‘No soup for you!’ Iconic ‘Soup Nazi’ episode from ‘Seinfeld’ turns 30

Larry Thomas: The actor who portrayed the "Soup Nazi" on "Seinfeld" was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1996. (Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)

It is one of the most iconic lines in television sitcom history — “No soup for you!” And now, the “Seinfeld” episode that immortalized the “Soup Nazi” character is 30 years old.

The sixth episode of the seventh season of the show starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld aired on Nov. 2, 1995.

According to an episode description on IMDb.com, “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.”

The character played by Larry Thomas, Yev Kassem, was based on a real-life, cranky chef named Al Yeganeh, who dispensed tasty soup at Soup Kitchen International in midtown Manhattan but refused service to anyone who broke his unwritten rules.

Yeganeh’s brusque bisque antics inspired a young television writer, Spike Feresten. He was getting lunch at the stand during the early 1990s but broke one of Yeganeh’s rules and was refused service.

Feresten would turn that rejection into a television moment in the 116th episode of “Seinfeld.”

“No soup for you!” would be one of the most quoted lines in the history of situation comedy.

“The next morning, it was all over the New York media,” Feresten told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s still the thing I’m known for. It’s always Soup Nazi.”

The role was a boon for Thomas, who earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor for a Comedy Series in 1996. He remains a favorite at Seinfeld fan conventions.

Yeganeh shut down the soup stand in 2004 and licensed his recipes to a franchising company. He reopened the business in 2010.

Through the years, he dismissed the “Seinfeld” episode as an unfair character assassination. He also called Seinfeld “an idiot clown.”

Rebranded as “The Original Soup Man,” the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017.

Seinfeld has tried to visit the shop through the years but has been rebuffed. The first time he entered the store showcased Yeganeh’s contempt for the portrayal on the show.

“He walked up, ordered, and the guy did a triple take — not a double take, a triple take,” Feresten told The Hollywood Reporter.

Yeganeh then reportedly yelled at Seinfeld in front of a lengthy line of customers who “got the show of a lifetime.”

Seinfeld later sent an assistant back to the store to quietly order some soup.

“No one tells Jerry ‘No soup for you,’” Feresten told The Hollywood Reporter.

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