A pastrami sandwich served at Pastrami Queen’s Lexington Avenue location in Manhattan, New York City. Photo by Brian Kachejian.
As someone who was born and raised in New York City, I’ve eaten a lot of pastrami sandwiches in my life. Delicatessens have always been a huge part of New York culture, right up there with our pizzerias and bagel stores. There aren’t as many traditional Jewish delis as there used to be. Neighborhoods have changed, families have moved, and some famous establishments have closed. But the pastrami sandwich is still one of the great New York foods, and a handful of old names continue to attract people from all over the city and the world.
Social media has brought renewed attention to these places, especially the legendary Katz’s Delicatessen on East Houston Street. You’ll hear people argue that Katz’s is overhyped or just a tourist trap. I’m going to tell you right now that I don’t agree. But this article isn’t only about Katz’s. It’s about three other places where I’ve also eaten excellent pastrami and had some very different experiences along the way.
I’m not suggesting these are the only four delicatessens in New York City that make a great sandwich. You can find good pastrami at plenty of neighborhood delis and even at some diners. These are four famous names I wanted to compare for myself: Pastrami Queen, Second Avenue Deli, Carnegie Deli, and Katz’s. Every one of them deserves consideration. I’m ranking them from fourth to first based on the sandwiches I ate, the atmosphere, the value, and what stood out to me personally. The prices mentioned are what I encountered on my visits, not promises about what a sandwich will cost when you go.
If you’re visiting New York and only have time for one pastrami sandwich, I don’t think you can make a bad choice with any of these four. Still, I do have a favorite. Here’s why.
4. Pastrami Queen
Pastrami Queen takes fourth place on my list, but it wins my personal award for value on the day I visited. I paid about fourteen dollars for my sandwich, and I was genuinely surprised that I could get pastrami this good at that price. Sandwich sizes and prices vary, and the menu has changed since my visit, so don’t assume you’ll walk in and pay exactly what I did. What mattered to me was that I got a delicious sandwich without spending nearly as much as I did at the other places on this tour.
I most recently stopped at the Pastrami Queen counter inside Moynihan Train Hall, although I’ve also been to other locations in the city. The Moynihan location is much more of a quick-stop experience than a big old-fashioned deli dining room. That’s not a criticism. Sometimes you want a terrific pastrami sandwich without turning lunch into a major event. The meat was flavorful, the sandwich hit the spot, and I walked away feeling I’d gotten an especially good deal.
Its history is also a great New York borough-hopping story. The business began as Pastrami King in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1956, moved to Kew Gardens, Queens, in 1961, and adopted the name Pastrami Queen when it relocated to Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 1998. Later expansion brought it to the Upper West Side and Moynihan Train Hall. The business has been associated with owners Alan and Jonah Philips, and the original Upper East Side operation remains a recognizable destination for Jewish deli food. At the time of this article, the company’s website lists its West 72nd Street location as closed for renovations, so check before planning a visit there.
For me, the selling point is simple: Pastrami Queen serves a very good pastrami sandwich without requiring the full sit-down deli experience. Watch my visit to the Moynihan location below and see the sandwich for yourself.
Watch my Pastrami Queen taste test on YouTube.
3. Second Avenue Deli
Second Avenue Deli takes the number three spot, and of these four restaurants, it may be my favorite place to sit down and enjoy an entire old-school deli meal. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the service. The pastrami sandwich was excellent, but what stuck with me just as much was everything that came with the experience. The pickles were fantastic, and I really enjoyed the health salad served alongside the meal.
If you aren’t familiar with health salad, it’s a traditional Jewish deli cabbage salad that doesn’t rely on mayonnaise the way ordinary creamy coleslaw does. Instead, shredded cabbage and other vegetables are dressed with a sweet-and-sour vinegar mixture. It’s crisp, refreshing, and a terrific companion to a big, rich pastrami sandwich. Between that, the pickles, and the very comfortable dining room, Second Avenue Deli made me feel as though I’d stepped into the kind of New York restaurant I grew up appreciating.
The sandwich was in the twenty-five-to-thirty-dollar range when I visited, so this was not a cheap lunch. One little touch I loved was the small chocolate soda they brought out at the end of the meal. It came in what looked like a shot glass. It isn’t a traditional egg cream, which contains milk; Second Avenue Deli is a kosher meat restaurant. I thought it was a wonderful ending, although when a sandwich costs that much, it’s hard to feel that anything is really free.
The restaurant’s original home was on Second Avenue at East 10th Street, where Abe Lebewohl opened a tiny luncheonette in 1954. Abe was murdered in 1996, but his family kept the deli operating until a landlord dispute led to its closing in January 2006. His nephews Josh and Jeremy Lebewohl helped revive the family institution in December 2007 at 162 East 33rd Street. A second restaurant later opened at 1442 First Avenue near East 75th Street. Neither location is actually on Second Avenue anymore, which is part of the charm of a name that has outlived its original address.
If you want the most comfortable, traditional sit-down deli experience of the four places I visited, this is the one I’d steer you toward. Here’s my video from the visit.
Watch my Second Avenue Deli visit on YouTube.
2. Carnegie Deli
Carnegie Deli comes in at number two, and I have to tell you, this was one incredible pastrami sandwich. The meat was tender and full of flavor, but the thing that really knocked me out was the rye bread. It was the best rye bread I can remember eating in my life. That may sound like a small detail when we’re talking about pastrami, but bread matters. A great sandwich needs both, and Carnegie got that combination just right for me.
The French fries were also excellent. I wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about the cheesecake with the cookie-style crust, but that didn’t change my opinion of the pastrami. The sandwich cost me about twenty-nine dollars. That’s a lot of money for lunch, yet I felt the quality and the portion justified it. If you watch the video below, you’ll see exactly what I thought while I was eating it, not a review polished up afterward.
Carnegie Deli opened in 1937 and became one of the great Broadway-area delicatessens, famous for oversized sandwiches, celebrity photographs, and its long rivalry with the nearby Stage Deli. The original restaurant at 854 Seventh Avenue closed at the end of 2016. For almost a decade, people who remembered the old dining room had to settle for other ways of buying Carnegie-branded food. Then, on September 15, 2026, the full-service restaurant returned to Midtown under third-generation owner Sarri Harper.
There’s a wonderfully New York twist to the reopening. Carnegie’s new restaurant is at 834 Seventh Avenue, in the former home of its longtime rival, the Stage Deli. Think about that for a moment: two businesses that competed for generations, and now Carnegie is serving its famous sandwiches in the old Stage location. I love that kind of New York history, especially when the food lives up to the story.
I enjoyed this sandwich so much that I wouldn’t hesitate to return. The pastrami was excellent, and that rye bread was unforgettable. You can watch my Carnegie Deli review here.
Watch my Carnegie Deli short video on YouTube.
1. Katz’s Delicatessen
I’ve been eating at Katz’s Delicatessen for more than forty years. Back in the old days, we didn’t take videos of our meals or stop to photograph every sandwich before we ate it. That simply wasn’t the culture. Most of the time, you got your sandwich, sat down, and read a newspaper. So when I hear people say Katz’s is just a tourist trap, I have to smile. I’ve been eating there since long before anyone was lining up to make food videos for social media.
And here is my answer: the best pastrami sandwich I’ve ever had in my life is at Katz’s. I know that’s a big statement. I’ve eaten a lot of them, including the three excellent sandwiches in this article, and I still put Katz’s first. The generous slices of meat, the tenderness, the flavor, and the whole experience are different from what I get anywhere else. I enjoy the noise, the counters, the hand-carving, and the fact that the place still feels like an old New York deli even with visitors coming from all over the world.
Part of the reason is the way Katz’s prepares its pastrami. According to the deli’s own description, the meat spends about three weeks in a seasoned brine, is covered with a spice rub, and is smoked for three days. It’s then boiled for about three hours, steamed behind the counter, and carved by hand. The company’s broader account says the full process can take up to thirty days. That time and attention help explain the deep flavor and soft texture that keep bringing me back. I wouldn’t claim that every other deli takes shortcuts, because different kitchens have their own methods. I can only tell you how much I love the result at Katz’s.
Katz’s traces its origins to 1888 on the Lower East Side. The business was not originally called Katz’s; that name emerged as the Katz family became involved in the early twentieth century. The restaurant eventually moved to its present address at 205 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street. Today Jake Dell, from the family that acquired the deli in 1988, is closely involved in running the operation. Its long history, traditional preparation, and continuing popularity have made it one of New York’s most recognizable food institutions.
I’ve already written a much more detailed review of Katz’s, complete with my own photographs and a deeper look at the restaurant. You can read it here: Is Katz’s Deli Worth the Wait? A Native New Yorker’s Honest Review. If you’re wondering whether a place this famous can still live up to the attention, my answer has never changed: yes.
So Which New York Pastrami Sandwich Should You Try?
I want to emphasize that this is my personal ranking, based on what I actually ate. If value is your biggest concern, I had a terrific experience at Pastrami Queen. If you want to sit down in a comfortable, traditional deli with great service, pickles, health salad, and all the extras, Second Avenue Deli is a wonderful choice. If you love a giant sandwich on outstanding rye bread, Carnegie Deli has a lot going for it. And if you want the sandwich I think is the best of the four, go to Katz’s.
New York’s delicatessens are part of the city’s history in the same way our neighborhood pizzerias and bagel shops are. I miss many of the old ones, and I’m glad these names are still around. The rankings are fun, and everybody’s going to have an opinion. That’s what makes talking about New York food so enjoyable. But for me, when somebody asks where to get the best pastrami sandwich in New York City, the answer is still Katz’s Delicatessen.
