Is Monk's Cafe On Seinfeld A Real Restaurant?

 " Seinfeld" ran from 1989 to 1998 and incorporated its New York megacity setting so completely into the misfortunes of Jerry( Jerry Seinfeld), George( Jason Alexander), Kramer( Michael Richards), and Elaine( Julia Louis- Dreyfus) that the megacity with its hand locales and indelible occupants could nearly be regarded as a fifth main character on the show. During its nine- season run on NBC," Seinfeld" visited iconic New York spots like Central Park, Madison Square Garden, H&H Bagels, and Yankee Stadium. 

 

 One common setting for informal meetings between the main players on" Seinfeld" was a restaurant known on the show as Monk's Cafe. The core four characters could frequently be set up at Monk's, munching on standard restaurant chow like breakfast plates, sandwiches, and the iconic big salad. The cafe, which they frequently appertained to simply as" the coffee shop," was the setting for similar memorable scenes as George'spseudo-heart attack in Season 1 and the retelling of his heroic Marine Biologist moment in Season 5( via YouTube). But does Monk's Cafe live in the real world, or was it simply born in the minds of Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and the creative staff behind the long- running megahit comedy? 

the surface shots of Monk's are of an upper west side Greek restaurant called Tom's Restaurant 

 

 While the interior scenes at Monk's Cafe were shot on sound stages in Los Angeles, the external views, including the familiar blue and white pergola, are of a real restaurant called Tom's Restaurant. Tom's is located at the corner of West Broadway and 112thSt. in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood, near Columbia University.( via Drivin' & Vibin'). The eatery's sign, which is shot on the show to read only" Restaurant" cutting off the" Tom's" on the Broadway side — wraps around the corner of the structure, as shown on" Seinfeld." still, the arrangement of the doors and windows differs slightly from how they appear on TV.  While no" big salad" is on the menu, Tom's serves standard restaurant chow like sandwiches, burgers, funk bodies, omelets, and flapjacks. Tom's Tripadvisor runner includes a pledge that they always" make it nice." In fact, that's a directive frequently cried by waiters to the kitchen staff when placing orders. 

 

 Tom's is named for author Tom Glikas, who immigrated to New York from Greece and established the restaurant in the 1940s. Glikas latterly vended the eatery to the father of current proprietor Mike Zoulis and his mates, who kept the original name( via The Arizona Daily Star). The restaurant is featured as a stop on the" Seinfeld reality stint" hosted by Kenny Kramer, the real- life alleviation behind Cosmo Kramer( Michael Richards). 

Seinfeld isn't the only well- known pop culture homage to Tom's Restaurant 

 proprietor Mike Zoulis told the Arizona Daily Star," A position scout came up and saw me and asked if they could use the surface. I can not complain. It worked out for us. We get people from China, Australia, Africa, Europe, far and wide. They buy mugs, T- shirts, cards. And it's instigative to see the place on the show." 

While" Seinfeld" has really given a giant boost to the else normal yet popular dining spot, it isn't the only way Tom's has been monumentalized in popularculture.Suzanne Vega formerly lived in the neighborhood and wrote the song" Tom's Diner" in homage. In a videotape interview with The Interzone, Vega said," Back when I was a receptionist, I used to eat breakfast there before I took the shelter down to work, so that is where the idea for the song came." The homage to the New York restaurant was firstly envisaged by Vega as a piano- led tune that would sound" like a background for a French movie," but she ultimately performed the song acapella. A after remix of the song by British artist DNA reached as high as number two on the UK maps( viaofficialcharts.com). 

 

 Two American political legends were regulars at Tom's 

Tom's Restaurant actually sits beneath Columbia University's Armstrong Hall, home to NASA's Goddard Space Center( via WIkiCU), and has long been a popular spot with scholars. Columbia alumnus Meghan McCain told All Day moment that her father, Senator John McCain, was particularly fond of Tom's." That was my pater's favorite thing about Columbia — that it was by Tom's Restaurant. He used to tell everyone,' Meghan and I ate at the" Seinfeld" eatery!'" 

 

 Barack Obama and his Columbia roommate, Phil Boerner, also visited Tom's in their undergraduate days there in the 1980s. Boerner told The New York Times," We'd just go there for the breakfast special, two eggs over easy and toast. It was like$1.99, and we lived on a lot of bagels."

 

 Suckers of" Seinfeld" looking for a true Monk's Cafe experience beyond getting a print in front of the iconic sign are occasionally let down by their visits to Tom's. On the r Seinfeld subreddit, u/ Bartenderofthemind asked if any suckers had eaten there, writing," I went to Tom's Restaurant in NYC and was dissatisfied to see that it wasn't the same inside. Also, there are no Seinfeld- related dishes( similar as the big salad)." u/ 2slowam answered," I have. Worst' lemon' sandwich of my life. Do not eat there." Disappointing sandwiches away, Tom's remains a popular destination for visiting suckers further than 30 times since Jerry and musketeers first sat down there for a tuna on rye.