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Katz's Delicatessen
Katz's Delicatessen has been serving hand-carved pastrami sandwiches from the same corner of Manhattan's Lower East Side since 1888, making it one of the oldest continuously operating delicatessens in the United States and a direct link to New York's Jewish immigrant food culture. Its pastrami sandwich, still hand-cut to order by countermen slicing from whole steamed briskets rather than pre-sliced deli meat, has become the reference standard against which nearly every other pastrami sandwich in the country is measured, piled high enough that eating one with both hands is genuinely difficult. The deli became internationally famous beyond the food world after serving as the setting for the fake-orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989), with a sign still marking the exact table where the scene was filmed, giving it a rare crossover between culinary and cinematic landmark status. Katz's combination of its century-plus unbroken operating history and its defining role in American pastrami sandwich culture has made it one of the most iconic single sandwiches in the country's culinary history.
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Pat's King of Steaks
Pat's King of Steaks, founded by Pat Olivieri in 1930 on the same South Philadelphia corner it still occupies, is widely credited with inventing the Philly cheesesteak after Olivieri reportedly grilled some chopped beef on a hot dog roll for his own lunch and a passing cab driver asked for one too. The stand's rivalry with Geno's Steaks, which opened directly across the street decades later, became a genuine only-in-Philadelphia landmark feud, with the two competing stands' neon signs facing off across the intersection and each maintaining fiercely loyal separate followings. Pat's ordering system, requiring customers to specify "wit" or "witout" (onions) quickly and clearly at the counter, became its own piece of local food culture lore, with a reputation for good-naturedly gruff service toward customers who order incorrectly or hesitate. Pat's combination of its direct claim to inventing the cheesesteak and its enduring cross-street rivalry with Geno's has made it one of the most historically significant single sandwich stands in American food culture.
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