“How do you get to Carnegie Deli?” (joke)

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”/“Practice!” is a classic New York City joke. The Carnegie Deli opened in 1937, adjacent to Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Deli announced in late 2016 that it would close on December 31, 2016. “How do you get to the Carnegie Deli?” was cited in print in 2007.
 
There have been various answers to the question. “How do you get to Carnegie Deli? Practice, practice, practice eating sandwiches” was posted on Twitter on April 18, 2016 by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
 
     
Wikipedia: Carnegie Deli
The Carnegie Deli is a restaurant located at 854 7th Avenue (between 54th and 55th Streets) in Midtown Manhattan. It was opened in 1937 adjacent to Carnegie Hall. The Parker family’s delicatessen is now in its third generation of owners. USA Today has called the restaurant the “most famous” deli in the United States. It is operated today by second generation owner, Marian Harper Levine.
 
The restaurant offers pastrami, corned beef, and other sandwiches containing at least 1 pound (0.45 kg) of meat, as well as traditional Jewish fare such as matzoh ball soup, potato pancakes, chopped chicken livers, and lox. The restaurant also offers other, non-Jewish (or at least non-kosher) food such as ham, sausage, and bacon. Available for order are cheesecake portions of over a pound per serving. The restaurant’s motto is: “If you can finish your meal, we’ve done something wrong”. In addition to the large servings, the restaurant is also known for its surly waiters, who allegedly try to impart some of the stereotypical gruffness of New York to visitors. The owner announced that it is going to close on December 31, 2016.
   
Culinary Types
FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007
How Do You Get to the Carnegie Deli?
Spring is in the air in New York City, and my colleague Splint McCullough breezes into town to spend a couple of days at HQ. We decide to get a running start on the weekend with a little lunch excursion to the world famous Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue.
 
Ascending
Saturday, January 10, 2009
How do you get to Carnegie Deli?
(Photo of a child at the piano.—ed.)
Better git it in your soul.
Posted by Rohan at 8:45 PM
 
Twitter
Stephen Levinson
‏@stephenlevinson
How do you get to the Carnegie Deli? Practice, turn left on 7th Ave, walk down two blocks, can’t miss it.
3:15 PM - 8 May 2009
 
Twitter
Tim Federle
‏@TimFederle
How do you get to Carnegie Deli? Pastrami, pastrami, pastrami.
6:38 PM - 23 Oct 2012
 
Twitter
Konstantine Simakis
‏@MensHumidor
A guy in my meat-slicing class was like “How do you get to Carnegie Deli?” & I was like “Practice practice practice!”
12:23 AM - 31 Mar 2013
   
17 April 2014, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “Munch Goes to Carnegie Delicatessen & Catering” by Dan Gigler, pg. W14:
How do you get to Carnegie Deli?
 
Right—practice, practice, practice making sandwiches.
   
Twitter
The Late Show
‏@colbertlateshow
How do you get to Carnegie Deli? Practice, practice, practice eating sandwiches. #LateShow #LSSC
10:53 PM - 18 Apr 2016
 
Twitter
Sean
‏@SeanPHickey
How do you get to Carnegie Deli?
Sandwich, sandwich, sandwich.
6:05 PM - 26 May 2016
 
Twitter
B()ris N()wa(k
‏@journalismbln B()ris N()wa(k Retweeted Roland Lindner
I remember the old joke:
How do you get to Carnegie Deli?
Hunger, hunger, hunger!B()ris N()wa(k added,
Roland Lindner @RolLindner
Ende einer New Yorker Institution: Das “Carnegie Deli” schließt. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/agenda/pastrami-ist-passe-14468363.html …
10:17 AM - 7 Oct 2016