Katz's Delicatessen.

Katz's Delicatessen

Katz's has cured and carved its own pastrami at 205 East Houston since 1888, and parts of the room go back to the 1880s. Order a hot dog from the counter while you queue, which is what the regulars do.

Why go

Robert Sietsema has covered New York restaurants for more than thirty-five years and he ranks the meats here in order: pastrami first, roast brisket second, corned beef third, which he says lags in tenderness but not in flavor.1 The sleeper is the knoblewurst, a garlic sausage he calls absolutely delicious and garlicky as all get out.

Lauren Rothman put the ownership on the record in The Forward in 2013: the deli opened in 1888 and the Katz family, Russians, bought it in 1903, which makes it one of the oldest businesses still trading in the city.6 The sign outside once said Katz's kosher deli, the deli was not kosher, people objected, and it has read Katz's that's all! ever since.4

Order this / avoid

• Order: hot pastrami on rye. Then the knoblewurst, and the green tomato pickles alongside.1
• Order, if you want fish instead: the lox comes two ways, on a bagel with cream cheese and the usual fixings, or scrambled with onions and a potato pancake.2
• Avoid: the French fries. Sietsema's word for them is soggy.

What locals & experts say

• Robert Sietsema, Eater NY, 2022: Katz's is quite simply the city's - and maybe the nation's - best deli. Hand-cut behind a glass counter in thick, steaming slices, the pastrami is the superior deli meat.1

• Sietsema on what to skip: Don't miss the green tomato pickles, but skip the soggy French fries.1

• Andrew Silverstein spent a Forward investigation in May 2022 arguing pastrami is New York's and not Texas's, and his description of the difference is the case for coming here: In most places, pastrami is a rubbery bland pinkish processed meat... In New York, however, pastrami burns magenta bright and is fatty, sinewy and tender.5

• Julien Levy, reviewing it for Time Out New York on 23 July 2026, on the argument people keep having about it: People love calling this place a tourist trap, and it is one. It's also a tourist trap that serves genuinely excellent food in an environment unreplicable by any wannabe or imitator.4

• Eater's map of the city's defining dishes, on why this pastrami and not another: the flavour is richer and emphatically smokier than other popular versions served around town.7

Good to know

• Booking: none. You queue, you take a ticket, you order at the counter. Do not lose the ticket.4
• At the slicer: know your order before it is your turn, and when he cuts you a taste off the board, tip him.4
• Timing: it runs late, and it ships nationwide if you want the pastrami at home.3
• Standing: the MICHELIN Guide's own 2025 best-value roster for New York carries it.8
• The table: the one from When Harry Met Sally is labelled, in the middle of the room.4

Verdict

must-visit — One sandwich feeds two, and splitting it is what takes the sting out of the price. Drink a Cel-Ray with it.