damnlines.comdamnlines.comNYC's oldest deli, open since 1888, where the sidewalk line is the toll for a hand-carved pastrami on rye.
The line at Katz's has two stages. First, a sidewalk queue on East Houston Street just to get through the door; Beyond Borders reports that on a Saturday night you wait outside "before you even see a ticket." Then come the counter lines inside. I Know a Guy NYC reports the wait can run 30-60 minutes by noon on a busy day, while noting it is unpredictable: "3:00pm and there's been no line" one visit, "a 30 minute wait" another.
Inside there is no single line. Every person gets a pink ticket at the door, and the deli runs several hand-carving stations, each with its own queue. Per Beyond Borders, the trick is to skip the crowded right-side stations and head to the far left, where the lines are "almost always shorter" — the nearest station tends to be the longest because most people stop there first. Both Beyond Borders and I Know a Guy NYC warn that losing the ticket costs $50.
The recurring theme across guides is that the line looks worse than it is. Multiple carving stations mean it moves fast once you are inside. Both guides frame the sidewalk wait as a peak-hours-and-weekends problem rather than an all-day one, and report walking straight in during weekday mornings and late nights.
No camera here yet — but these lines are on camera right now:
Lucinda's · 9 min walkclosedBánh Anh Em · 14 min walkclosedGolden Diner · 16 min walkclosedIt depends heavily on timing. I Know a Guy NYC reports the wait can run 30-60 minutes by noon on a busy day, but notes it is unpredictable — sometimes no line at 3pm, sometimes 30 minutes at the same hour. Beyond Borders describes the longest waits on Saturday nights, spilling outside onto Houston Street.
Guides point to weekday mornings and mid-afternoons. Beyond Borders recommends 8:00-11:30am on weekdays or the 2:00-5:00pm lull, and reports an under-10-minute wait around 8:15pm on a Monday. Late nights are also described as quiet.
Multiple guides say yes. Katz's runs several hand-carving stations at once, so both Beyond Borders and I Know a Guy NYC note the line moves quickly even when it looks long.
Everyone gets a pink ticket at the door. Cutters mark it as you order at the counter, and you pay on the way out. Beyond Borders and I Know a Guy NYC both warn that losing the ticket carries a $50 charge.
Per the shop's own site, Katz's is open 24 hours on weekends (continuously from Friday 8:00am through Sunday 11:00pm) and 8:00am-11:00pm Monday through Thursday. Visitors describe the late-night hours as some of the least crowded.