Spencer: There's nothing more New York
than a pastrami on rye,
and no one does it better than Katz's.
I've tried to eat deli all over the world,
but the only place to have it is New York City.
I have to have it at Katz's.
Hey, guys, it's Spencer,
and I'm outside Katz's Delicatessen.
This is one of the most legendary places in New York City.
It's been here since 1888.
So I'm gonna go try their famous pastrami on rye
and see if it lives up to the hype.
Katz's Delicatessen
has been a New York institution for over 130 years.
The old-school deli is like a living museum.
Not only is it the oldest Jewish deli in New York,
but it's one of the only delis of its kind
still in operation at all.
Jake: Coming to Katz's is a throwback.
It's a snapshot in time.
It's being connected to your parents, to your grandparents,
to your great-grandparents,
to your great-great-grandparents
'cause they all came here.
We do not believe in changing pretty much anything
from the walls, to the neons,
to the pictures, to the staff,
to the food, to the recipes.
We don't really believe in changing it.
You come here because you want that nostalgia
and that tradition and that food that you know and love.
Spencer: Jewish-deli food dates back
to the late 19th and early 20th centuries
when waves of Eastern European Jews
immigrated to New York's Lower East Side,
bringing traditional Eastern European foods
like cured meats and pickled vegetables along with them.
Delis became a meeting ground
where tradition blended with new American culture.
At one time, kosher-style delis like
Katz's were a dime a dozen,
but thanks to things like gentrification
and changing food trends,
Katz's is the only one that's been able to survive the ages.
Part of its success is due to exposure.
Over the years, Katz's nostalgic setting
has been the backdrop for countless movies and TV shows,
the most famous of which is Meg Ryan's iconic scene
in "When Harry Met Sally."
The scene with Meg Ryan, it's one of my favorite scenes
in all the movies we've ever seen.
You can reenact it now, right?
Oh, not right now, thank you.
Yes, yes, yes.
I'll have what she's having.
Spencer: Hollywood fame aside, Katz's success is
also thanks to the fact that their food
is really just that good.
The menu has all the classics you'd expect
from a Jewish deli,
but most people show up for their
legendary pastrami and corned beef.
Can you describe what their pastrami tastes like to me?
Heaven.
It's the only place in the world
to get a pastrami sandwich.
I mean, I wouldn't have it anyplace else.
It's about treating the piece of meat
like you would a child and knowing what to do with it
and how to take care of it from start to finish
that makes it so special.
We cook it longer than anyone else.
We cook it so long that it would fall apart
if you try and put it in a slicer.
So it's so juicy, so tender, that you have
to carve it by hand.
Spencer: Their hand-sliced approach
means each sandwich is expertly carved to order.
To keep the crowds moving, Katz's is set up with
multiple carvers at multiple counters.
And let's just say, you better be
prepared to order when you get in line.
When you walk in, you're gonna get a ticket.
That's our system, we've been doing it
the same way for 131 years.
Feed me.
Be prepared because if you get all the way
to the front of the line and don't know what you want,
you're gonna get yelled at.
I would like pastrami on rye.
But you already know what you want.
You want a pastrami. You want some latkes.
You want some matzo ball soup.
You're good, no problem, don't worry about it.
So that was the easy part.
Finding a seat is the hard part.
I don't know.
I might have to eat it standing up, which I would.
All right, so we have here the pastrami.
It's just classic, juicy, perfect, fantas...
You can't go wrong.
Do you have any tips for digging
into this monster of a sandwich?
Just do it, just embrace it.
Just go for it.
Yeah.
Cheers.
All right.
Oh, my God!
Go for it, don't let me stop you.
All right, I'm gonna take another bite.
That is unreal.
It's really good.
Oh, man, hand me one of those napkins.
I gotta fix my face.
So this is the juiciest pastrami I've ever had.
Thank you.
How is that possible?
One hundred thirty-one years of practice,
that's how it's possible.
All right, there you go.
Eating that sandwich was a religious experience.
I'm talking mouth-watering perfection.
Even still, it almost took a back seat
to the actual experience of just being
in that noisy, chaotic room,
literally surrounded by Katz's history.
Photos from everyone who's come before
and signs from a near-forgotten era,
all of it a reminder that Katz's
will always be here for you,
just as it always has.
Timeless in a city barreling toward the future.
There's nothing like nostalgia.
I mean, there's nothing more powerful than those traditions.
I can't believe that this is my life
and this is what we get to do for a living,
is to preserve a tradition and make people happy, hopefully.
It's humbling, and it's a wonderful, wonderful place to be.