Jerry, George, and Elaine go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner before a movie. They ask for a table for four, including George's girlfriend Tatiana, and the maître d'hôtel gives them a 5-10 minute wait time. Jerry is so eager to make a one-night-only showing of Plan 9 from Outer Space that he lied to get out of dinner with his uncle. Elaine is starving as she waits; George needs a payphone to call Tatiana; and Jerry recognizes a woman at a table, but cannot remember where from.
Jerry and Elaine complain when another party of four gets seated immediately. The maître d' and the hostess confer, then claim the other party arrived first.
George gets repeatedly ignored by a man who is hogging the phone, and asks for Jerry's backup if they come to blows. Elaine is still suffering, so Jerry offers her $50 to eat from the table of a group of elderly diners. She gamely goes over, but respectfully tries to buy an eggroll by sharing the money. Failing to hear her clearly, the table erupts in confusion, so she flees empty-handed. Meanwhile, another woman beats George to the phone since he was distracted. Despite his furor, he plays nice with the phone-hogger from earlier.
George finally confesses that he sabotaged his relationship with Tatiana by abruptly stopping in the middle of sex due to sudden bowel urges. Unwilling to use the close-quarters bathroom in her apartment, he hurried out without explanation, and is now desperate to make amends. Jerry and Elaine complain again when a man enters to a warm reception and gets seated. Since the man is a regular, the maître d' laughs it off. George leaves a message for Tatiana to call the restaurant.
The mystery woman recognizes and greets Jerry, and Elaine finally gets her name. Jerry realizes that she is his uncle's coworker, and that his lie will be outed to not just his uncle but his entire family. He tediously rattles off how the chain of gossip runs through his relatives.
With time running out, the group pools money to bribe the maître d'; George puts up one dollar less than the others. They stick Elaine with the task, but she fails to get the offer across even as she hands the money over. Jerry fails to ask for the money back. Elaine demands to satiate her hunger elsewhere, but refuses theater food. Meanwhile, the maître d' announces a phone call for "Cartwright", which everyone ignores. George realizes too late that this was Tatiana calling for him, only to be told he's not there.
Failing to salvage his relationship, George drops out of the evening's plans. Elaine goes to get a burger, and Jerry, giving up, goes to meet his uncle. As soon as they all leave, the maître d' calls out for them.