When Harry Met Sally… is a 1989 American romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as two New Yorkers whose relationship unfolds through years of chance meetings, friendship and emotional hesitation. The film begins with Harry Burns and Sally Albright sharing a drive from Chicago to New York, then follows them across more than a decade as they repeatedly cross paths and slowly move from irritation to intimacy. Widely regarded as one of the great modern romantic comedies, it is especially admired for its sharp dialogue, its honest treatment of male-female friendship, and the chemistry between its two leads.
The film is strongly associated with New York City, and it uses the city as more than a postcard backdrop. Many of its best-known scenes were shot in Manhattan, including Katz’s Delicatessen on East Houston Street, where the film’s most famous restaurant scene was filmed, as well as Washington Square Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and the Upper West Side. The production also used other recognisable New York settings such as the Puck Building area in Lower Manhattan, helping create a version of the city that feels lived-in, literate and deeply tied to the characters’ adult lives. At the same time, some filming also took place in Los Angeles, but it is New York’s parks, museums, delis and streets that give the film its identity and make the city feel inseparable from Harry and Sally’s story.
Katz’s Delicatessen
Katz’s Delicatessen appears in When Harry Met Sally… , Donnie Brasco, Across the Universe, We Own the Night, and The Jim Gaffigan Show (2015–2016).
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