Tom's Restaurant
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
| Tom's Restaurant | |
|---|---|
 Tom's Restaurant (photo taken in 2000) |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Street address | 2880 Broadway (on the corner of 112th Street) in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan |
| City | New York City |
| State | New York |
Tom's Restaurant is a diner located at 2880 Broadway (on the corner of 112th Street) in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.[1] Frequented by students and faculty of nearby Columbia University, it has been owned and operated by the Greek-American family of Minas Zoulis since the 1940s.[2]
Tom's Restaurant was the locale that inspired Suzanne Vega's 1987 song "Tom's Diner."[2] Later, its exterior was used as a stand-in for the fictional Monk's Café in the popular television sitcom Seinfeld, where comedian Jerry Seinfeld's eponymous character and his friends regularly gathered to eat.[1][2] The interior, however, looked very little like the real "Tom's", as indoor scenes were filmed on a set in California.[2]
Early Seinfeld episodes showed the entire neon sign; later, the "Tom's" portion was cropped out, showing only the "RESTAURANT" wraparound.[2] Even though the interior and exterior have undergone minor remodeling since the show, Tom's is featured in the Seinfeld New York Tour conducted by Kenny Kramer. The trademark "Tom's Restaurant" marquee still exists above the exterior windows.
When President Barack Obama was a student at Columbia, he frequently used to eat at Tom's Restaurant,[3] and Senator John McCain often ate at Tom's when he visited his daughter Meghan when she was a student at Columbia.[4]
Upstairs from Tom's, scientists of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies led by Dr. James Hansen labored to analyze climate change.[5][2]
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Tom's Restaurant". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Vines, Richard (2008-03-13). "Real 'Seinfeld' Restaurant Is New York Staple". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ Ash, Danny. "Locals Watch Inauguration at Tom’s Diner, an Old Haunt of the New President", Columbia Spectator, January 21, 2009
- ^ "11 questions for Meghan McCain". Allday.Today.com. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ Daly, Michael (2012-08-08). "NASA’s New York–Based Space Institute the Hub of Climate-Change Research". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
External links [edit]
- Tom's Restaurant Official Homepage
- Morningside Heights: Tom's Restaurant
- VirtualNYC panoramic image of Tom's Restaurant
- Google Street View: 112th Street and Broadway
- Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library: WV Authors: Merideth Sue Willis
Coordinates: 40°48′20″N 73°57′56″W / 40.80556°N 73.96556°W
