# Anyone been to Katz's Deli in NYC? Other NYC deli experiences? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 17, 2026, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516 "2026-03-17T11:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/41 "2026-03-18T04:39:14Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Try an Chocolate Egg Cream when you go, it is pretty much a NYC only thing and quite the treat. +1 > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I ate at one of the famous delis (Katz’s? Stage? Carnegie?) If is was recent, sadly, it was not Carnegie’s, of blessed memory. > [@Chefguy](#): > > I love that ‘salami’ and ‘Army’ are supposed to rhyme. They don’t? > [@Chefguy](#): > > most pastrami nowadays isn’t the real deal. Traditionally, it was made from meat from around the navel of the animal, but nowadays it’s brisket. Actually, I think it is a cut called “navel brisket.” The belly cut (navel) is very fatty, and adjacent to the brisket. The “navel brisket” is the whole thing, and pastrami has the meat of the brisket, and the fat of the navel cut. One of my uncles was friends with a sheckter. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/42 "2026-03-18T06:46:08Z")
I don’t know where it is either, but if you ask the hotel concierge for directions to Schwartz’s, they’ll know, FTR, their address is 3895 Boulevard St. Laurent, and the place is so popular, cab drivers will have no problem finding it and getting you there. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/43 "2026-03-18T07:07:14Z")
I went to the Carnegie Deli once about twenty years ago and ordered the tongue sandwich, mostly out of curiosity. I didn’t care for it. I took the enormous mass of leftovers back to my hotel room and it wasn’t any better the next morning. I haven’t had occasion to visit NYC since. I live in Korea now, and deli food is mighty hard to come by. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/44 "2026-03-18T10:00:03Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > the Carnegie Deli Only place I ever enjoyed pickles. They made their own, and they weren’t sour, rubbery things that you could barely guess were ever cucumbers. They were indescribably good. Ruined me for any other pickle. I could eat the little, sweet ones one after the other. When I was a kid, I got half a Rubens light on the sauerkraut, and made them laugh. After I became a vegetarian, I didn’t go back for a while, but I finally did for the damn pickles, and they weren’t annoyed at all. Made me an amazing veggie and cheese sandwich on light rye with slices of potato. OMG. I was crushed when I read they were closing, and I didn’t even live in NYC at the time. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/45 "2026-03-18T10:21:17Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m going to Montreal this summer. Mostly I’ll be busy, but I’m interested in good Montreal deli. I’d give Arthur’s a shot, classic Jewish food but not a classic deli. > **[Arthurs](https://www.arthursmtl.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/46 "2026-03-18T10:37:38Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I ate at one of the famous delis (Katz’s? Stage? Carnegie?) > > If is was recent, sadly, it was not Carnegie’s, of blessed memory. As I said in that sentence, “decades ago.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/47 "2026-03-18T11:33:03Z")
Thanks for clearing things up. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/48 "2026-03-18T11:45:30Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > It’s wicked expensive… The pastrami sandwich, according to Katz’s website, is $28.95. When I made the OP, suggested similar threads popped up. One I clicked on, from 2010 or so, contained the comment “I can’t imagine paying $12 for a sandwich!” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/49 "2026-03-18T11:45:57Z")
Just because I had a great experience there … does anybody remember Kaplan’s at the Delmonico in NYC? It was a Saturday morning, and we (a group of college students from Toronto) wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But it was 9 o’clock and the Museum was closed, and wouldn’t open until 10 am. What to do? Maybe breakfast, but nothing in the neighbourhood is open. “Hello! You folks looking for some breakfast?” There was a man, leaning out of a storefront, pointing at us. “Yeah, you. C’mon in. I’ve got the coffee on.” “Ummm … your sign says you’re not open yet.” “Naw, we open when I say so. You look hungry, so I’m open. Welcome!” That was Mr. Kaplan, of Kaplan’s at the Delmonico. Oh gosh. A breakfast I hope to have once again. Bagel, cream cheese, and Nova Scotia salmon. Coffee, orange juice, and more coffee. Mr. Kaplan made us most welcome, and gave me a great memory of my first time to New York City. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/50 "2026-03-18T12:08:38Z")
And in regards to the navel cut, to be clear, Katz’s does use navel, according to their own website: > **[KATZ'S PASTRAMI - NYC's oldest deli](https://katzsdelicatessen.com/pastrami?srsltid=AfmBOop3AKf5SblKAOTbsyvRU1x1JeY-P6j3v_qTYsi5Fqkoc0KjHCt9)** > > Katz's Deli Shipping Menu > [@](#): > > [W]e always use a particular cut of meat, the navel cut. This comes from the underbelly of the cow, and is often considered a tough, hard-to-cook meat. But if you’re as patient as we are, it has a rich, complex flavor and texture that’s perfect for the pastrami process. It is located next to your standard packer cut brisket (which is composed of the flat [lean end] and point/deckle [fattier end]). Sometimes it’s called navel end brisket. Your standard brisket comes from under the cow, towards its head, under the chuck. Navel is a mid-belly cut, under the ribs, and comes from the plate primal. If you keep going back, you get the flank primal. So from front to back on the bottom of the cow: brisket, plate (whence the navel), flank. See here on beef plate, which contains the navel. > **[Beef plate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_plate)** > > Beef plate (also known as the short plate) is a US forequarter cut from the abdomen of the cow, just below the rib cut. It is typically a cheap, tough, and fatty meat. In U.K. butchery, this cut is considered part of the brisket. > It is used for short ribs and two kinds of steak: skirt and hanger. It may also be cured, smoked, and thinly sliced to make beef bacon.\[citation needed\] > The beef navel is the ventral part of the plate, and it is commonly used to make pastrami. > The remainder is usually... ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/51 "2026-03-18T13:50:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They don’t? Only if you say Army like the Kennedy accent, “ahhmy.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/52 "2026-03-18T13:52:22Z")
Or if you say it like Jerry Lewis: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s1PO7aF2If0/hqdefault.jpg "Katz's Delicatessen - Jerry Lewis sings "Send A Salami" - The Colgate Comedy Hour") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1PO7aF2If0) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516/53 "2026-10-02T15:54:47Z")
For anyone interested in NYC delis, the [Carnegie Deli](https://carnegiedeli.com/) reopened recently after closing in 2016. Ironically, it’s in the former location of the Stage Deli, which closed in 2012. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-been-to-katzs-deli-in-nyc-other-nyc-deli-experiences/1028516.md?page=2)