “not that efficient,” and he was right. A waitress plopped down a plate of pickles soon after we arrived, but we sat quite a while before she took our order, and quite a while longer for our drinks to arrive. I warned my son, “Drink your root beer slowly, because we might not be able to get another one.”
When the food finally came, the staff never seemed to know who had ordered what, or even which table to serve.
That pastrami sandwich almost makes up for it. At $14.95, they’re not giving them away, but you get an ample portion of thickly cut, fatty, smoky beef. There is really nothing more to it than that. A side of fries is extra ($4.50), though they do them very well. A Reuben ($15.75) wasn’t quite as impressive: the bread needed to be toasted, or at least warmer.
Although Katz’s is a Jewish deli, we didn’t notice any employees who appeared to be Jewish. The décor consists of many photos of famous customers, and signs that have been around since before most of those employees were born. One of these (mentioning that Katz’s caters parties) still carries a telephone number that pre-dates all-digit dialing.
We were fortunate to visit when there was no line, and were seated immediately. Good thing, too. This is not the most pleasant place to consume an expensive pastrami sandwich, but at least it is a good sandwich. I will be in no rush for the next one.
Katz’s Delicatessen (205 E. Houston Street at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side)
Reader Comments (2)
I think you missed the point of Katzs. The meats are hand done the old fashioned way.It takes many weeks to make real Pastrami,Corned Beef etc.It a union shop and all the old jews have either died or retired.(You can't major in meat slicing in college)Abour the decor. History man. This is the way it looked a hundred years ago. Look at the pictures on the wall carefully. When I was a kid there were no pictures on the wall. Aside from a few special photos the rest seem to start in the late 80's. There are plenty of current movie stars etc(under 30 set) hanging there. Your loss.P.S. I'm 48 years old. ..Dee
Actually, I think I got the point entirely. I do realize that very few places make their own pastrami any more; I cited the quality of the pastrami as a highlight. I just didn’t find the space particularly pleasant.
This is not the way it looked a hundred years ago. In the first place, as you note, most of the photos did not begin to appear until the 1980s. And in the second place, Katz’s wasn’t even in this building a hundred years ago (it moved in the 1920s).