Katz's Delicatessen

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Katz's Delicatessen
Katz's Deli on a Sunday evening
Restaurant Information
Established	1888
Food type	Jewish kosher style delicatessen
Dress code	Casual
Street address	205 E. Houston Street
City	Manhattan New York City
State	New York
Country	United States
Website	Katz's Delicatessen New York (official site)

Katz's Delicatessen, also known as simply Katz's Deli, is a Jewish kosher style delicatessen on the Lower East Side of New York City, located at 205 E. Houston Street, on the south-west corner of Houston and Ludlow Streets, in Manhattan.

1 History
2 Katz's in films
3 References
4 Photo gallery
5 External links

[edit] History

Since its founding in 1888, it has become popular among locals and tourists alike for its pastrami sandwiches and hot dogs, both of which are widely considered among New York's best.^[1] Each week, Katz's serves 5,000 pounds of corned beef, 2,000 pounds of salami and 12,000 hot dogs.^[2]

The pastrami sandwich at Katz's was featured on the 2002 PBS documentary, Sandwiches That You Will Like.

During World War II, Katz's encouraged parents to "send a salami to your boy in the army" which became one of the deli's famous catch phrases,^[3] along with "Katz's, that's all!" which is still painted on the side of the building. The former phrase is referenced in the Tom Lehrer song "So Long Mom (A Song for World War III)", with the lyric "Remember Mommy, I'm off to get a commie, so send me a salami, and try to smile somehow". Katz is also well known for its pro-Israel plaques and photos placed along its wall.

Katz's continues it's "Send a salami to your boy in the army" to this day. The deli has arranged special international shipping only for U.S. military addresses and has been a source of care packages to the troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hobby's Deli, another historic deli in Newark, NJ, inspired by this effort, has started, "operation salami drop" to show support for American troops stationed in those areas.

The deli has served several U.S. presidents, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. The walls are lined with pictures of writers, politicians and more who have dined at Katz's.

[edit] Katz's in films

Katz's was the site of Meg Ryan's famous "I'll have what she's having" fake orgasm scene in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally...; the table at which she and Billy Crystal sat, is marked with a sign that says "Where Harry met Sally...hope you have what she had!". ^[4] It was also the site of Johnny Depp's character meeting with an FBI contact in Donnie Brasco.^[3] This deli was featured in two 2007 films: Across the Universe and the Joaquin Phoenix / Mark Wahlberg story We Own the Night.

A documentary film entitled Katz's: That's All! [1] is presently in production in New York to be released in 2008, as the biggest and oldest Jewish delicatessen in the world turns 120.