Where Was Seinfeld Filmed? Every Real-Life Location Revealed

Throughout its nine-season run from 1989 to 1998, "Seinfeld" firmly established itself as a New York City show. The series centered around a group of four friends: Jerry Seinfeld as a fictional version of himself, his neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), old pal George Costanza (Jason Alexander), and ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). New York served as a de facto fifth main character, contributing major and minor plot elements throughout the show's 172 episodes.

While many establishing and B-roll shots were taken on the streets of New York, the bulk of the series was filmed on sound stages in California. The pilot was shot at what is now Red Studios at 846 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles. This facility had formerly been known as Desilu Cahuenga Studios and Ren-Mar Studios, and was the site for production of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hogan's Heroes."

Red Studios also hosted the filming of the 1989 romcom "When Harry Met Sally," which featured a scene set at New York's Katz's Delicatessen. The deli scene was a last-minute addition to the film, and was shot on site at Katz's. "Seinfeld" highlighted plenty of notable New York sites of its own throughout its nine seasons, although Jerry's apartment was actually 3,000 miles from the Big Apple. Here's a list of every real-life "Seinfeld" location.

Much of the series takes place inside Jerry's one-bedroom apartment, and these scenes were filmed on prepared sets. The series also featured dozens of quick establishing shots of the building's exterior, including the awning over the entrance and an elaborate stone frieze above the ground floor. The address for the building he shared with Kramer and Newman (Wayne Knight) was given on the show as 129 West 81st Street, Seinfeld's actual address for years. Sharp-eyed viewers, though, will notice the number 757 on the building's awning. That's because the exterior shots are of an apartment building at 757 South New Hampshire Boulevard in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.

The building was constructed in 1928, stands five stories tall, and is called "The Shelley." There are 49 studio and one-bedroom units in the now smoke-free building, meaning Newman would have had to either kick his cigarette habit or find a new place to live by now. As of this writing, there are no vacancies in the building, but when they become available you have to pay a $35 application fee just to get the process rolling. For now, you'll have to be content to grab a marble rye and pose in front of the famous awning.

George's erratic employment history was a running source of amusement for his friends and the show's viewers. He worked as a hand model, managed the esoteric Penske File, and sold computers for his father Frank (Jerry Stiller) alongside rival Lloyd Braun (Matt McCoy). His most important job was probably as the assistant to the traveling secretary for the New York Yankees, although his tenure there was not without its mishaps.

George convinced the team to make a disastrous swap from polyester uniforms to cotton ones, spilled strawberries on Babe Ruth's uniform in an attempt to get fired so he could take a similar job with the Mets, and was ultimately traded to Tyler Chicken. Exterior shots of the old Yankee Stadium were used in several episodes, and in Season 8, Episode 9, "The Abstinence," he gives Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter batting tips inside the ballpark. The stadium was also featured in Season 3, Episode 20, "The Letter." In that episode, Elaine refuses to remove her Baltimore Orioles cap while sitting in the team owner's box.

Construction of the original Yankee Stadium was completed in 1923, at a cost of $2.4 million (about $44 million today). The team played there through the 2008 season, when a new ballpark was built across the street for $2.3 billion. The old stadium was demolished, although a publicly accessible ballfield remains on the exact site where the Yankees used to play. 

One of the most regularly recurring settings on "Seinfeld" was Monk's café, a diner where the four friends met frequently. The interior scenes were filmed on sound stages, but the recognizable exterior of Monk's and its blue marquee belong to Tom's Restaurant on the corner of Broadway and 112th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, near the campus of Columbia University. On the show, only the portion of the sign facing 112th Street that reads "restaurant" was shown.

Senator John McCain's daughter Meghan has said that her father was a fan of the diner, and Barack Obama and his roommate ate there often while attending Columbia in the 1980s. Seinfeld fans still flock to the diner in search of a "big salad," and comedian Kenny Kramer (shown above), the inspiration for Kramer on the show, made it a stop on his walking tour of the city, which he conducted until the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the second episode of the series, "The Stake Out," Jerry and Elaine browse the aisles of a video store, chatting about potential rentals and weekend plans. Elaine returns to the same spot with Kramer in Season 8, Episode 13, "The Comeback." The real Champagne Video is located at 213 West 79th Street, Manhattan, which was used for exterior shots. It's just a five minute walk from Jerry's real-life apartment. Sadly, the store is now closed (like many other video rental establishments, Champagne Video probably failed to compete with the rise of streaming platforms). 

The Champagne Video website is still active, though, and it offers replica tape boxes of fictional movies, including those that were mentioned in "Seinfeld," like "Rochelle, Rochelle" and "Sack Lunch." The site also advertises Festivus wrapping paper, although it's sold out as of this writing. If you want to keep track of Champagne Video's current happenings — and maybe catch up on Victor's latest picks — visit the now-shuttered store's Instagram or Facebook pages.

In Season 7, Episode 6, "The Soup Nazi," viewers are introduced to a small shop that is operated by Yev Kassem (Larry Thomas), who has a stringent ordering process. If you violate protocol, as George does, you'll get a curt "no soup for you" and walk away empty-stomached. The character was based on Albert Yeganeh, who owned Soup Kitchen International at 259 West 55th Street. Yeganeh closed the original location in 2004 to concentrate on his Original Soupman franchise, but returned to the spot six years later. He was not fond of his portrayal on the show and banned Seinfeld from the shop after the episode aired.

Despite his objections, the character was apparently a fairly faithful representation of Yeganeh, who takes soup very seriously. "My regular customers don't say anything," he told The New Yorker in 1989. "I tell you, I hate to work with the public. They treat me like a slave. My philosophy is: The customer is always wrong and I'm always right. I raised my prices to try to get rid of some of these people, but it didn't work." Today, you can once again visit the original location, but have your money ready and don't ask for bread if you don't get it.

In Season 3, Episode 5, "The Library," Jerry is contacted by the New York Public library about a book that is 20 years overdue. Despite his insistence that the book had been returned long ago, he is tracked down by library investigator Lt. Joe Bookman (Philip Baker Hall), who confronts Jerry at his apartment. After realizing that the book was indeed lost and George was responsible, Jerry relents and writes Bookman a check for the cost of one copy of "Tropic of Cancer." The library scenes were indeed filmed at an NYPL facility, but not one that lent books to the public: The shots were of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, which serves as a research facility and houses administrative offices.

In Season 4, Kramer moves to Los Angeles after a conflict with Jerry over a spare set of apartment keys. When Jerry heads to L.A. to appear on "The Tonight Show," he brings George along to help track down their friend. When they arrive, they learn that Kramer is a suspect in the murder of a young actress, and help clear his name. Once he's released from jail, the three pals have lunch together in a park with the iconic "Hollywood" sign visible on the hillside behind them.

The bench where they sit is in Griffith Park, a spot popular with tourists looking for photos of the memorable landmark. Kramer's adventures in Tinseltown gave the show's producers plenty of opportunities to highlight other Los Angeles locations. During Kramer's Hollywood arc, he's also shown riding a motorcycle down Mulholland Boulevard and rollerblading at Venice Beach.

"Seinfeld" jumped the shark at the end of Season 7 with the death of George's fiancée Susan Ross (Heidi Swedberg). After she is poisoned by the toxic glue on their wedding invitations, George's cold feet are no longer an issue. Heidi's parents (Warren Frost and Grace Zabriskie) suspect George of foul play, but include him and Jerry in Susan's memorial ceremony. They meet to pay their respects at a peaceful and picturesque place. While it's supposed to be New York, the scene was actually filmed at the Mountain View Mortuary and Cemetery in Altadena, California, a facility that has been in operation since 1882. 

The beautiful grounds have been used in hundreds of TV and film productions, including a scene from "The Office" where Michael (Steve Carell) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) memorialize a deceased chair model with a rendition of "American Pie." Mountain View also serves as the final resting place of Eldridge Cleaver, George Reeves (TV's original Superman), and several other actors, writers, and directors.

The "Seinfeld" finale wasn't popular with many of the show's fans, something Jerry Seinfeld blames on an attempt to do too much in the two-part episode. The core characters get stranded in Latham, Massachusetts after NBC's private jet runs into engine trouble on its way to Paris. While there, they fail to intervene in a carjacking and are charged under a new Good Samaritan law. Their trial features testimony from many of the people they have wronged throughout the series. While Judge Art Vandelay will look familiar to TV and movie fans, the town of Latham exists only on the pages of the show's script. Some of the exterior shots of the town were taken in Beacon, New York, including those of the local police station. 

At the time, the Beacon Police were headquartered at 463 Main Street, next door to Brother's Trattoria. While the restaurant is still serving pizza and upscale Italian dishes at 465 Main Street, the former police station building now houses a cannabis grower's outlet called "The Station." The two-story building began as Matteawan Town Hall and served in that function until 1913, when Mattawean and Fishkill Landing merged to form the town of Beacon. The police moved in and stayed there until 1996. Beacon also served as the backdrop for scenes in the 2018 film "A Quiet Place," as well as for some shots in Season 1 of "Severance," which is one of many interesting behind-the-scenes facts about the Apple TV+ show.