The Olympia Café was a fictional

greasy spoon A greasy spoon is a small, cheap restaurant typically specializing in Short order cooking, short order fare. The term is also used in the UK–along with the informal term "caff" for café–to refer to a small privately-owned eatery that tradi ...

featured in a recurring ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' sketch. The staff, led by

John Belushi John Adam Belushi ( ; January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, singer and musician. He was one of seven ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members of the first season. He was arguably the most popular member of the ''Satur ...

as Pete Dionisopoulos, were

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. Staff also included

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

as Nico, a busboy who does not speak English,

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...

as short-order cook George, and Sandy, a waitress played by

Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an ...

. Series regulars

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980. He ...

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian. She was one of the seven Saturday Night Live cast members, original cast members of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy series ...

, and

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedienne. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards ...

had recurring roles as regular customers. As various

guest star The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s discovered (with a few exceptions), only three items on the long menu could actually be ordered successfully: the

cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...

(pronounced "cheeburger" by Belushi),

chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

(pronounced "cheeps"), and

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

(pronounced "Petsi"). Attempts to order Coke (later Pepsi) were invariably met with the retort, "No Coke! Petsi!" (or later on, "No Petsi! Coke!") Likewise, those who ordered

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

got the response, "No fries! Cheeps!" Most famously, if a customer complained about having to order a cheeseburger for breakfast saying it was too early for one, Pete would point out all the other customers enjoying said dish, e.g. "Too early for cheeburger? Look! '' ointing around restaurant' Cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger! Eh?" The short-order cook (usually played by

) would mistake the retort as an order for more cheeseburgers, loading up an absurd number of patties onto the grill. According to Don Novello, who penned the first Olympia Café sketch, the diner was based on the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower North Michigan Avenue in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, which is still operating (and part of a small chain). According to his brother Jim Belushi, John based the character on their Albanian uncle, who at one time owned a hot dog stand on Chicago's Northwest Side. In a 2024 interview, Aykroyd said that the diner was not based on the Billy Goat Tavern, but rather on the café John Belushi's father owned in the 1960s, called the "Olympia." Olympia is a Greek town after which many

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s have been named. List of episodes featuring the Olympia Café: *January 28, 1978 (Host:

Robert Klein Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy albums: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (1974 ...

) *March 18, 1978 (Host:

Jill Clayburgh Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actr ...

) *May 20, 1978 (Host:

Buck Henry Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he re ...

) *October 7, 1978 (Host:

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) *December 2, 1978 (Host:

Walter Matthau Walter John Matthau ( Matthow; ; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters. He starred in 10 films alongside his real-life friend Jack Lemmon, including '' The Od ...

) *May 26, 1979 (Host: Buck Henry)

Notes

External links

''Saturday Night Live'' Transcripts: Olympia Café
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympia Cafe Saturday Night Live sketches Saturday Night Live in the 1970s Fictional diners

See also

Notes

External links