10 legendary US restaurants that come with a side of history

6. Katz’s Delicatessen – New York, New York 

That smell of smoked pastrami and kosher dill pickles that hits you when you walk into the legendary Katz’s Deli is the same smell that’s permeated the bustling, noisy and delightfully frenetic restaurant for decades. What opened in 1888 as a modest deli known for its house-made sausages is now one of the marquee attractions in Manhattan’s Lower East Side and one of the few remaining bastions that defined the vibrant Yiddish-speaking Jewish community that once flourished there.

Today, its walls are covered in photos of countless celebrity visitors, neon signs, and old ad posters, including Katz’s famous campaign during WWII: “Send a Salami To Your Boy in the Army.” (Yes, you need a proper New York accent to make that rhyme.) Several thousand people arrive each day to chow down on knishes, frankfurters, matzoh ball soup, and the legendary slow-cured corned beef and pastrami, just like New Yorkers have done for ages. Worthy of being a Legendary US restaurant