Food & Drink

Katz’s owner adds mustard to tales of Harry, Sally & more as iconic deli celebrates 125 years

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It happens about once a week. A customer comes into Katz’s, sits down at a table — maybe at the table, maybe at another one.

Then the squeals begin, the ecstatic moaning, the high-pitched wails, the banging of the fists.

Yeah, OK. The food is good and all, but this is ridiculous.

As most everyone knows by now, the carrying-on has nothing to do with lunch and everything to do with 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally,” a rom-com starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan that contains probably one of the most famous New York-centric restaurant scenes ever captured on film.

Ryan and Crystal are seated at Katz’s, arguing about whether women fake it. When Crystal expresses doubt, Ryan treats him to a loud, impromptu performance, as the surrounding diners look on with embarrassment.

These days, about one to two customers a week — both men and women, old and young — try to follow in Ryan’s footsteps, like the sexual equivalent of tourists re-creating The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” cover in that north-London crosswalk.

Although the ear-splitting barrage sounds like it could become tiresome after about two days, Katz’s owner Jake Dell says it doesn’t bother him at all.

“It’s not a curse. Not even a little bit,” he says. “It’s a bit awkward sometimes, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a fun thing. The customers love it, I love it, and my guys behind the line love it.”

“When Harry Met Sally” might have become the most famous bit of history associated with the deli, though it’s hardly the only one. This weekend, Katz’s celebrates 125 years in business, and the simple brick building on the corner of Houston and Ludlow streets has seen lots through the years.

The restaurant was founded in 1888, and was originally called Iceland Brothers. It changed to Iceland & Katz in 1903, with the arrival of partner Willy Katz, before becoming just Katz’s in 1910.

Food was originally sold out of barrels in the vacant lot, until a storefront was built in the late 1940s. Katz’s interior remains largely unchanged, and many of the neon signs that adorn the walls are some 70 years old.

The one that reads, “Katz’s that’s all” was actually created by mistake.

“The story behind that goes, one of the old partners thought we needed a new sign,” Dell, 26, explains. “He had a thick Yiddish accent. The sign-maker asked him what he wanted the sign to say, and the partner said, ‘Eh, ‘‘Katz’s.’’ That’s all.’ And sure enough, the sign-maker printed up that sign.”

The menu has also remained mostly faithful to the restaurant’s earlier days serving Jewish immigrants who populated the Lower East Side. Pastrami is currently the most popular item. It’s cured on-site, and Katz’s goes through about 15,000 pounds a week.

Corned beef, which was the most ordered item a decade ago, is also popular, with the eatery serving 8,000 pounds a week.

“It’s a food culture that’s largely disappearing,” says Dell, whose father and grandfather once ran Katz’s. “It’s an old-school Jewish food tradition, but our clientele is not strictly Jewish. We get everybody. At the end of the day, pastrami doesn’t care who you are.”

The stream of customers has included dozens of boldface names, as the walls cluttered with snapshots suggest.

Johnny Depp was in during the late 1990s, while filming “Donnie Brasco.”

“It was raining. A little old lady came up to him and said, ‘I’m such a big fan,’ ” Dell says. “He noticed she was soaking wet, and he said, ‘Where’s your umbrella?’ She said, ‘It’s no big deal. I only live a few blocks away.’ He got up and walked her home under his umbrella, and then walks back. That sticks in my mind as the most amazing celebrity moment.”

Bill Clinton used to stop in regularly before he went on a healthier diet. He’d shake hands with everyone cooking behind the line. Ed Koch used to come in to eat with his father most Friday nights. Rex Ryan was in earlier this week, though the slimmed-down coach didn’t eat all that much.

Dennis Rodman, our distinguished envoy to North Korea, showed up at 3 a.m. back in March.

“He came in, ordered at the counter and sat down at the table with a random customer,” Dell says. “People were coming up to him. That was pure entertainment.”

But the celeb who draws the most attention, at least among the photos hung on the wall, is Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food.” The host visited what he called “New York’s pig-out paradise” for an episode back in 2009.

“People love seeing that he was here,” Dell says. “They want to try those foods that they see on TV.”

Katz’s could be around for another 125 years. The young owner says rumors that circulated a few years ago about the family selling the restaurant aren’t true. He had originally planned to go to medical school and become a doctor, but now he’s committed to the family business.

Katz’s owns rather than rents its building, so it’s unlikely to be pushed out of the gentrified Lower East Side. This news might be good enough to make you scream.

CELEBRATE KATZ’S ANNIVERSARY YOURSELF:

It’s three days of fun, music and cured meat. Here’s a rundown of Katz’s Delicatessen’s 125th anniversary celebration. Check out katzsdelicatessen.com for info.

Tomorrow:

Katz’s invites local chefs to interpret menu staples for a charity dinner benefiting Henry Street Settlement. Mission Chinese’s Danny Bowien, Telepan’s Bill Telepan, Little Owl’s Joey Campanaro present their spins on pastrami, corned beef and other dishes; 7 to 10 p.m., $125 to $500. For tickets: henrystreet.org/katzs

Saturday:

Stop by the restaurant for music and a day of in-house festivities.

Sunday:

Katz’s takes part in the DayLife Festival, an outdoor fair on Orchard Street, between Houston and Stanton streets. The highlight is surely to be the pastrami-eating contest, for which the winner will take home $7,500. Go to the deli’s Web site to register.

Anytime:

Check out the web series, “The Last Jewish Waiter,” about a “dissatisfied waiter / aspiring talk show host” at Katz’s Deli.

reed.tucker@nypost.com