Katz's Deli Private Event Catering

Yes, Katz's Deli.  The one famous for many things, e.g. "I'll have what she's having" and many other movie scenes, along with being around forever (founded in 1888), notorious for looong lines and crazy ticket system, etc, etc.  I'm fairly certain I went there my first ever visit to NY, because, well, I had to right?  I don't particularly recall a ton about that visit though, besides the line, as it was close to 20 years ago and I wasn't much of a foodie then.

Corporate Lunch Option.

But Katz's Deli also does catering and private events.  Their options include a food truck, drop off catering trays, etc, or, as we had at my office, a full carving station.

Carving Station.

The setup was impressive, they even had their own big light up Katz's sign, and a crew of staff members each working a carving station for each type of meat offered.  Everything was sliced to order, just as it is in the deli.

Popup Menu

"Featuring our world famous pastrami, which is so tender it'll make you forget your ex, our classic corned beef so juicy you'll be dripping more than a leaky faucet in your zeidi’s bathroom, the hot brisket is so tender, it'll melt in your mouth like a schmear on a hot bagel, and turkey so succulent it'll make you want to get down on your knees and thank the poultry gods for its existence."

Our lineup featured the main 4 meats Katz's is known for: pastrami (obviously), corned beef, brisket, and turkey.  Rye bread only.  The setup includes Katz's own full sour and half sour pickles, as well as condiments (mustard, Reuben dressing, mayo).  Our hosts also added on potato salad and slaw.

Sliced to order.

The staff pulled out big steaming slabs of meat, sharpened their knives in front of us, and got to carving!

Pastrami on Rye. $28.95.

I was pretty interested in the corned beef, but I felt like if I was getting only one thing, it had to be the pastrami right?  I think at the deli you have choice of bread, but our event had only rye.

The bread was remarkably soft.  Such perfectly fresh bread.  I saw them pull out the (giant, lengthy!) loaves, and, besides the length, it looked like generic bread in plastic wrap, nothing fancy about it, not from a local bakery, etc, but, wow it was soft and fresh.  Slight caraway flavor, just enough.  Great bread, really.  ****.

Pastrami!

Of course, the pastrami inside was the main attraction.  Great crust.  Perfectly rare/mid-rare.  It fell apart easily as you bit in.  There was a fair amount of fat on the far end of the pieces, but you can request lean meat only.

Yes, this is great pastrami (particularly with the bread and condiments).  ****.

A full sandwich sells at the restaurant for $28.95 (our event served half sandwiches).

Sides / Condiments.

To go with our sandwiches, we had two kinds of side salad (potato, slaw), and two kinds of pickles, along with standard condiments.  I was really hoping for the other side salad Katz offers (macaroni), but alas.  

Full Sour & Half Sour Pickles. $11.95/Quart.

"Our famous house-brined pickles are available by the quart! Full sours have a garlicy, tangy crunch."

"If you've ever dined with us before, you know all about our incredible housemade pickles. We offer full sour pickles as well as half sour pickles (also referred to as new pickles!), which are brined for less time and taste more like a snappy, fresh cucumber.  Either way, they're garlicky and crunchy; everything you'd expect a pickle to be. "

I tried both kinds of pickles, and brought some home to share with my family so they could at least experience some part of Katz.  My father, sister, and mother all said they tasted too much like cucumbers.  They are not used to actual deli pickles, clearly.  My 7 year old niece however LOVED them, and demanded all the rest.  I thought they were fine, a decent fresh pickle, nicely sour, but not something I'd rave about nor go out of my way for. ***.

Deli Mustard. $5.50.

"Our handmade mustard adds a bit of zest to any of our classic sandwiches. Add it to anything you'd like to for that matter...hot dogs, knishes, dip your pigs in a blanket in it, you get the point..."

The mustard was good.  Nice zing.  Went perfectly with the meat.  ****.

Reuben (Russian) Dressing. $4.50 / 8 ounce jar.

"Our housemade Reuben dressing is a key ingredient to a classic Reuben, but regulars often ask for it on almost any sandwich!"

The reuben dressing was extremely tangy.  Very sharp.  It did go well with the meat, but the flavor was intense, and I almost felt like it competed with the flavor in the meat itself, almost masking it as it dominated.  Low ***.

Potato Salad. $8.45/16 ounces.

The potato salad ... was ... ok.  Honestly, not great. Very simple.  Just potato in dressing.  It had a lot of bite to it, I think too much vinegar.  It just tasted quite harsh.  Very little seasoning.  I did like the style of big slices of potatoes rather than chunks, and they weren't too mushy, but I wouldn't get this again.  **+.

Coleslaw. $8.45/16 ounces.

The coleslaw was better.  Still very simple (one color of cabbage, a little carrot), but the dressing to this was more balanced with the addition of mustard, and it was more flavorful with the addition of onion and garlic powder.  I think it also had horseradish as it had quite a zing too it, although that was not listed in the ingredients.  I liked the big chunks of crisp cabbage.  ***.