Monk's Cafe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monk's Café is a fictional coffee shop from the American comedy sitcom Seinfeld. The exterior of Tom's Restaurant, an actual restaurant in Manhattan near Columbia University is often shown on the show as the exterior of Monk's. The owner of the fictional café is Larry, a tall intimidating African American man. The cashier's name is Ruthy Cohen, but in one episode, "The Pie", there is a different girl working there with Ruthy, the long fingernailed Olive. It is argued that Claire the waitress is another character who works at Monk's, but she only appears in the pilot episode, where Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza eat at a different place.

The exterior of Monk's Café
The exterior of Monk's Café

The competing coffee shop is Reggie's, what Jerry refers to as "The Bizzaro Coffee shop," where they seem to serve a sub-par, strange menu in comparison to Monk's (for example, Reggie's menu does not have a "big salad").

Monk's Cafe is also the name of a famous Philadelphia "Belgian Beer Emporium and Restaurant" located on 16th & Spruce Streets.