The Cafe (6 Nov. 1991)

Jerry tries to help a new immigrant restaurant owner across the street from him. George, afraid of embarrassment, asks Elaine to take an IQ test for him.

Director:

Tom Cherones

Writers:

Larry David (creator), Jerry Seinfeld (creator),

Stars:

Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza
Brian George	...	Babu Bhatt
Dawn Arnemann	...	Monica

Storyline

Jerry has become fascinated with the new café that's opened across the street. The owner, Pakistani immigrant Babu Bhatt, has few if any customers. He suggests that rather than the somewhat bland menu currently on offer he offer an all Pakistani menu. George's girlfriend meanwhile wants him to take an IQ test and when Elaine says she has an IQ of 145 he gets her to take the test for him with less than stellar results.

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Plot Keywords:

iq test | wagging finger | hot towel | cheating on test | intelligence quotient test | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1991 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shapiro/West Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first episode to have applause by the studio audience as Kramer entered. It happened when Kramer entered the Dream café rather than Jerry's apartment.

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Goofs

Elaine has previously buzzed people up. In this episode she stayed at the table citing "It's your house."

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Quotes

George Costanza: You should've seen the look on her face. It was the same look my father gave me when I told him I wanted to be a ventriloquist.

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Connections

Featured in Seinfeld: Highlights of a Hundred (1995)

User Reviews

"You're a bad man!"

The Cafe is justifiably praised as one of the finest episodes of Seinfeld's third season, all because of two words: Babu Bhatt!

Babu (Brian George) is the owner of a café right across the street outside Jerry's apartment, and Jerry decides to take a look after observing the poor guy's lack of customers for days. Once he sets foot in the café, he makes friends with Babu and even throws in a little business tip: since Babu is from Pakistan, why not serve Pakistani food? As a matter of fact, this makes things even worse, and while Jerry struggles to keep his new acquaintance happy, George has a problem of his own, as his new girlfriend has asked him to take an IQ test and he's so afraid to look stupid (what a surprise) that he asks Elaine to help him cheat.

Bars, cafés and diners have always had an important role in American sitcoms: just think about Arnold's in Happy Days, Cheers in the eponymous comedy or, pots-Seinfeld, Central Perk in Friends. It shouldn't surprise, then, that the writers of the show decided to make fun of one of the very staples the genre is based on. That it works isn't just due to the witty lines or Kramer's flawless presence (by the way, The Cafe marks the first time the studio audience applauds when he makes his entrance); fundamentally, the episode's appeal boils down to Brian George's delightful portrayal of the progressively neurotic Babu, an exercise in mania that culminates in one of the program's many quotable catchphrases: "You're a bad man! Very, very bad!". To paraphrase him, this is an essential chapter of Seinfeld: very, very good.