# The hours at Monks {Seinfeld Diner} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 2, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596 "2022-06-02T20:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/1 "2022-06-02T20:07:14Z")
I just watched the Seinfeld episode “The Beard” for the umpteenth time. There is a sign in Monks that has the hours of: Mon 6:30-2:00 Tues 6:30-2:00 Wed 6:30-2:30 Thur 6:30-2:00 Fri 6:30-3:00 Sat 7:00-2:30 Closed Sunday Notice there were no AM/PM on the sign. So was this place only open from the morning until the early afternoon? Or was it open from morning to very early morning the next day? Why wouldn’t they just stay open 24 hours? Why would the hours be different on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday? Isn’t this kind of a weird schedule? Even weirder is my concern for the operating hours of a fictional business on a television show that went off the air over 2 decades ago. I may need to give consent to having my head smacked! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/2 "2022-06-02T20:11:36Z")
This seems like pretty typical hours for a diner that serves breakfast and lunch but not dinner. It’s open from early morning to early afternoon except on Sundays. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/3 "2022-06-02T20:11:49Z")
It’s a breakfast/lunch kinda place. I know of a few places like that. Saturday calls for a later start, but no clue why Wednesday and Friday are different, unless those are days his suppliers deliver and he wants to stay open later? ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/4 "2022-06-02T20:14:38Z")
Wednesday is buffet day. Big crowds for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/5 "2022-06-02T20:14:52Z")
I actually think, as an old style New York diner it is most likely that it is open 6:30am until 2:00am. I disagree with the idea it is just a breakfast/lunch spot, old diners like that historically have been open almost 24 hours a day. The restaurant that is shown as the exterior shots for Monk’s, Tom’s Restaurant on Columbia’s Campus, is actually open 24 hours a day 4 days a week and from 7am to 1am the other 3 days. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/6 "2022-06-02T20:23:21Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I actually think, as an old style New York diner it is most likely that it is open 6:30am until 2:00am. I disagree with the idea it is just a breakfast/lunch spot, old diners like that historically have been open almost 24 hours a day. I would be inclined to think this is more likely, on the basis of finding it easier to believe that Jerry and his friends would consider a place with almost-twenty-four-hour hours of operation more desirable for a place they’re using as a regular hangout spot. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/7 "2022-06-02T22:09:14Z")
Do we ever see them there when it’s clearly supposed to be evening–i.e. dark or getting dark outside? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/8 "2022-06-02T22:22:20Z")
I remember the episode with Janeane Garofolo as the female Jerry they go there at night and she orders cereal. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/9 "2022-06-02T22:22:34Z")
There’s a scene at Monk’s that takes place at night in the episode “The Frogger”: > EXT. MONK’S DINER - NIGHT - ESTABLISHING > INT. MONK’S DINER - NIGHT > _Jerry and Lisi sit at the usual booth._ > JERRY: I’ll tell you Lisi, I never expected that movie to– > LISI: End under water? > JERRY: Be that long. I mean, most action movies are– > LISI: So much more violent. > JERRY: Not as long. > LISI: Well, I should probably– > JERRY: Get going. > LISI: Yeah. > **[The Frogger](https://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheFrogger.htm)** > > Want to know what Kramer told Seinfeld? Read the full scritpt of The Frogger. Full Seinfeld scripts and episodes ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/10 "2022-06-02T22:40:46Z")
Seems like there were a lot of times they’d go there at night, like after a movie. In the episode with the mannequin that looks like Elaine, and Kramer is dating the cashier at the diner and is trying to break up with her, so he’s making out with the mannequin in his car in front of the diner, I’m pretty sure that was at night. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/11 "2022-06-03T12:04:30Z")
I’ve known plenty of establishments like this. (Worked in some, too.) They operate 24 hours a day but aren’t open to customers in the wee hours of the morning. The time between, say, 2:00 and 6:00 am is devoted to things like cleaning, maintenance, restocking, and prepping. They reopen after 6:00 am to serve the breakfast crowd. The evening hours depend on the traffic they get—Friday and Saturday nights are always going to be busy because people are out on the town. Sundays are usually pretty dead. People sleep in in the morning, stay home all day watching sports on TV, and go to bed early at night so they can get up and go to work Monday morning. Dunno what makes Wednesday special—maybe people are celebrating Hump Day? And yes, there were episodes set at night. The first one that comes to mind is when all of the civil rights employees came to Monk’s to see the waitresses with big boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/12 "2022-06-03T12:58:46Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > The restaurant that is shown as the exterior shots for Monk’s, Tom’s Restaurant on Columbia’s Campus, is actually open 24 hours a day 4 days a week and from 7am to 1am the other 3 days. For a further bit of trivia, that is also the restaurant that inspired the song _Tom’s Diner_ by Suzanne Vega. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/j4jtIDaeaWI/maxresdefault.jpg "Suzanne Vega, DNA - Tom's Diner") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4jtIDaeaWI) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/13 "2022-06-03T13:10:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > For a further bit of trivia, that is also the restaurant that inspired the song _Tom’s Diner_ by Suzanne Vega. Even more trivia: Vega recorded the song _a capella_ without instrumental accompaniment. A couple of producers decided to add some music, so the version linked above is officially credited to “DNA (featuring Suzanne Vega)”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/14 "2022-06-03T13:29:51Z")
In early episodes, the sign “Tom’s Diner” is clearly visible on the building’s facade. ---
**Author:** ![AZRob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azrob/32/3003_2.png) [@AZRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZRob)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/15 "2022-06-03T13:52:01Z")
No head smack, but, I’ll give you a different Monk’s quirk to obsess about. Compare the orientation of the front door as seen from the inside shots with that of the exterior shots of the real diner. ; ) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/16 "2022-06-03T13:52:30Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Even more trivia: Vega recorded the song _a capella_ without instrumental accompaniment. A couple of producers decided to add some music, so the version linked above is officially credited to “DNA (featuring Suzanne Vega)”. I know. I posted that version since I thought it was probably the most well-known. I ate at Tom’s Restaurant, once, probably 15-20 years ago. There was much _Seinfeld_ memorabilia on the walls, but I did find at least one reference to Suzanne Vega. I spotted it once on _Law & Order_, too. The detectives are questioning somebody and the facade of Tom’s is visible in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hours-at-monks-seinfeld-diner/965596/17 "2022-06-03T16:24:10Z")
Ate in Tom’s hundreds of times. It was my go-to diner all through college, and beyond.