Tom's Diner

Research is a bitch. Sometimes you learn things you'd rather not.

Around the corner from my apartment is a legendary diner: Tom's Restaurant. On the wall in that diner is a signed copy of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" lyrics, with the words, "I came, I saw, I wrote." It's enough to make one think that the legendary diner is the subject of this song. To confirm before reporting here, however, I did a little research. I now know this is not the case and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed. The diner in the song is apparently the same as the diner in Seinfeld.

My Tom's is still amazing however. They're not open for dinner and they're not open on Sunday (so I, and probably many others, rarely have the opportunity to go). Another thing about NYC that you might not know if you don't live here is that Brunch is the most important meal of the week and many people partake on Sunday. But not at Tom's. Every Saturday, rain or shine, they have a massive line wrapping around the building. They know how to take care of people at Tom's, though. Line waiters are greeted by fresh orange slices, cookies, coffee, and sometimes slices of sausage while they wait. There's always a band (if not more than one) taking up a table looking hungover, grungy, and band-like. And the food is cheap, delicious, and sometimes a little strange. For example, yesterday, I ordered a chili omelet, which as you may or may not imagine, was a cheese omelet with chili on top. Yep, an omelet covered in soup. And it was good.