Long before the Sex & the City ladies strutted across your TV, bringing the chic NYC restaurant world into homes across America whilst leaving a legacy of cosmo-hunting tourist buses, When Harry Met Sally introduced viewers to a timeless New York classic: Katz’s.  Though not immune to the tourist trappings that follow Hollywood fame, Katz’s has the culinary chutzpah to back up the hype.

In one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history, Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm elicits the enviable and incredulous glares of fellow diners.  And this is followed by that most quotable of lines: “I’ll have what she’s having” (fun fact: the extra that immortalized these words is director Rob Reiner’s mother!).  These five little words are what the throngs of visitors to Katz’s are still trying to recreate over 20 years later, and just this weekend eater.com readers named Katz’s pastrami sandwich one of their “epic” last meals in NYC.  But Katz’s fame on film is only a short part of their history: as the oldest deli in town, Katz’s patrons have been coming back for their famed pastrami and corned beef for 124 years.  And if you want to have “what she’s having” – legend says order the brisket!

Photo Sources: “Ryan and Crystal at Katz’s” www.starkinsider.com, “Table for Two”  (c) Hadidas Teman, “Pastrami & Seltzer Classic” (c) Katz’s