There was a real Dream Cafe. Writer Tom Leopold lived near the restaurant which was run by a Vietnamese man. In the original script the proprietor was to be called Vong Sim, a Cambodian in his mid-30s, but this was changed to Babu Bhatt (Brian George) from Pakistan.
Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) repeat the phrase "casus belli" as George (Jason Alexander) enters Jerry's apartment. Jerry tells George "It's nothing," but it's actually a Latin phrase meaning "case for war"; it's the justification that one nation uses when going to war with another.
This is the first episode to have applause by the studio audience as Kramer entered. It happened when Kramer (Michael Richards) entered the Dream café rather than Jerry's (Jerry Seinfeld) apartment.
The plot of this episode was completely based on the writer's experience.