The Last Jewish Waiter

Scott’s my “Regular”.   People often ask me about regulars, like Katz’s is Cheers, or Alice. Does anyone remember Alice?   Anyway, yes there are lots of regulars at Katz’s. And the other waiters often take pride in their regulars, bragging to each other “oh, he’s my regular.” Implying big tips.   I don’t have […]

Waiter Meeting So last weekend on Saturday morning me Ishmael, and Marty were sharing a lox and onion omelette and talking waitering. If you didn’t know, Ismael is an Egyptian in his fifties, Marty a jew around the same age. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but I remember it was something like this: […]

The words roll out of his Egyptian mouth with a cold ruthlessness that could rival the Emperor from Star Wars or any really cold villain with a bit of an accent. Ismael is easily one of my favorite people at Katz’s, probably one of my favorite people period. He is in his fifties, he has […]

“Free Lunch!”  It’s a game show (well almost).

It’s a pretty busy Thursday afternoon, when the mild mannered man in a checkered, short sleeve button down shirt sits down. He is a bit heavy and has a thick greying mustache with head hair to match. He wore square glasses, and looked like a math teacher, or a not too successful accountant. “How many […]