April, 7, 2011
The words “Tom’s Restaurant” may not set off any bells or whistles in your skull, but replace “Restaurant” with “Diner” and all the sudden you’ve got a Suzanne Vega song stuck in your head that won’t leave for several days. Sorry about that! And throw in this madcap and wacky bass riff and you’ll have a clue as to the other thing this place is famous for. The exterior of this uptown diner was used as the infamous Monk’s Diner on Seinfeld where among other things, George confessed to “pleasuring himself” to a copy of his mother’s Glamour magazine which led in to the legendary “contest.” I’ve never been to this place and since it’s open till 1:30 am, I thought that tonight we’d do a blog about nothing. Cue the bass riff for...now.
Okay, we'll be taking an uptown train to Tom's.
Thanks for the warning, I'll invest in a set of earplugs immediately!
Wow, it's almost empty down here, not a good sign. Looks like we're in for a bit of a wait.
And, once again, through the magic of the internet you're spared an 11 minute wait for this train.
It's crowded for 11:00 pm on a Tuesday night. Standing room only.
And here we are at the 96th Street stop. It's a fifteen block walk from here.
And I hate to keep whining about the weather, but it's rainy and cold out here. Spring be sprung already!
Pizza!
We're almost there, I think I see the sign in the distance.
And here we are. I have to confess, I know nothing about photography and my camera is a shitty little 90 dollar thing I bought at Best Buy. This shot is too red. Let me try one with a flash.
This is weird, with the flash, the shot got darker! Let's try a different setting.
Shit, still too red. Let me try another.
Holy shitballs, this is like the place has gone nuclear! I should really learn how to use this camera.
Okay, this one is fairly close, you want a better shot, take it yourself.
And a full shot of Tom's for posterity. Now let's cue up that bass line and go inside and get a beer already! I'm freezing out here!
Once I'm inside I'm informed there's no beer. Shit.
So let's take a look around in here. Of course you've got your obligatory signed Seinfeld photos from the cast.
And blown up shots of the TV Guide covers from the last episode.
And a shot of the place in the daytime when it doesn't have a nuclear reactor glow to it.
While I was at Tom's I met Walter who's a taxi driver and is part of the International Folk Dancer's in Central Park. They gather every Sunday from 1-6 pm. For more information on this call Walter at 917-873-2026.
And suddenly...cake! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
In Their Own Words (Taken from the “About Us” section of their website.)
Tom's Restaurant has been a staple in Morningside Heights New York for over 70 years. This picture shows Tom's Restaurant before it was expanded and its name changed to Tom's.
Suzanna Vega wrote a song about us. Click here to visit her website.
Tom's has also been used in the hit TV show Seinfeld. In the show, the diner Jerry and his friends frequented was called Monk's Diner. The show features Tom's facade but filmed the interior scenes at the studio in California. The night the photographers came to shoot the facade in the early 90's one of the owner's sons was curious and asked the photographers why they were photographing the restaurant. "It's just for some pilot," the photographer replied. Some pilot that turned out to be!
Many of Tom's best customers are the Columbia Students. Over the years, Tom's has become a right of passage for the students. Life is not complete for a Columbia student unless they get a milkshake and gravy fries at 3 am in the morning on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night.
Tom’s Restaurant
2880 Broadway (Between 111th and 112th St.)
212-864-6137
Further reading: Flickr, Wikipedia, My TV Moments and Trip Advisor.
You also might like: Pancakes, Cigarettes and Jackie O.
Four Newmans
Newman!
Newman!
Newman!
Newman!
31 Comments
Reader Comments (31)
No Beer?!?!?
@Fat Al: That was one bitter disappointment!
I hate that suzanne vega song.
and I never watched seinfeld
cause i kinda suck.. and i'm a bitch
other than that
nice post:)
fuck the no beer.
did you eat anything at all?
try carrying teeny bandaids with you.
i put those on the flash sometimes for night shots.
they also work best for bathroom shots too,
You need a case of those little vodka bottles at home ... just for occasions like this :)
Thank you for featuring the restaurant in your blog. It is too bad that they do not have beer.
What was that Who concert thing? It was difficult to see what was happening and did a fan rush the stage? It looked all to surreal.
I love Seinfeld and watched all the episodes. I've been by the restaurant but never went in knowing the show never really filmed inside. Keith Moon was along with John Bonham, the greatest drummer in Rock. He was also a world class drinker and pill taker. I have read several books about his life, it was incredible he made it to 32. Bonham was no slouch in the drinking department also, he consumed something like 28 measures of liquor before dying.
@Gidgie: No, I didn't eat, I had eaten dinner earlier and just wanted a beer or seven and there was none to be had. I'll try the band-aid trick, thanks for the advice!
@GENE: I should stock up on those, it would be handy for the Papaya Wars!
@Tiki Bar Susie: That was an infamous night in the history of the Who. Keith Moon had ingested animal tranquilizer and kept passing out on stage. Finally he went out for good and Pete Townshend asked if anyone in the crowd could play drums and a kid got up and finished the concert with them. You can see him drumming with the band at the end of the clip. That had to be a night he'll never forget!
@Al: I had read that John Bonhma had 40 shots of vodka, then took a nap and then came Mama Cass time! Cheers to John and Keith!
@MAD ... I also like the "beer in a Snapple bottle" trick ! We should try that next weekend somewhere :)
I do believe the occasional red glow is to be expected in Hell's Kitchen. Thanks a lot for that Vega gift bouncing around in my brain. May you awake one day and find yourself stone cold sober and naked at a Lilith Fair.
I loved the nuclear shot! LOL! Very cool clip of the Who, I remember when that happened. I wonder what happened to the kid who sat in with them?
The flash shot got darker because when you shoot with flash mode , most auto cameras set the shutter speed to 1/125 of a second , that is why when i look into buying a camera I look to see if it has different flash mode , like the mode my ricoh has slow sync , which shoots flash at about 1/15 of a second . The best flash mode I like is off sync , which shoot the flash after taking exposure . OK I am a Camera Nerd .
no beer no beer no beer no beer no beer.....
I was watching my new favourite tv show last night - Hoarders.
Last night's episode featured a woman hoarder from Peoria. I had a laugh and kept eye out to see if I could see Jerry in the background. There was no Jerry. So I had a beer.
Thanks for the laugh with the nuclear shot of Tom's. Sprayed Weet-Bix (breakfast cereal) over the monitor.
A good start to a glorious Friday morning here in Adelaide. Heading to winter, and it's going to be 31 degrees today - celcius!
@csp: But I was in Morningside Heights! And that Lilith Fair curse is a scary one!
@Barfly: I've often wondered about that kid too.
@JHwang: Thanks for the tips! Now if only I knew what the fuck you are talking about!
@Clacky: That's wild! You didn't get the woman's name did you?
@Brooksy: Glad you got a laugh out of that, but sorry about your monitor!
gidgie...thumbs up on the new look...i've never seen seinfeld either (not really a tv type person) and i've never listened to s vega...so i guess i double suck but i'm not a bitch or the son of one...could be a motherfucker...have read that seinfeld was really a david thing...true or false saw that "curb" thing a couple times and all i can say is if you witness the birth of one calf those that follow are pretty much the same...moon was a character...oh well babbled on long enough...
“In a restaurant one is both observed and unobserved. Joy and sorrow can be displayed and observed "unwittingly," the writer scowling naively and the diners wondering, What the hell is he doing?”
- David Mamet
rr
You can complain about the weather. We got snow today, damn spring. I'm a little bit sad to know that they only used the outside of the restaurant in the show, and never the inside. I have no desire to eat there now. Guess that's showbiz for ya. Paul Newman is such a handsome man.
I haven't been to Tom's for ages - wonder what the food's like now? Used to work around there, proofreading at Columbia U.P. The best places to eat were Mill Luncheonette (changed hands in '87) & a cool old Chock Full O'Nuts, which vanished even earlier. Upper West Side was great then...
Your night shots are way more successful than mine!
@MAD: I think her name was Claudia. They were a black family....5 or 6 daughters that were all quite attractive. The husband, Jim, was living out in Vegas until the mess got cleaned up...he was an Eagles fan..... she was messed up and disfunctional...unemployable....ring any bells?
@rr: I'm not a TV guy either but Seinfeld was a great show. And George was the Larry David character.
@kari: Paul Newman was indeed a handsome man and a great actor, the best of all the Newmans!
@onemorefoldedsunset: The food looked okay, but there was no beer!
@Clacky: No bells are ringing, but I may have picked her up in the '80s. It was a lucky decade for me.
Is this magazine a guide to become a Barbie? ;)
@Marty: About Jason's cameras tips, no worries if you don't understand, I can hear that almost everyday and with time.... I still don't know what he's talking about!!!! but say just like me > "Ohhhh Okkkkayyyyy!!!!!!! yeah great! of course! 1/125 makes sens!" Then you had some vocabulary "yeah yeah when the shutter from the speed flash mode get happy about the lens then you can focus the exposure to the film with a wild angle pinhole! yeah! youhou! nice!" :D
Shitty weather! Yesterday with some friends, we were wondering the same : "where's the spring?!!" we are already in summer here, fucking 80°F at 11pm yesterday night! we haven't had sweet temperatures, it came from fucking cold to fucking hot!
Derp. Morningside Heights=> Lightside Heights => Lightside=> Light => Lightbringer => Lucifer => Satan => Hell => Hell's Kitchen => Kevin Bacon.
Da dada da da dada da"
wrong link, awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66rDVkaK4w
Going to run and hide. Have a good week end.
I bet the owners didn't mind too much that they shot the outside of the building- it's probably done nothing for them but good.
I second that- no beer?
@ZioumZioum: Glad I'm not the only one! Hopefully the weather gets better both here and there!
@csp: Thanks for sticking that goddamn song back into my head when it was finally gone!
@SuzRocks: I don't think they mind it all, judging from the Seinfeld trinkets they sell in there!
@csp the little dada da da just at the end actually made me smile :)
Hellooo Marty.
@"Boris:" Ha ha ha! Hellooo "Boris!"
I remember that Who clip. I wonder what ever became of "Scott"?
@"Boris:" Google is a wonderful thing! http://twe.ly/Doib
I heard an interview with Suzanne Vega where she talked about writing that song. It was pretty interesting - on NPR, I think...maybe Fresh Air with Terry Gross? In any case, I really liked all of the different glows of your pictures. I think you should continue to NOT learn how to use your camera!
@Biff: I guarantee you I won't!