Katz's Delicatessen
Worth it if you're watching the budget and you only have one day.
Short answer
Is Katz's Delicatessen worth it?
Katz's Delicatessen deserves a place on most first itineraries. Go early or reserve ahead. Crowds are part of the cost.
The answer depends on your budget, time and travel style; the breakdown below shows who gets the most value.
The 1888 Lower East Side deli where they hand-carve the city's definitive pastrami on rye.
How to do it right
- 01
Weekday mid-afternoon to dodge the lines
- 02
No reservations — counter or table seating, keep your ticket
- 03
Ground-floor, but loud and tight at peak
- 04
A cavernous, ticket-in-hand, cash-grabbing institution where a guy behind the counter slices your pastrami and slips you a taste while you wait.
Is it a fit?
Go if
This is your first trip to New York
This is the one deli to hit if you only have time for one — order the pastrami and tip your carver.
You're watching the budget
Katz's Delicatessen earns the spend, even on a tight budget.
You only have one day
Short trip or not, keep Katz's Delicatessen.
You're traveling with kids
With kids, Katz's Delicatessen is an easy yes.
The plates that decide it
- Hand-carved pastrami on rye — the reason the line exists; get it at the carving counter for the freshest cut
- Matzo ball soup, a hot dog, an egg cream — reliable old-school sides that round out the table
- Corned beef if you can't decide — fine, but you came for the pastrami — don't skip it
Plan it well
- Cost
- ~$30 a sandwich; sides extra, cash-friendly
- Timing
- Weekday mid-afternoon to dodge the lines
- Booking
- No reservations — counter or table seating, keep your ticket
- Allow
- 45 min–1 hour incl. queue
- Accessibility
- Ground-floor, but loud and tight at peak
Consider instead
Keep exploring
Top verdicts in New York
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Sources and method (2)
- NYC's oldest deli, operating since 1888; the famed pastrami is hand-carved to order. katzsdelicatessen.com ↗
- The pastrami-on-rye sandwich now runs about $28-29, having risen through 2025 (about $27.45 in September 2025). thelotimes.com ↗