The Iconic New York Deli Rob Reiner Loved

That Rob Reiner died at all is a tragedy; that he died in such a horrific manner, along with his wife Michele, is unspeakably terrible. The actor and director was a man of great energy and vitality, with his most recent film, "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,"  coming out just months ago. But Reiner's legacy lives on through his performances in "All in the Family" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" and through his unimpeachable run of films as a director spanning from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s: "This Is Spinal Tap," "The Princess Bride," "Misery," and, of course, "When Harry Met Sally" — whose most famous scene takes place in Katz's Delicatessen, a New York deli Reiner loved.

You probably already know what happens in that scene: a frank discussion about faking one's pleasure in an intimate moment, followed by an enthusiastic demonstration by Sally, played by Meg Ryan, right in the middle of Katz's dining room. "I'll have what she's having," an elderly diner (played by Estelle Reiner, Rob's mother) tells a waiter — but anyone who's eaten at Katz's will tell you that, all things being equal, you'd still probably rather have the pastrami on rye. Reiner himself agreed, as the actor and director would regularly visit Katz's whenever he was in the area.

"Rob Reiner really was a friend of Katz's Deli in so many ways," owner Jake Dell told The Hollywood Reporter. "The staff and everyone at Katz's, we all just remember him very fondly and have all these amazing memories. He was a regular customer who would come in whenever he was in town — a Brooklyn guy who would come and grab a sandwich."

When Katz's Delicatessen opened in 1888 on the Lower East Side, it was at the heart of a bustling Jewish neighborhood. (In fact, it's right down the street from Russ & Daughters, another iconic Jewish hot spot which offers some of the ten best New York City foods on Goldbelly.) Today, only traces of that heritage remain, but they're there all the same: The Tenement Museum is a short walk away, and there are some Jewish restaurants, Katz's chief among them, which still stand.

This isn't one of those places where you step inside, grab a sandwich, and leave in five minutes. Unless you arrive very early or very late, there's going to be a crowd at Katz's, and their system, where each customer is given a ticket that workers at the sandwich, hot dog, or other food stations fill out for the cashier, might be confusing to newcomers. The fact that losing that ticket will earn you a $50 fee may also heighten the anarchic feeling.

But one bite of a huge, hearty pastrami sandwich is all it takes to prove that Katz's is still worth the trouble. If you'd prefer other types of meat, they also offer salami, corned beef (which is different from pastrami), and tongue — and why not have it with a side of Passover favorite matzo ball soup? Just try not to imitate Sally: Katz's once had an event where they encouraged customers to re-enact the famous scene in 2019, but no longer.