Top 10 Food Establishments from Old TV Shows

Throughout television history, there have been numerous shows that either have a coffee shop or diner in them or use one as its main theme. I have always wondered what it would be like to eat at some of these places. Here are the ten that I can remember but I would be willing to bet that I left a few off my list. How many can you come up with that are not named here? My personal favorite would be number 1 and number 10. Where would you like to eat?

Home Improvement was one of the most successful shows on television consistently appearing in the top ten throughout its nine-season run. The one place that Tim and sometimes Jill can go to relax is a Bar and Grill called Big Mikes, home of the big stinky. The big stinky is a sandwich with onions and limburger cheese. Jack Elam and Ernest Borgnine appear on the show at Big Mikes in the episode, "Dances with Tools."

Owned by Larry the Cook on the show, the inside scenes are shot in the studio. The fictitious restaurant plays a major role as a hangout for the Seinfeld cast. The exterior shots are of Tom's Restaurant on the corner of West 112th and Broadway. Some of the funniest lines of the show are spoken from their favorite booth in this restaurant, which is supposedly just down the street from Jerry's apartment.

All in the Family was a radical hit with television audiences due to Archie Bunker's ever so slow realization the he is a bigot and needed to change. The show was so successful that it actually carried the less successful Archie's Place for four seasons, knocking "Mork and Mindy" out of its top spot. Archie's Place started as the local tavern but Archie added a kitchen and turned it into more of a Bar and Grill. The show had merit as the writing was crisp and Carroll O'Connor had comedy chops that were almost unrivaled.

Roseanne was either loved or hated with no middle ground, either way, people tuned it in, and it was one of the most successful shows on television, running for nine seasons. The Lunchbox does not open until season five but plays a major role from that point on. The food is so-so, the service is terrible, and the hours are just whenever Roseanne decides to open, especially after she forced Beverly out of the partnership.

Mel's Diner is a real life diner in Arizona although the outside is not in the credits until the end of the shows run. Alice ran for eight years but on shaky legs. The show barely survived Flo's departure (for her own show) as she was a fan favorite. Her signature line, "Mel, Kiss My Grits," caught on down south where the show was most popular. The premise goes that Alice, who can sing, heads to Las Vegas to pursue a singing career with her young son in tow after her husbands tragic death. Her car catches on fire and she has to take a job at the diner where she breaks down.

Fans of the television show Becker would know better than to eat a Reggie's Diner as she is not a great cook and the Board of Health has threatened to shut her down more than once. While we never see the Diner's name, it is inferred that it is owned by Reggie and is therefore, Reggie's Diner. The sitcom starring Ted Danson ran for six seasons. Despite struggling in the ratings, the show was lauded by critics as Danson's best work after Cheers. He plays a doctor who lets everything and everyone get on his nerves while still being able to care about people.

The outside of cheers is the only part of the pub that is real, or at least was real. Since the popularity of the show, there have been more than one Cheers built that are exact replicas. The outside shots, however, are of the Bull and Finch, located in Boston. It has been renamed Cheers Beacon Hill. They opened a Cheers modeled after the show about a mile away to give tourist someplace to visit that is like the show. Possibly the most recognized set on television during its time, Cheers pub is the kind of place everyone wishes were in their neighborhood, which is part of the reason why the show was so popular. It would be great to hang out where everyone knows your name. While Cheers is primarily a bar, they are in the basement directly below a fine restaurant and the patrons can order off the Restaurants menu. I am not sure but I think the restaurant is Melville's Fine Sea Food.

This is the café/coffee shop where the cast of Friends had such a good time for ten years on syndicated television. Until then, I had never seen a coffee shop with a couch in it. There has been numerous coffee shops spring up around the world that are modeled after the Central Perk. It was almost like a phenomenon. The coffee shop is just a set, however and is not fashioned out of anything except a writer's mind. The producers thought that a coffee shop would be too hip for the show, which just goes to show you why producers should stay out of the writer's way.

If you are ever in the mood for a great cappuccino, do not go to 3rd and Pike Streets in Seattle Washington because the Café' Nervosa is not there. Although Frazier and Niles frequented the place nearly every day, it was just a set. The cafe was supposedly just across the street from the KACL studios where Frazier worked as a Radio Psychiatrist. Many people do not realize that while characters who worked at the café came and went, including Daphne's Mother, there was one actor named Paul Cosamano who was a Barista and appeared in almost every single episode of the show's nine-year run. He rarely had a speaking line.

Happy Days are here again. Arnolds was a fifties drive-in with inside seating as well. The Happy Days gang would meet here so often they practically lived in it. While there is not an actual Arnolds, it is pretty much the epitome of the fifties Drive-in and resembles the diner's many of us grew up in. Arnolds had two owners during the shows 11 year run. Pat Morita, who everyone called Arnold but he claimed that he just didn't have the money to change the sign to Takahashi so he answers to it, and Al Delvecchio, played by Al Molinaro. Most people associate Arnolds with Al. We watched Richie, Ralph, Potsi, Joanie, and Chaci, grow up right before our eyes but Arnolds rarely changed. I would imagine the Fonz still goes in there and hits the jukebox with his fist to play whatever he is in the mood for.