Tom's Restaurant is a diner located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. It is on the ground floor of Columbia University's Armstrong Hall. Frequented by Columbia students and faculty, it has been owned and operated by the Greek-American family of Minas Zoulis since the 1940s. Later, its exterior was used as a stand-in for the fictional Monk's Café in the television sitcom Seinfeld, where comedian Jerry Seinfeld's eponymous character and his friends regularly gathered to eat.Even though the interior and exterior have undergone minor remodeling since the show, the distinctive sign has remained the same. Tom's is featured in "Kramer's Reality Tour" conducted by Kenny Kramer. President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain have claimed to be old patrons of the restaurant.
Constructed, 1940 BCE
Factoids
1987- Tom's Restaurant was the locale that inspired Suzanne Vega's 1987 song "Tom's Diner."
1989- The iconic neon-signboard began to be used as a stand-in for "Monk's Cafe", the restaurant frequented by characters in the sitcom, "Seinfeld".
1978-Tom's exterior can also be seen in the "Bionic Woman" episode "Long Live the King".