The Chinese Restaurant

Co-written by the series' creators Seinfeld and head writer Larry David and directed by Tom Cherones, the episode is set in real time, without any scene breaks. It was the first of two episodes in which Jerry's neighbor Kramer (Michael Richards) did not appear (the other being "The Pen"). It is considered a "bottle episode", and NBC executives objected to its production and broadcast due to its lack of an involved storyline, thinking that audiences would be uninterested. It was not until David threatened to quit if the network forced any major changes upon the script that NBC allowed the episode to be produced, though the network postponed broadcast to near the end of season two.


First broadcast in the United States on May 23, 1991, the episode gained a Nielsen rating of 11.7/21. Television critics reacted positively to "The Chinese Restaurant", widely considering it one of the show's "classic episodes". In 1998, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel critic wrote that the episode, along with season four's "The Contest", "broke new sitcom ground".^[2]

Plot[edit]

Jerry, George, and Elaine decide to eat dinner without a reservation at a Chinese restaurant before seeing a one-night showing of Plan 9 from Outer Space.^[3] The maître d'hôtel repeatedly tells the party they will receive a table in "five, ten minutes". Besides having only a short time until the movie begins, they have other worries.


Elaine is extremely hungry. Jerry dares her to take an egg roll from someone's plate and eat it, offering her fifty dollars to do so. Elaine approaches a table and offers to split the fifty dollars with the party in exchange for them letting her take the egg roll. As she softly speaks the offer, they fail to comprehend her. She awkwardly walks away, then laughs off her attempt.


Jerry previously lied to his uncle, saying he was sick and could not join him for dinner, so that he could see the showing instead. He notices a woman at the restaurant that he has seen before, but cannot remember who she is. When the mysterious woman greets Jerry, he remembers that she is his uncle's receptionist and realized that she will tell his uncle, who will spread the story through the family grapevine.


George is anxious because the previous night he left his girlfriend Tatiana during sex because he needed to use a bathroom and thought hers was too close to her bedroom to provide enough privacy. He wants to call Tatiana to invite her to join them, but the restaurant's payphone is first occupied by a man who ignores George, and then by a woman who is rude to him. By the time George gets the phone, Tatiana has left, so he leaves a message. Tatiana calls the restaurant to reach George, but the maître d' calls out "Cartwright"; George does not recognize this as a corruption of his surname, so he tells her that George is not there.


Elaine tries bribing the maître d'hôtel to give them a table immediately, but he pockets the money without responding to her hints. The three debate eating at Sky Burger or in the theater instead, but Elaine refuses. After discovering that he missed Tatiana's call, George decides not to see the movie, Elaine decides to leave and get a hamburger, and Jerry decides that he might as well have dinner with his uncle. As soon as they leave, the maître d' calls out for them.

Themes[edit]

The episode is widely considered to encapsulate Seinfeld's "show about nothing" concept, with The Tampa Tribune critic Walt Belcher calling it "the ultimate episode about nothing",^[18] and David Lavery and Sara Lewis Dunne describing it as "existential" in Seinfeld, Master of Its Domain: Revisiting Television's Greatest Sitcom.^[19] Critics had a similar reaction to season three's "The Parking Garage", in which the four central characters spent the whole episode looking for their car.^[20] The episode drags a small event out over the course of an entire episode. Lavery and Dunne suggest that this structure critiques sitcoms with implied moral lessons (such as those found in so-called "very special episodes"), in keeping with David's "no hugging and no learning" maxim.^[21][22] Vincent Brook, as part of his analysis regarding the influence of Jewish culture on Seinfeld, has said that the episode's theme of entrapment and confinement in a small space is a recurring scenario on the show.^[23] The relationship between the characters and food is another recurring theme of the series according to Lavery and Dunne; specific food items are associated with individual characters, and food itself is a "signifier of social contracts".^[24]


Linda S. Ghent of Eastern Illinois University, has discussed the episode's treatment of economic problems. Just before Jerry's dare about the egg roll, Elaine says, "You know, it's not fair people are seated first come first served. It should be based on who's hungriest. I feel like just going over there and taking some food off somebody's plate."^[3] Ghent discusses the history and reasoning behind rationing mechanisms and economic efficiency, which are the basis behind how tables are seated at restaurants, rationales which are perhaps invisible to hungry or impatient customers.^[25] Elaine's attempt at bribery is an example of opportunity cost: the trio are willing to pay more than usual to get a table if it means Elaine can eat sooner and Jerry makes it to the movie on time.^[26] Ghent also gives Jerry's willingness to lie to his uncle as another example of opportunity cost: "Did I do a bad thing by lying to my uncle and saying I couldn't go to dinner? Plan 9 from Outer Space – one night only, the big screen! My hands are tied!"^[27]