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 […]

The Flash Mob:   So it was a few months ago, over the Summer I think. It was a Sunday, and on occasion on Sundays I work forever. From nine in the morning to nine at night. These shifts are utter craziness bordering on psychedelic. Every three hours in I lose a little grasp on […]

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 […]

When customers want more pickles, and they still have some on their plate. When they sit down, they look up and tell me that they’re ready to order. When an old new york guy say’s ‘give me a side of french’. Instead of saying ‘french fries’ or even just fries. Who says French? And they […]