The Soup Nazi 

A soup stand owner obsesses about his customers' ordering procedure, but his soup is so good that people line up down the block for it anyway.

Director:

Andy Ackerman

Writers:

Larry David (created by), Jerry Seinfeld (created by)

Stars:

Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Cosmo Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza
Wayne Knight	...	Newman
Heidi Swedberg	...	Susan Ross
Alexandra Wentworth	...	Sheila
Larry Thomas	...	Soup Nazi
Steve Hytner	...	Bania
John Paragon	...	Cedric
Yul Vazquez	...	Bob
Thom Barry	...	Super
Vince Melocchi	...	Furniture Guy
Ana Gasteyer	...	Woman
Michael Michaud	...	Customer (as Mike Michaud)

Storyline

In this series-defining episode, everyone goes to this new soup stand because the soup is so great. Unfortunately, the owner is obsessed about his customer's ordering procedure. Jerry and his new girlfriend annoy everybody by using baby talk. George tries to do the same thing with Susan to show how annoying they are to everybody. Jerry and his girlfriend get rejected from the Soup Nazi's kitchen when they're caught kissing in line. Elaine buys an Armoire and asks Kramer to watch it. While watching it, Kramer is robbed by some gay, trash-talking street toughs who want nothing more than the Armoire. She then gets rejected from the soup kitchen when she offends the "Soup Nazi". Kramer, who befriends the Soup Nazi, gets a new Armoire exactly like the one that was stolen from him. He then gives it to Elaine, who discovers the Soup Nazi's recipes inside. Jerry pleads with her not to do anything, but Elaine threatens to put the Soup Nazi out of business.

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Plot Keywords:

kissing | reference to al pacino | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shapiro/West Productions,Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julia Louis-Dreyfus had not seen Scent of a Woman (1992) at the time and had to be coached for her Al Pacino impression.

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Goofs

Despite the sign in the soup shop stating "No substitutions or phone orders", the phone rings and an employee appears to be writing an order down on a pad while George is complaining about not getting any bread with his soup order and again during his second visit after placing his order and commenting about getting bread. The phone rings again and another order appears to be taken while Elaine talks to the Soup Nazi about how he looks like Al Pacino.

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Quotes

[Elaine has gotten hold of the Soup Nazi's recipes]
Elaine Benes: You're through, Soup Nazi! No more soup for *you*.
[screams]
Elaine Benes: NEXT!

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Connections

Featured in Seinfeld: The Chronicle (1998)

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Soundtracks

Seinfeld Theme Song
Written by Jonathan Wolff

User Reviews

One of the best sitcom episodes in TV's history

"Seinfeld" was one of best TV sitcom series ever produced, and "The Soup Nazi" was probably the best episode of "Seinfeld." Go out of your way to see it! Seriously! Check IMDb to see when it airs, and see it! You won't be disappointed. I've seen it half a dozen times, and each time I enjoy it more.

The Soup Nazi has become one of most memorable TV guest characters of all time. A few years after the episode first aired, we were on vacation and went to a "strip mall" sushi bar. This gruff sushi chef/owner was behind the counter making sushi and occasionally arguing/swearing at/insulting his lone waitress. A customer called and all we heard at our end was an irritated "Very busy...2-3 hours...No" A lone diner at the end of the sushi counter looked his way and asked "Excuse me, do you have uni?" No answer. The diner glanced our way as if to ask "Was my question audible? Is this guy just ignoring me?" So he asks the question again. This time the sushi chef/owner hardly looks up, continues working awhile, and then says "No, too expensive." Then he mutters under his breath "Stupid question!" From that day forward, although he never exactly said "No sushi for you! Next!", he has always been fondly remembered by us as "The Sushi Nazi."