Monk's Cafe

Monk's Café is a fictional coffee shop from the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld". The exterior of Tom's Restaurant on 112th Street and Broadway, near Columbia University, is often shown on the show as the exterior of Monk's, though the interiors were shot on a sound stage. [ [http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/New_York_State/New_York_City-841252/Restaurants-New_York_City-Toms_Restaurant-BR-1.html Virtual Tourist: New York City Travel Guide: Tom's Restaurant, New York City] ] The coffee shop is almost always shot so that "Tom's" in the sign on the Broadway side is not visible. The windows in the interior set do not match those of the exterior location.

The owner of the fictional café is Larry the Cook, played by Lawrence Mandley. The cashier's name is Ruthie Cohen, but in one episode, "The Pie", there is a different woman working there with Ruthie, the long-fingernailed Olive.

The restaurant consists of a number of booths, tables as well as the counter at which the four main characters become frustrated at having to sit in one episode. Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer will normally sit in the second booth from the entrance, and throughout the show's run, the chance to sit in the first booth — and thus be included in a "Seinfeld" scene — would be auctioned off for charity.

A competing coffee shop is Reggie's, what Jerry refers to as "the bizarro coffee shop." According to George it has practically the same menu but is disliked by Jerry and Elaine for its failure to serve an "egg white omlette" or the famed "big salad."

Menu

Monk's is known to serve a variety of dishes. Those featured on the show include:

*Coffee, Teas, etc.
*Tuna on toast
*Egg white omelettes
*Big Salads
*BLT
*English muffin
*Iced donut
*Devil's food cake
*Double fudge sundaes
*Poppy seed muffins
*Soups
*Egg Salad on whole wheat
*Chicken salad on rye
*Turkey and Turkey sandwiches
*Clams casino, which the "chef recommends" according to the menu.
*Corned beef hash, which Jerry observed being fed to a toddler.
*An apple pie, which Jerry claims is the best in the city.
*Monk's also apparently serves bowls of cereal as Jerry and his girlfriend are able to order cheerios and cornflakes in "The Invitations"
*George was given a halibut omelette in "The English Patient" after stating, "I've had everything on the menu, surprise me."
*Lobster (mentioned in "The Fusilli Jerry" episode)
*Various potato dishes such as french fries or baked potato
*Pancakes ("The Wife [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wife] ")
*Hamburgers
*Bear claws, which Newman is fond of and orders in all of his early appearances in Monk's.
*Chocolate Pudding ("The Blood")
*Turkey sandwich. (With or without bacon)
*Bacon sandwich without turkey. (Intended as a joke made by George to the waitress he ends up dating)

Employees

*Larry the Cook — the owner/manager/cook; when seen, he usually has a complaint about one of the main characters.

*Ruthie Cohen — the cashier at Monk's; she is seen behind the register in most scenes set in Monk's. In "The Gum" she is seen on a horse, and aggravates George in saying, "Your car's on fire." She only has a few lines in the series.

*Paco — a line cook at Monk's. He's alluded in "The Strike" when George attributes a rubberband in his soup to Paco's cooking.

*The Blonde Waitress — in one episode George is certain that she is giving him "the finger" by pointing to the menu and scratching her face while talking with him. The actress is Lauren Bowles, half-sister (same mother) of Julia Louis-Dreyfus; she also starred as Julia's on-screen sister in "Watching Ellie".

References