Katz's Deli Reviews

Wonderful experience. That pastrami sandwich on hero with mustard and sauerkraut was of the chain. Our cutter at the #1 station, hooked us up so good today
1/1/2020. Thank you so much. We will be back again...

A piece of history in NY. A lot of celebrities have been there, you can see it on the walls of Kat's where there are hundreds photos of them.
But the real celebrity is the pastrami sandwich!! Awesome!!!

First did not know they had a house beer, Katz Ale. Second the sandwiches were amazing.

Though the meats are delicious here, in the end it's just an ok deli. Not worth the long lines and hassle of figuring out which line to queue if you've never been here before.

I was raised in the same neighborhood where Katz Deli has been for decades and recently went back to my roots to devour another one of their famous Corn Beef and Pastrami sandwiches! Wow, they always made my mouth water and what I saw completely blew me away! Not only had they expanded their restaurant, but their menu was to die for! Then to make things more exciting, as you wait to get your mouthwatering meal, they will actually give you tastings of that decadent slab of meat, fresh off the rack! Once I bite into it, it made my heart sing!!! To think I lived walking distance from this great place 45 years ago and they are still BEST IN SHOW and never disappoint! KATZ YOU ROCK!

Long lines; takes quite a while: this is NYC. Legendary sandwich did not disappoint; it was huge and AWESOME! Iconic, famous Jewish deli; grandly fulfilled bucket list experience. Famous scene from When Harry met Sally was filmed here.

the Cornbeef was excellent!
The Pastrami was too fatty.. the trading hours are incorrect on Google for Thanksgiving day..

Historical place you must visit. Great portions. You won't leave hungry.

Loved this place, great atmosphere and great service...The pastrami is out of this world!!!

This place is one of a kind. I order the pastrami on rye with a side of pickles and boy, did they bring the meat! The pastrami was tender, juicy, and delicious, and was amazed by how much they provided. I tipped my sandwich maker, which I hear is recommended, so it seems like he gave me a little bit extra (and I got it from a fresh piece of meat to boot). The price ($22.95) can be a little scary, but each sandwich is enough for about two people, which can ease the cost a little bit. I enjoyed the ambiance, but it can be a little difficult finding seating if you don't want to be waited on. I ended up sharing a table with a nice couple, so be prepared to meet some new people. And like everyone else stated: don't lose your green ticket. You will need when you are leaving, and although I did not lose mine, I imagine it will not be a good time for the person who does. In conclusion: go get your sandwich on at this quintessential New York deli and you won't regret it.

Thick meaty sandwiches! You might say, "$20 for a sandwich!?" Let me tell you, that these are thick, thick sandwiches full of some of the best, slow roasted meats I've ever tasted. Not to mention that we just fed a family of four on only two sandwiches. Yes, they have a wider menu than that, but the sandwiches are their signature. Go on, take a ticket, order, eat the sample cuts the slicer gives you, pay, and give your ticket back. And enjoy the pack of pickles they throw in as a bonus!

Definitely great food and the service was amazing as well! I get its a huge tourist destination so i was expecting to pay a bit more but my jaw hit the floor when my Reuben and can of diet Pepsi was $35!! It was on normal sized bread but they did load it up. I'd go back if i was with someone who had never been, but there's so many other places i want to try in the citya

The deli is wonderful, but I was very upset with the experience with the home delivery. No marking of "keep refrigerated". Needless to say items were spoiled. No attempt at replacing items were made. Lesson learned!! Will not order from them again!!

Best $30 pastrami sandwich I've had. I'm a big eater and couldn't finish it, get the half size. Feels a little like a tourist spot, but tasted awesome. Be prepared to wait and be patient. Recommend going to the cutters at the counter and getting it to go.

Best Pastrami sandwich ever. Absolutely delicious.
I would go back again and again.

packed, packed to the gills and worth every minute waiting. this is the top pastrami! try the dr brown's cel-ray soda for a rare treat.

A fantastic experience, great food (plentiful too), and an opportunity to see the setting of famous scenes, such as 'that' seen from When Harry Met Sally, or in my case, the magical recreation of that scene by Jamie Redknapp from A League of Their Own. Food was good too

Great food, great atmosphere once you figure out how the pink ticket works.

Went on a very busy November Saturday and had to queue outside for 30 minutes but itiwas well worth the wait. Essential to get a table before ordering. Quick friendly efficient service. If you are in a group of three or more best option is one grabs a table, one orders and gets the food and the other gets the drinks and sides.Very reasonably priced great atmosphere and no pressure to eat quickly and move out. A must for all visitors to New York.

The food was absolutely delicious. The place was crowded and hectic and was a fun New York City experience .

Wot a sandwich had the beef brisket melts in ur mouth best samwich i ever had im stuffed omg !!!!!!!

noisy,busy,luncheonette atmosphere but the food is still good & plentyful for the price.

The best Pastrami sandwich. Too large to eat in one sitting. Fun place to visit.

Bumping my rating from 4 to 5 stars because it s open 24hrs on Friday s. Is it overpriced? Of course. Is it delicious? Absolutely.

A NYC establishment. Just stop reading and go get the Reuben. It will change your life. Go around 11am to beat the queue, otherwise you may have to wait over an hour.

I felt ROBBED by the waiter who didn't tell us we could have ordered a Family meal for $50 instead of 5 $25 sandwiches UNBELIEVABLE

Ah Katz's, that was a special experience. Yes, it's chaos, yes it's packed, and yes, if you don't know what you're doing then you're going to be in trouble...

Grab your ticket, hopefully find a place to sit and leave a family member or two there and go get your food. The stations are clearly labelled as to what you can order at each one.
Simple rules for the meats:
1. Have in mind what you want to order (if you aren t completely sure, the guy will give you tastes of the meats)
2. Tell the guy what you want to order
3. Do not add anything to the order part way, or at the end
4. Give him your ticket
5. Tip the man
6. Take your food
If you don't follow this, you'll not only piss off the guy serving you, but everyone behind you.
If you want anything other than meats, head to the appropriate counter and order, but again, tip the order taker.

The place itself is rammed, we went on Christmas Day and went in at 11am the line was around the block at 12pm. The food itself? Mounds of salt beef, brisket and corned beef, warm in sandwiches with spicy mustard. Potato Latkes fresh from the kitchen made to order. I ordered my first ever egg cream, an experience I will be repeating. It s a classic location and I hope it will be there for years given the closure of many of the other iconic delis in Manhattan.

Great experience with a absolutely delicious pastrami sandwhich. Im glad i had my first NY deli experience here. It may seem expensive but the sandwiches are huge. We shared 1 between 2.

My goodness, the greatest sandwiches in the entire world. Expensive, but we'll worth it.

A classic place for Deli. Way overpriced but worth the trip.

Its NYC and the LES , dining with history. Last of the great Jewish DELI'S !

One of the best and most historic deli's in NYC and a must stop on a private NYC Tour with OLIDAYTOURS

I had very few things on my list of places I wanted to try on my first trip to the Big Apple. This was in my top three. I wanted matzo ball soup and latkes. (Boy did it hit the spot, I'm doing my happy dance!) This is such an Iconic place, full of people who truly love their city and their jobs. Always a line to get in but it moves fast. Worth the wait!

Never thought I d say a $25 sandwich was worth it... till I had Katz

Lots of hype. Super busy. Slightly overpriced for what you get. High demand. Rye was good. Pastrami better than corned beef. A little dry overall. Many options. Better on a weekday.

If you can deal with the long line and high prices you will be rewarded with the best food of it's class

The meat was so juicy and fatty, it's like heaven with 2 slices of bread

Katz"s Delicatessen is an iconic eatery in New York, famous for their salamis and pastramis. They serve all kinds of sandwiches and have also a good selection of desserts. The walls are covered with pictures of famous people who have visited this place. The restaurant is featured in a famous scene from "When Harry met Sally. " The food is all right, but the place is mainly about atmosphere.

Great iconic NYC deli, sandwiches are expensive but really good

Really good brisket smoked meat. Dont lose your ticket or youll get in trouble. Though this is the most famous, i think schwarz in montreal is better than this.

A delicatessen/diner that must be experienced. The place was busy, but the service was timely, and friendly. The staff were helpful to clarify instructions and answer questions. We had a pastrami, a brisket, a turkey, and a corned beef sandwiches. They were excellent, and huge! The pickles remind me of my grandmother's - pickling cucumbers in pickling brine - perfection!

Great place for a corn beef sandwich (legendary). The lines can be long but it's always worth the wait.

Ive been waiting to experience this spot and it was well worth the wait

Cant beat the pastrami but the prices are getting outrageous $$$..I guess they're catering to the tourists

Always a favorite. Always too much food. Super delicious, and a great staff.

Corn Beef that melts in your mouth...Pastrami that's the best in the city all in a iconic location...yup it lives up to the hype every time!

My knish was hard as a rock, definitely not fresh. But corned beef was good.

Good sandwich, so much meat! Not the biggest piece of meat she's had today though

As always, Katz's represents the epitome of NYC with it's delicious sandwiches and dated interior filled with nostalgia. It's confusing when you walk in, but grab your ticket, don't lose it, fight your way up to one of the cutters (only if they're taking orders), order your sandwich, eat the samples they give you, and watch them load it up. Fight for a seat, get a drink, and then enjoy. Pay cash or card. There is free water near the back.

A long line and a lot of hype but at the end of the day the pastrami on rye really was good! Since it's so well known the line to get in is pretty long and it's a hard to find a seat (especially if you're going with a group of people). But if you're lucky you can sit literally where Harry met Sally (they have a big sign over the table)! Pro tip: make sure the sandwich guy SEES you tipping them before they start cutting your meat and they just might give you a little extra ;)

My husband I went to Katz in celebration of his birthday. I must say it was more than he hoped for.The sandwiches were phenomenal. He had the brisket and pastrami on hero bread(seriously melts in your mouth). I had the hard salami on rye ( best salami ever...I love salami). Line was very long but moved very fast. Service was prompt and courteous. Worth the drive from Long Island. We can't wait to return. Kudos Katz

Expensive but soooooooo worth it. Definitely coming back

Unique place! GREAT SUBS! They will cut the pastrami before you and give you a sample.

I was here when I was about 8 or 9 maybe 10 but I did like the food at this deli. Very good!

Have been wanting to come here for a few years. Definitely glad I finally made it. The pastrami is just absolutely delicious! And the fresh pickles were great. Will be back for sure.

Pastrami on wheat, ALWAYS great. Not an average pastrami sandwich. This pastrami is melt in your mouth delish. The pickles aren't as good as they were when I went as a child, taste more like wet cucumber, no pickling taste to it. Which is fine with me, the pastrami stands alone. Expensive though!

I had the combo sandwich of pastrami & corn beef. Both was tender and juicy. Could not stop eating the corn beef on its own when the bread got too filling. It melted in my mouth and I have never tasted corn beef this good. Pastrami is what they re famous for. Pickles and cucumber accompanying it just enhances the tastes further. Next time I go back I would share the sandwich so I can fit in the soup.

Definitely a tradition. I went for nostalgia. It was packed, a little confusing but exactly what I expected food wise

Food is excellent, but ridiculously expensive. We ordered ONE pastrami sandwich (for two people) and it was $21.95! Delicious, tons of meat, but just way too expensive for our taste and budget.

It doesn't matter what you get, pastrami or roast beef, both will be good. Make sure you get a cherry soda to compliment it. No reservations. Just show up and enjoy.

Katz had amazing service and the staff was fantastic, very friendly and lots of seating. I m visiting for the first time in NY and the food was so good my wife and I went back the next day.

Fun atmosphere, free samples, most importantly fantastic unbeatable quality food

Fantastic deli sandwiches. It might be slightly overpriced, but their serving sizes might make up for it. They are huge!

Pricy but we'll worth it! Got a reuben and boy do they do reuben fiiiiine. The sandwiches are large enough for about 1 and a half meals honestly but finished it late night

I don't even know where to start. I orded the hard salami sandwich and my body just said boring and the taste was horrible. And my water had a bug in it

Great pastrami sandwich, but not worth the $22 price tag

The hype is real. Get the strami and half sours and thank me later.

I m a big fan of cut meats and deli style food. My local butcher is Greek and my local fruit and veg is Italian. I m european background Australian born, I m sorry but I was not impressed on price and food, I do believe that the menu board and pricing should be looked at in great detail, I would say it covers tourists well, delivers to their standards. For me, a once only experience, and never again.

Eleven stars out of 5 for the food, but only 4 stars for the review because you can order the wrong thing if you don't know better. Pastrami for example is the right thing to order. Burger is not. Also don't arrive around lunch time unless you're ready to wait in a line that stretches around the block, but go there off-peak hours and the wait is quick.

Historical NYC dining option. Brisquit and pastrami are the best, maybe anywhere. Unique dining experience. Must see and experience for out of towners.

One of the worst dining experiences I've ever had - bad food, abusive employees, and they scammed us out of $50.

My friend and I came here early in the morning after a night of drinking (his bachelor party). All we wanted was a sandwich to soak up some of the booze. From the start the employees were snarky and dismissive, but we ordered a sandwich to split and sat down. The place was empty except for us and 3 employees.

It was literally just a small pile of pastrami on untoasted rye, no other toppings - it was dry and gross, did not live up to the legend at all. I've had better food at a gas station.

Here's when the real trouble started - we went to leave and presented our "ticket" to the cashier to pay for the sandwich. Then they asked "where is your other ticket"... well, we had only ordered one sandwich, and they had only given us one ticket. But they INSISTED that they had given us two tickets, and that we had lost it or forgot where we put it. We searched ourselves all over, searched our table, spent about 10 minutes looking and no ticket to be found. Then they informed us we had to pay an additional $50 on top of the cost of our bill for losing the ticket!

I tried to calmly explain that we had only ordered one sandwich - they could clearly see that, because we were literally the only ones sitting in the restaurant. But despite all rational logic they insisted we pay the "lost ticket fee" or we couldn't leave. There was a large menacing bouncer at the door blocking our way - seriously, what kind of sandwich shop has a bouncer!? The cashier and bouncer both started yelling us that we needed to pay, becoming so angry and abusive that I finally just gave in and gave them the extra money so we could get the hell out of there.

I seriously think that they purposely gave us only one ticket because they could tell we were a bit tipsy and it would be easy to screw us over and get some extra cash by bullying us. They made us feel like criminals, but they are the ones scamming over their customers with their absurd ticketing system and bland overpriced food. I've since talked to several friends, who were also scammed in a similar way with their ticket system. Check the lower ratings on Yelp and you'll see similar stories (although they probably paid Yelp to remove the worst ones and keep their ratings high)

Never again.

The best pastrami ever!!! Love the setup and experience, it reminds me of a NY from the past which is awesome. You can sit right next to a stranger as the tables are close together and it's always busy and no worries you know you're somewhere pretty unique! A native told us to try the Chocolate Egg Cream Soda that's a NY drink and my husband did and loved it. And if you're driving like we were you can park around the corner for a price of course.

Came without an expectation and blown away with warm yummy Pastrami Sandwich. For first timer, when you enter the restaurant, they will give you a ticket. I bet tons of people go there to check out the place without buying anything. It is indeed a place where When Harry Met Sally was shot. If you are a fan of the movie, check out the sign on the ceiling to find the exact table in the movie scene.

Food is not as good as it used to be, especially since they raised their prices. I can't say I know a better place to go for Pastrami or Corned Beef, but I'm sure there are some.

The Pastrami sandwich may be expensive... but it's one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. 10/10 would eat again.