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So, have you ever been to Katz's Deli in the Lower East Side?

Chances are good that even if you haven't physically been there to inhale one of their world famous hot dogs or pastrami sandwiches, you've seen this:



*fans self*

Ever since 1888, Katz's has been beloved by generations of locals and tourists, and is today touted as the oldest and best Jewish kosher style delicatessen in NYC -- to the tune of 5,000 lbs. of corned beef, 2000 lbs. of salami, and 12,000 hot dogs per week. During WWII, Katz's began shipping gift packages to soldiers overseas (their motto: "send a salami to your boy in the Army"), something they still do today.


Interior of Katz's by Bryan Hong.

Meg Ryan's fake orgasm scene from "When Harry Met Sally" was filmed there in 1989, 101 years after Katz's was first established by a Russian immigrant family. The most interesting things seem to happen in restaurants, don't they? They play a large role in romantic comedies; Meg Ryan appears in another memorable scene in "You've Got Mail":



This was filmed at the Lalo Café, 201 W. 83rd Street, NYC:

photo by DeaPeaJay.
 
I also love Darryl Hannah as the mermaid in "Splash," chomping on her lobster, and the brilliantly acted scenes in "As Good As It Gets," where waitress Carol (Helen Hunt) spars with obsessive compulsive Melvin (Jack Nicholson):



Sometimes there is high drama and violence, like in "The Godfather," when Michael Corleone shoots Sollozzo and McClusky at Louis' Italian American Restaurant in the Bronx (video here), or red hot seduction, as in the long titillating meal in "Tom Jones," where Tom is sitting opposite Mrs. Waters in the Upton Inn, and they positively gorge themselves. O love, sweet savage love! Go to a restaurant serving a menu of sunshine and sorrow. 

And doesn't food always look extra delicious in the movies? Remember the scene in "Michael" when John Travolta and his friends are sampling all those different pies? I crave pepperoni whenever I see "Mystic Pizza" with Julia Roberts, and of course the most beautiful food spreads ever have to be those in the Harry Potter movies (though technically not in a restaurant, they must be mentioned). Yum!


Hogwarts Dining Hall scenes filmed at Christ Church College, Oxford.
(photo by Image Zen.)

Of course, I go totally bananas when an entire movie revolves around a restaurant:

♥ "No Reservations"
♥ "Waitress"
♥ "Eat Drink Man Woman"
♥ "Ratato