Katz's...

Last night we visited another New York landmark - Katz's Deli!

Katz's Deli is a typical New Yorky deli, selling huge pastrami sandwiches, burgers, philly cheesecakes and salamis - it's been around for blummin' ages but was made even more famous when Harry met Sally there for a cup of coffee, and everyone wanted what she was having!

There's even a sign right above the very seats that Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan sat in during the scene...


As you walk in to Katz's you get given a little ticket like this...

Then you walk over to a section of the long counter which was seperated into sections for burgers, or sandwiches, or soup, or salami - then when you order to hand your ticket over and they write the price on the back...

Then you go and sit down, enjoy your greasy burger and then hand the ticket in when you leave and pay on your way out. I was, as you can imagine, very tempted to try and keep the ticket as a souvenir, but in the entrance there's a little sign that informs customers that there is a minimum fine of $50.00 for not returning the ticket! $50 MINIMUM!

Even though it was 6.30pm on a Monday night, it was reeeeeally busy...

It was full of lots of different people, from tourists to proper New Yorkers who looked liked they must go there every week for a pastrami sandwich.

The walls were crammed full of photos of famous people who've dined there, Bill Clinton, Barbara Streissand, Mayor Bloomberg, and lots of other people that I didn't recognise. It won't be long and there'll be a photo of Abi and me on the wall.

As well as all the photos there were lots of great neon signs and some really old looking signs on the wall, there were a lot of them that said 'Send a salami to your boy in the army' which I assumed was something the Katz's did during World War II, but as we left we noticed that you're still able to send a salami to the troops!

They had a whole big salami section!

It was a great experience, and I'm really glad we finally got to go - we've both said we'd go back and get a big pastrami sandwich or something. The great thing is it's right next door to the Mercury Lounge which is a fantastic gig venue, which leads me very nicely to my next entry...