On "Seinfeld," the gang regularly meets at Monk's Café, a fictional coffee shop in Manhattan. Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer are often shown sitting in one of the booths, using the diner as a setting for arguments, gossip, dating stories, and small everyday crises.
The café's exterior is represented by Tom's Restaurant at Broadway and West 112th Street near Columbia University in New York City. Tom's Restaurant was used for establishing shots, while the interior scenes were filmed on a soundstage. The location became so closely associated with the show that fans still recognize it as the real-world image of Monk's.
The name has an unusual origin: Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David reportedly chose "Monk's" because a poster of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk hung in the office where they were writing. In the original pilot, the luncheonette was called Pete's, but it was renamed Monk's when the series moved forward.