The ‘Seinfeld’-Themed Restaurant That Has Somehow Avoided Being Sued
Seinfeld is obviously a very food-heavy show. In addition to the constant meals that Jerry and the gang shared at Monk’s Diner, there was Elaine’s “big salad,” an authoritarian soup chef, an elaborate scheme involving a marble rye and a genius muffin top-only business plan so promising that it was literally stolen by McDonald’s.
Not to mention, some of us first learned about the existence of babka from the episode “The Dinner Party.” Although, traditionally, the “crowned jewel of Jewish pastries” isn’t served with a hair on top.
So it makes sense that someone would create a real-life eatery inspired by the show. And apparently someone did, but it’s nearly 3,000 miles away from New York City.
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As one fan on Reddit recently pointed out, Little Jerry’s is a Seinfeld-themed diner located in Tacoma, Washington. Pretty much every item on the menu is named after a Seinfeld reference, from the “Puddy” breakfast skillet to the “Marble Rye” sandwich. There’s even a sandwich called “The Pig Man,” which is either a nod to the “mutant” hospital patient that Kramer attempts to rescue, or a deep-cut reference to the character from Elaine’s plagiarized New Yorker cartoon.
The walls of the restaurant are also filled with Seinfeld decorations, including photos of the cast, Kramer’s portrait and Keith Hernandez’s New York Mets jersey. There’s also a TV playing Seinfeld DVDs on a loop.
The diner has seemingly become a real destination for Seinfeld fans and was once visited by The Soup Nazi himself, Larry Thomas. The actor stopped by in 2024 and signed a photo of himself for Little Jerry’s. Thankfully, he didn’t immediately ask for it back like some people.
This does beg the question: Is NBC cool with a random diner becoming so Seinfeld heavy?
While it would be an extremely bad look for the corporation to go after a small business, some independent pop-culture-themed restaurants have had to make deals with intellectual property owners. According to Eater, Saved by the Max, Chicago’s Saved by the Bell-themed pop-up diner, ended up having to pay the network a licensing fee after it went viral.
But in that instance, the restaurant clearly copied visual aspects of the show for their restaurant. Places that merely take inspiration from famous movies and TV shows are seemingly in the clear, including Little Jerry’s and that cursed Mr. Bean-themed bar in Vietnam. Plus, Little Jerry’s isn’t even the only establishment to take inspiration from Seinfeld. In Melbourne, Australia there’s a bar dedicated to George Costanza, and it seves cocktails such as the “Art Vandelay” and “The Hand Model.”
