The Katz’s Deli in Burbank Is Definitely Not the Same One From New York | Eater LA
"Tucked into the back counter of Village Liquor & Market a stone’s throw from Warner Bros. Studios, this tiny operation has virtually no seats, a single-sided paper takeout menu, and a cardinal red and yellow vinyl sign on the storefront in a sans serif font that bears a passing resemblance to the iconic Lower East Side neon. Owners Sheldon Katz and his wife Mimi — a longtime caterer to Burbank’s film production studios who had planned a gentler retirement — run a tight menu of bagels, matzo ball soup, hot and cold sandwiches, and chili cheese hot dogs, and say the counter has taken long hours to operate. Meats are a focus: R.C. Provisions pastrami (the same producer that makes pastrami for Langer’s Deli) is used, Katz double-steams and makes his own corned beef on the premises via a multi-day recipe he says came from an Israeli woman who shared it with him shortly before she passed, and brisket is roasted in-house, served on egg bread and hand-carved. Cold sandwiches (priced just under $20) include turkey breast, triple-decker chicken clubs, tuna salad, and salami; sandwiches come with a choice of macaroni salad, potato salad, or cole slaw, plus pickle spears. There are modest daily deals — 10 percent off on Tuesdays, two chili dogs on Wednesdays for $7, and $2.50 off all sandwiches on “Thankful” Thursdays — and the market itself offers the usual bodega fare (dusty wine bottles, chilled drinks, sundries). There is also a legal backdrop: the famed New York Lower East Side deli retains the federal trademark and has previously sued imitators (notably a pastrami cart called Katz & Dogz over a sandwich named the Reuben Orgasm), while the Burbank owner says he’s held a California state trademark for five years and that the New York deli is aware of the sandwich counter but hasn’t officially contested its use; the New York deli has made limited Los Angeles appearances, including a one-day pop-up in West Hollywood in 2024." - Matthew Kang
