Katz’s Deli owner Jake Dell with the inside story of the 137 year-old American institution and having Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal back to re-do their famous movie scene

Culinary Characters Unlocked

Often cited as America’s best deli, Katz’s has been a lower East Side institution in New York for more than 137 years this month. Owner Jake Dell’s father and uncle bought the deli from the original Katz family in 1988. Jake joined in 2009. He refuses to change anything about the customer experience there—from the ancient decor to the scratch made pastrami, corned beef, chopped liver, knishes and everything else on the expansive menu. He is, however, working to bring his food to even more people, opening a take-out location in Brooklyn and expanding into nationwide shipping. Katz’s was, of course, the location for the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally, a scene recreated there by stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal for a 2025 Super Bowl commercial for Helmann’s mayonnaise. Dell insisted he would only allow the ad to be shot there if the producers promised not to put mayo on pastrami, which requires mustard.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices