O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Restaurant from “The Truth About Cats & Dogs”

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Last month, while spending the weekend in Santa Monica, the Grim Cheaper and I randomly grabbed dinner at Finn McCool’s Irish Pub on Main Street.  Immediately upon sitting down, I asked the bartender if anything had ever been lensed on the premises – as I am apt to do whenever I find myself dining somewhere for the first time.  (Shocker, I know.  Winking smile)  And while he was not sure about Finn McCool’s filming history, he did inform me that a scene from the 1996 romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs had taken place at a different Emerald Isle-themed watering hole located just a few doors down – O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Restaurant.  Because Los Angeles is a place where change seems to be an epidemic, I was absolutely shocked – and pleased – that an establishment that appeared in a movie shot almost two decades ago was still in existence.  So I dragged the GC right on out there the following night.

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O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Restaurant was originally founded in 1995, the same year that The Truth About Cats & Dogs was filmed.  Amazingly enough, though, despite its longevity, I could find little to no information about the place’s history online.

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What I can say, though, is that the watering hole serves up some fabulous food.  I opted for O’Brien’s Veggie Patty, with added toppings of cheddar cheese and sautéed mushrooms, and am happy to report that it was absolutely divine.  The GC ordered the Slider Burgers and was also very happy with his choice.  I was most excited about O’Brien’s champagne offerings, though, which were fantastic!

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I loved the place’s low-lit, wood-paneled ambiance, as well.

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Check out the antique books displayed on the shelf above the opening to the restaurant’s main room in the photograph below.  Love it!

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O’Brien’s Irish Pub was featured only once in The Truth About Cats & Dogs, in the scene in which Noelle (Uma Thurman) poses as radio host/animal expert Dr. Abby Barnes (Janeane Garofalo), who is in turn posing as Noelle’s fictional friend Donna, while the two are out on a date with Brian (Ben Chaplin).

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It is while at O’Brien’s that Abby spills salsa all over the front of her shirt causing her to say, “Of course!  Of course I would do that!”  Amen, Abby!  That is SO something I would do, as well.

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The Truth About Cats & Dogs was filmed in O’Brien’s bar area, which is located towards the back of the restaurant.

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O'Brien's Pub (3 of 9)

The exterior patio area also appeared briefly in the flick.

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In a rare twist, the restaurant’s real life name and location were used in the filming.  Not only did Brian tell Noelle to meet him at the bar “on the corner of Main and Pier” – O’Brien’s actual location – for their date, but a sign reading “O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Restaurant” was visible on the door in the background of the scene.  So incredibly cool!

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, from The Truth About Cats & Dogs, is located at 2941 Main Street in Santa Monica.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

Lance’s House from “Pulp Fiction”

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Last month, fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, came to town, along with his super-sweet mom, for a little filming locations vacation, and the three of us spent a whole day together, stalking pretty much all of Los Angeles, from one end of the city to the other.  For this adventure, Chas had compiled an extensively detailed list of various movie locales, along with maps to each and a driving timeline.  I know – it was all so Monica Gellar of him.  LOVE it!  Smile Anyway, one of the locations on Chas’ list was the Craftsman-style residence where drug-dealer Lance (aka Eric Stoltz) and his wife, Jody (aka Rosanna Arquette), lived – and where Vincent Vega (aka John Travolta) saved Mia Wallace’s (aka Uma Thurman’s) life – in the 1994 black comedy Pulp Fiction.  Chas found the house, thanks to a very helpful crew member, in early 2010 while attempting to track down all of the locations from the movie – an endeavor at which, I am very happy to report, he succeeded.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Pulp Fiction filming locations page here.

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Because the Grim Cheaper and I had once dressed up as Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace for Halloween many, many moons ago, I was extremely excited to stalk Lance’s house.  (Sorry for the poor quality of the above photograph – it was taken on actual film so I had to scan it in order to post it here.)

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Lance’s house was featured in a very brief, but very memorable scene, during the “Vincent Vega & Marsellus Wallace’s Wife” portion of Pulp Fiction, in which after visiting Jack Rabbit Slims restaurant, which I blogged about back in March, Mia accidentally overdoses on some heroin that Vincent had stashed in his jacket pocket.  When Vincent discovers Mia on the floor, unconscious and unresponsive, he drives her to his drug dealer, Lance’s, home in the hopes that Lance can help her.  It is there that Vincent winds up giving Mia an adrenaline shot, saving her life.

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In the scene, Vincent crashes his car into the front of Lance’s house, destroying the roof and part of the porch.

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I am very happy to report that the residence’s roof and porch are currently intact and that, despite the property’s shabby appearance onscreen, as you can see above, it is actually quite adorable in person.

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And while the apartment building across the street from Lance’s house still looks very much the same as it did in the movie;

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there is now, sadly, a fence located on the eastern side of the property, which blocks the neighboring lawn that is pictured in the above screen capture from view.

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And while I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs online to verify that hunch.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Pulp Fiction filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Lance’s house from Pulp Fiction is located at 3519 La Clede Avenue in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles.