Yahoo Lifestyle 36 Years After 'When Harry Met Sally' & We FINALLY Have Billy Crystal's Real Katz's Deli Order
New York City's legendary Katz's Deli built its reputation on the back of its decadent pastrami sandwich and one of the most notorious rom-com movie scenes to date. You know the one! That's right, we're talking about When Harry Met Sally.
Apparently, we learned, Billy Crystal—who plays the sarcastic and jaded cable knit sweater-wearing protagonist, Harry Burns—takes his line "I'll have what she's having" very seriously IRL. No, not like that. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) The beloved actor simply takes a cue from his on-screen love interest when it comes to his Katz's order.
"I love a good hot dog. I love a good hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut. Katz's has the best kosher hot dogs. There's something about them," Crystal told Delish. "They don't know they're sending them to me on Uber Eats," he then revealed. "I actually order them sometimes like Sally would order them, like, 'Don't assemble. Have the sauerkraut there, because I don't want it to make it soggy. Keep that on the side. Spicy brown mustard on the side.' That's my thing. I love that."
Despite the fact that Crystal practically has Katz's on speed dial, he's only visited the deli in person three times: to shoot the film, for a media interview in 2023, and now, for a reunion with Meg Ryan herself—who hadn't been back since filming the OG scene in 1988.
Just recently, iconic movie couple returned to the exact booth where Sally first moaned over her sandwich to moan over another sandwich—this time, in partnership with Hellmann's for a 30-second commercial spot.
"It was spooky good," Crystal says of the reunion. "It was easy. It was like, 'We know this place and we're at the same table. We're at the exact same table."
"It wasn't weird at all, frankly," Ryan says about reprising their roles over three decades later. "It feels like a tiny little sequel moment, like these guys are inside their happily ever after. They still go to Katz's every weekend."
Many years have passed since When Harry Met Sally's premier, but the film—and that Katz's Deli scene—has remained a cultural phenomenon, even for the actors' children and grandchildren.
Ryan recounts the time her daughter Daisy was watching the rom-com in the den. "I wasn't watching it. I was out in the other part of the house but I could kind of hear some of it. I knew it was on," Ryan shares. "And there's this 'Yes, yesss,' coming from the room. And then there's silence. Somebody, because Daisy was 13, goes, 'Meggggg, you can explain this to her!'"
"It's different generations. New people are discovering it," Crystal chimes in. "My granddaughter, who's now a freshman in college, had a class on it [in high school]. They didn't know that I'm her grandfather!"
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