So you’re probably not the type to hop on a Sex and the City tour bus to scope out where Carrie and the gang threw back Cosmos. But there’s still something special about having the opportunity to visit the same restaurants where your favorite TV scenes have gone down. Whether you want to visit the Upper West Side diner where Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza had countless cups of coffee, or you’d like to get a sandwich from the Baltimore pit-beef spot featured in The Wire, here’s a guide to the best real-life restaurants we know (and love) from TV.
Go ahead, relive your favorite small-screen dining moments IRL.
The Sopranos: Holsten’s
Address and phone: 1063 Broad St, Bloomfield, NJ (973-338-7091)
Signature dish: Onion rings
Best TV moment: The Sopranos‘ iconic final scene—which is still cause for debate and discussion years after it aired—occurs at this beloved wood-paneled Jersey diner where the Soprano family shares a heaping plate of onion rings before, well, you know. (Insert “Don’t Stop Believin'” here.) (Photo: Holstens.com)
The Wire: Chap’s Pit Beef
Address and phone: 5801 Pulaski Hwy, Baltimore, MD (410-483-2379)
Signature dish: Pit beef sandwich
Best TV moment: Wee-Bey’s love of hot-as-hell food might come as no surprise to viewers, but it did make D’Angelo raise an eyebrow when the guys visited Chap’s for a bite. “Damn, Bey, how can you stand that shit with all that hot shit on it?” D’Angelo asked incredulously when Bey slathered his sandwich with horseradish. Wee-Bey doesn’t miss a beat. “The trick is not to give a fuck, boy. I got this.” (Photo: Shiny Metal Tiger)
GIRLS: Cafe Grumpy
Address and phone: 193 Meserole Ave, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (718-349-7623)
Signature dish: Pour-over coffee
Best TV moment: This Brooklyn cafe, known as “Chez Grumpy” on the show, is ostensibly owned by everyone’s favorite good-hearted curmudgeon, Ray. There have been many key scenes that go down by the espresso machines, but none more dramatic than when Adam’s ex-lover Natalia confronts Hannah and Adam about his (infamously terrible) behavior that led to their breakup.
“Wow! So, you know what you have on your hands here right, Hannah?” barks Natalia. “You know you have an off-the-wagon, Neanderthal sociopath who’s going to fuck you like he’s never met you and like he doesn’t love his own mother? And then he’s going to turn around and cry.”
It’s a lot of drama for a little coffee shop. (Photo: Foursquare)
Treme: Dooky Chase
Address and phone: 2301 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA (504-821-0600)
Signature dish: Gumbo Z’Herbes
Best TV moment: A whole host of New Orleans restaurants and bars made an appearance on Treme, but no space featured is more important to the fiber of the city than Dooky Chase, a decades-old Treme landmark known far and wide for its fried chicken. The restaurant’s reopening on Holy Thursday, when the dish of gumbo z’herbes is traditionally eaten, is depicted in this episode, with neighbors and politicians alike lining up to be served by Chef Leah Chase. (Photo: Skinny Girls and Mayo)
True Detective: Fox & Hound
Address and phone: 1200 S Clearview Pkwy, Metairie, LA (504-731-6000)
Signature dish: Beer and an S.O.B. burger, featuring Swiss, onion, and blue cheese
Best TV moment: This odd, psuedo-English pub restaurant, located in a nondescript strip mall just outside of New Orleans, is where Woody Harrelson’s character finds himself picking up an underage prostitute after buying feminine products for his wife. (Photo: Yelp)
Louie: Veselka
Address and phone: 144 2nd Ave, New York, NY (212-228-9682)
Signature dish: Pierogis and borscht
Best TV moment: While Ben’s Pizzeria might make an appearance in the opening credits, it’s a scene at this 24-hour Ukrainian diner that truly taps in to what the show’s all about. After a series of terrible mishaps, Louie finds a tiny bit of peace eating breakfast with his pajama-clad daughters as the sun rises. (Photo: Yelp)
House of Cards: Werner’s
Address and phone: 231 E Redwood St, Baltimore, MD (443-842-7430)
Signature dish: Braunschweiger sandwich
Best TV moment: In Season One, Frank Underwood’s (once and future) right-hand man, Doug Stamper, meets with the D.C. chief of police in the wee hours of the morning at this famed diner to kindly request turning a blind eye to Representative Peter Russo’s indiscretions. Oh, Doug, if you only knew what was in store. (Photo: Yelp)
How I Met Your Mother: McLaren’s
Address and phone: 240 W 55th St, New York, NY (212-957-3536)
Signature dish: Cheese fries
Best TV moment: The gang spent a phenomenal amount of time drinking beers at their favorite downstairs watering hole, but the best episode is one in which their go-to bar inspires the opening of another drinking establishment. Angry about the high cover charge to get into McLaren’s on New Year’s Eve, Ted and Barney decide to operate a bar called “Puzzles” out of their upstairs apartment, which has a Cheers-like vibe and operates under the guise of “no last call.” (Don’t worry, it fails spectacularly and they are quick to return to McLaren’s.) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Seinfeld: Tom’s Restaurant
Address and phone: 2880 Broadway, New York, NY; 212-864-6137
Signature dish: Hot roast-beef sandwich
Best TV moment: The diner, which is known as Monk’s on the show, was practically a second living room for the crew—but it was only on rare occasion that the space didn’t serve strictly as a backdrop for the action. This all changes in the Season 7 episode “The Gum,” when Kramer proceeds to go through the cash register at the diner to see if he’s being shortchanged. (Photo: Wikipedia)