IAMNOTASTALKER

July 21, 2017July 21, 2017

The Site of the “A Few Good Men” Crab Restaurant

To paraphrase Dorothy (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz, our heart’s desires can often be found right in our own backyard. Even though I’ve seen the 1939 film about a gazillion times, I failed to heed Dorothy’s advice while searching for the crab restaurant Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) took Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) to in fave movie A Few Good Men. The eatery had long been at the top of my Must-Find List, but because I always assumed it was located in the D.C. area where the 1992 courtroom drama was partially shot, I never put much energy into tracking it down. When I found out that the Grim Cheaper and I would be journeying to the East Coast last fall, though, I immediately sprang into action – and was shocked to discover that the locale was right in my own backyard the whole time. Or at least, it was. The restaurant has, sadly, since been razed, hence the odd photo above which shows roughly where it once stood.

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For those who don’t remember the scene (or perhaps have never seen the movie, which I can’t imagine is possible!), toward the middle of A Few Good Men, JoAnne shows up unexpectedly at Danny’s apartment and asks if she can take him out for dinner (it’s not a date, though!) at a good seafood place she knows. After razzing her quite a bit, Danny accepts the invite and the two head to a very East Coast-looking spot, where they proceed to eat crab off of a paper-covered table, with mallets as their only utensils.

The scene absolutely mesmerized me. Though I grew up in San Francisco, home to fish restaurants galore, until watching A Few Good Men, I had never seen crab eaten in such a way and wanted nothing more than to visit a place like that myself. So, on one of my first visits to D.C., back in 2001, I told my friends who lived in the area that I was not leaving town without going to a similar spot. (This was before I became a master stalker, so it never even occurred to me to try to track down the actual A Few Good Men restaurant during that trip.) My friends happily obliged and that meal is one of my fondest memories of the whole vacation. A page from my D.C. photo album is pictured below, showing us enjoying crab in all of our messy-handed glory.

For this trip, I decided I had to track down the real spot. Most sources I came across online claimed that the A Few Good Men scene was lensed at The Dancing Crab, a D.C. institution that had been around for more than 40 years, but was, sadly, shuttered in 2014. At the time of its closure, the restaurant was located at 4615 Wisconsin Avenue NW in the District’s Tenleytown neighborhood. The photos of the site posted on Yelp did not look anything like what appeared in AFGM, though. So I did some digging and learned that the eatery had moved locations in recent years. It was originally situated one storefront to the south at 4611 Wisconsin Avenue NW. Though I could not find any images of The Dancing Crab from its time at that spot, I could tell from looking at the outside of the building via Google Street View that it was not the right place. Two large windows are visible in the background of the AFGM scene, but the original Dancing Crab site (pictured below) has no such windows. So it was back to the drawing board. (Come to find out, The Dancing Crab does have an A Few Good Men connection, but more on that in a bit.)

I decided to start contacting crew members and got lucky when one responded right away. His reply to my query absolutely blew my mind. He informed me that the AFGM crab restaurant could not be found in Washington, D.C., but much closer to home, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles. As he explained, the eatery was a diner in the San Pedro area that had been redressed to look like a seafood restaurant for the shoot. Then he shocked me even further when he mentioned that the same site had also been used in When Harry Met Sally . . .! At the time, I was unaware that the 1989 romcom had done any filming in the L.A. area. My crew member friend did not remember the name or address of the diner, so I started looking into things and fairly quickly came across its whereabouts thanks to the book Shot On This Site, which stated that a scene from When Harry Met Sally . . . had been lensed at the Port Café in Wilmington. I was devastated to learn upon reading further that the eatery, once located at 955 South Neptune Avenue, just steps from the Port of Los Angeles, had since been demolished.

Scant information about the Port Café is available online, other than a few building permits and the short blurb below which was featured in the book Wilmington (Images of America). Originally built in 1941, the diner was mainly patronized by people who worked on the docks nearby. Aside from moving about 100 feet to the north in 1956 in order to accommodate the enlargement of a nearby terminal, little of the restaurant was changed over the years. Sadly, I could not locate any photos of the interior of the space to compare to screen shots from A Few Good Men.

So I popped in my When Harry Met Sally . . . DVD and was dismayed to see that the café, featured in the beginning of the movie in the scene in which Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) stop for a roadside meal during their drive from Chicago to Manhattan, did not look anything like the A Few Good Men crab restaurant. I started to think that maybe my crew member friend had gotten it wrong. Even though I knew that the space had been completely redressed for AFGM, I thought that some small detail at the very least would be recognizable from WHMS. I could not find a single matching element, though. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Enter my friend/fellow stalker Michael (you know him from his many fabulous guest posts). Michael’s eye is much keener than mine, so I asked him to take a look at the AFGM crab restaurant scene and compare it to the WHMS diner scene to see if I was missing anything. Sure enough, I was! As he noticed, a post and lintel (denoted with a purple circle below) and a beam (denoted with a green arrow) that match each other perfectly are visible in the respective scenes.

Upon taking another look at the two movies, I also spotted the post and lintel (albeit the opposite side of it) in an exterior shot in When Harry Met Sally . . .

And I noticed that the stainless steel/green/pink wall schematic (denoted with a purple bracket below) was the same in both flicks. (Love that the Port Café’s 955 address number is visible just to the right of Billy Crystal in the WHMS cap.)

The two movies (which were both coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, directed by Rob Reiner) really showcase different sections of the Port Café, which, along with the re-dressing of the space for A Few Good Men, makes it appear to be two totally distinct places. Helping with the visual manipulation is the fact that the restaurant seems to have had two counters (denoted with purple arrows below) and two kitchens (denoted with green arrows below) – one of each in the center of the space and one of each on the side.

Though the side counter is mainly featured in When Harry Met Sally . . . , Michael pointed out that we get brief views of the central counter, as well, when Harry and Sally enter and exit the restaurant.

The diagonal edge (denoted with purple arrows below) of the counter in A Few Good Men, the wood material, the metal piece running parallel to the floor (denoted with green arrows below) and the foot rest (denoted with yellow arrows below) all correlate to the center counter briefly seen in When Harry Met Sally . . . The green flooring visible in both movies is also a match.

Because I was having trouble envisioning how the Port Café was laid out (the two counters/kitchens really threw me), Michael was kind enough to draw up a diagram, which I transformed into the graphic below. The areas of the eatery utilized and visible in A Few Good Men are denoted in red (the initials TC and DM stand for Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, respectively), those utilized and visible in When Harry Met Sally . . . are blue (BC and MR stand for Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan), and those utilized and visible in both movies are teal.

When Harry Met Sally . . . provides us with some great views of the exterior of the Port Café.

I thought those views, along with the Historic Aerials image pictured below, would help me discern the Port Café’s exact former location when I went out to stalk it last week.

When I got to the area, though, I could not make heads or tails of anything and failed to take photos of the precise place. The picture below is the closest I got to the correct location. The Port Café was formerly located pretty much in the spot where the purple arrow is pointing.

Had I panned just a bit to the north, I would have captured its exact former site. Thank God for Street View!

The purple box outlines where the eatery was formerly situated.

In When Harry Met Sally . . ., Sally’s car travels north on Neptune Avenue before turning left (west) onto East Pier A Place and then into the Port Café parking lot. A very crude graphic showing her route is pictured below. The pink line depicts the path of Sally’s car.

Many of the tanks visible when she drives to the restaurant have been razed, as you can see from my photograph below (which, believe it or not, is pretty much a matching angle to the screen capture), though the tall white one on the left-most side still stands.

The tank situated on the side of the Port Café also still stands. It is pictured below, albeit from a different angle.

As I mentioned earlier, A Few Good Men does have a connection to the now defunct Dancing Crab restaurant. In his DVD commentary, Rob Reiner states that while filming in the D.C.-area, he took the cast and crew out for dinner at The Dancing Crab. The ambiance of paper-covered tables and mallet utensils made such an impression on him that he was inspired to place an AFGM scene in a similar setting. So when they got back to L.A., he did just that. And the rest, as they say, is history.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to my friend Michael for helping me to identify this spot! Smile You can check out Michael’s many fabulous guest posts here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Port Café, aka the crab restaurant from A Few Good Men, was formerly located at 955 South Neptune Avenue in Wilmington. The spot where it once stood is denoted with a pink box below.

July 19, 2017July 19, 2017

Frank and Claire’s Townhouse from “House of Cards”

It is a rare occasion for me to lay eyes on a Hollywood-designed set and not immediately want to move in. But such was the case with the townhouse belonging to Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his wife, Claire (Robin Wright), on the Netflix series House of Cards. While I love the handsome brick exterior of the politico couple’s pad (who wouldn’t?), the inside is just a bit too cold and a bit too stark for my tastes. Though undeniably beautiful, Frank and Claire’s décor and furnishings look like something straight out of a magazine – not lived in, very impersonal, and all sleek, shiny and straight lines. The aura the home gives off is a huge testament to the talent of the House of Cards set designers because cold, stark, sleek and shiny are characteristics that perfectly describe Claire and Frank. The townhouse is an exacting reflection of its occupants and, as such, is one of the series’ most notable locations, despite only being featured in two out of five seasons. So it was, of course, on my list of spots to stalk while I was in Baltimore, where House of Cards is mainly lensed, last fall.

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Said to be located at 1609 Far Street NW in Washington, D.C. on the series, in real life, Frank and Claire’s townhouse can be found at 1609 Park Avenue in Baltimore’s Bolton Hill neighborhood.

The 4,600-square-foot, 4-level dwelling features 4 bedrooms, 5 fireplaces (though this article mentions 6 bedrooms and 7 fireplaces, so I am unsure which figures are correct), 3 baths, 12-foot-high ceilings, pine flooring, a rear patio, a 2-car garage with a rooftop deck, a 3-story lightwell, and dual staircases.

Originally built in 1880, the 20-foot-wide townhouse had not only been transformed into a 3-unit apartment building, but had also fallen into serious disrepair by the time Jeff and Norma Epstein purchased it in 1995. The couple spent the next two years restoring it back to its original grandeur, with Jeff, a licensed contractor, doing most of the work himself.

Though the remodel was a labor of love for the couple, they recently decided to move out of state and put the residence up for auction last month with a starting price of $500,000. There do not appear to have been any takers, though, and it looks like the home is now on the market for $824,900.

The townhouse is located in a gorgeous neighborhood . . .

. . . situated directly across from a median that has been fashioned into a park, complete with a sparkling fountain.

The scenery looks like it was taken straight out of the opening credits of Friends.

Image result for friends opening credits

It took all I had not to jump in the fountain and start dancing. Winking smile

The townhouse was only utilized during the first and second seasons of House of Cards. By the end of Season 2, Frank and Claire had upgraded their digs by (spoiler alert!) moving into the White House upon Frank taking over the presidency. (When Season 3 began airing, HotPads humorously ran a fictional article about the Underwood residence being available for rent.) Surprisingly, the townhouse’s exterior was rarely shown on the series . . .

. . . and when it was, it was typically in dark, nighttime shots, so not much of it was ever seen onscreen.

The interior, however, which was just a set located at the Joppa, Maryland warehouse where the series is lensed, was featured regularly. Production designers are said to have modeled the set after the actual inside of the Bolton Hill townhome, but as the property’s MLS photos attest to, said interior is staggeringly different from its onscreen counterpart. Most notably, the inside of the actual home is much smaller and much less ornate than Frank and Claire’s residence. For this post, I thought it would be fun to do a little set vs. real life house tour, so here goes! We’ll start with the entrance hall. Though both boast wood embellishments, the Underwood’s hallway is more grand and quite a bit wider than the hallway of the actual home.

A view of the respective entrance halls from the opposite direction is pictured below.

Aside from similar fireplaces, the two living rooms don’t resemble each other at all.

As you can see below, the Underwood living room is much wider than that of the actual townhome.

The same is true of the dining rooms – the set dining room is much wider than the real life residence’s dining room.

Though both boast a white color scheme, the Underwoods’ kitchen is much larger and much more modern than that of the actual townhome.

Another major difference – while the Underwoods’ kitchen is located on the main level of their house, the kitchen of the real life property is, oddly, situated in the basement.

Though the Underwoods do have a basement, it is only semi-finished and, as you can see, looks nothing like the townhome’s actual basement.

Claire and Frank’s master bedroom is much more subdued than its real life counterpart, though, once again, the fireplaces are very similar.

The Underwoods’ patio, one of my favorite aspects of the property, is covered with picturesque foliage and enclosed by a large stucco wall. The actual patio is much less lush and is instead enclosed by a wooden fence, giving it a very different look, though the window and door are similar to those of the set.

Sadly, Frank and Claire’s dining room “smoking window,” which was situated next to the fireplace in the set’s dining room, is nowhere to be found in real life.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Frank and Claire’s townhouse from House of Cards is located at 1609 Park Avenue in Baltimore’s Bolton Hill neighborhood.

July 17, 2017July 14, 2017

Freddy’s BBQ Joint from “House of Cards”

I have never been a fan of dark TV shows or movies. Surprising, I know, considering my love for true crime and all podcasts, documentaries and news stories related to the subject. But when it comes to fictional TV and movie watching, I prefer a much lighter fare. One exception to this rule is House of Cards, which the Grim Cheaper and I got really into a couple of summers ago. The Netflix original series is undeniably dark and exceptionally heavy, but the smart writing, incredible acting, and biting political storylines sucked us right in. Another draw is the myriad of dynamic characters, my favorite of which [aside from Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) – his Southern drawl is fabulous, and that ring knock!] is easily Freddy Hayes (Reg E. Cathey), proprietor of Freddy’s BBQ Joint, the hole-in-the-wall rib restaurant Frank regularly frequents. Not only is Freddy’s advice uniquely sage and storytelling top-notch, but his friendship with Frank is just so endearing. So, last summer, when I found out we were heading to Baltimore, where House of Cards is largely lensed, I told the Grim Cheaper there was no way we were leaving town without stalking Freddy’s – or the storefront used to represent it, I should say.

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Though I knew that Freddy’s BBQ Joint was obviously not a real spot, I figured that the production utilized an actual restaurant of some sort to shoot the scenes taking place there. Sadly, that is not the case. Freddy’s is a completely fictional eatery created by the House of Cards crew at a vacant space on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore’s Better Waverly neighborhood – a fact I gleaned from this Mix 106.5 article while preparing for my trip. Despite my disappointment over learning the news, I was still absolutely thrilled to see the site in person.

Freddy’s BBQ Joint first popped up in the House of Cards pilot, titled “Chapter 1.” In the episode, Frank makes an early pit stop at the restaurant and, in one of his superb asides, explains, “My one guilty pleasure is a good rack of ribs, even at 7:30 in the morning. I have the whole place to myself. Freddy sometimes opens up just for me. Where I come from in South Carolina, people didn’t have two pennies to rub together. A rack of ribs is a luxury, like Christmas in July.”

Freddy’s goes on to appear regularly on the series, becoming one of its most notable locations.

Well, throughout the first two years, anyway. Towards the end of Season 2, in the episode titled “Chapter 22,” Freddy is (spoiler alert!) caught in the middle of Frank’s political schemings and is forced to sell his restaurant.

In person, the rundown storefront used to portray Freddy’s BBQ Joint looks much the same as it does onscreen.

The Freddy’s signage is missing, of course, but otherwise the site appears as if it jumped right off of the television screen.

I absolutely love that the place’s weathered look is authentic and not a design element fabricated by the House of Cards crew.

I was especially obsessed with the storefront’s tarnished roof eave.

In the House of Cards pilot, Frank does not venture inside Freddy’s, but instead chooses to eat on the restaurant’s side patio.

He mainly dines indoors in the episodes that follow, though.

Mahmut Nazli, owner of the Greenmount Avenue storefront, told the Independent in 2014 that the House of Cards crew re-designed his shop in preparation for filming, installing walls and shelving, which alludes to the fact that the interior was used in the production. Several other articles I’ve come across, though (like this one and this one), stipulate that the inside of Freddy’s BBQ Joint was a set built at the 300,000-square-foot Joppa, Maryland warehouse-turned-soundstage where the series is lensed.

Of the crew’s re-design, Nazli went on to say, “They were supposed to change it back, but I asked them not to,” which leads me to wonder if maybe a couple of House of Cards’ early episodes were shot on location inside of the actual Greenmount storefront and then a set modeled after the site’s interior was eventually built at the Joppa warehouse. I scanned through all of the episodes featuring Freddy’s, though, and never noticed any changes or discernable differences to the interior that would point to a change in filming venues. So I am unsure on this one.

Per the Independent article, the Greenmount Avenue space has previously served as a fried chicken restaurant, a book store, and a community center over the years, though Google Street View shows it as being vacant since at least 2007.

Nazli put the storefront up for sale in 2014 for $119,000, but, despite the locale’s onscreen fame, it does not appear as if there were any takers.

In this fabulous 2014 TODAY article, Reg. E Cathey talks about House of Cards and the Freddy’s BBQ Joint site, stating, “I’ve shot three projects in that same neighborhood, even that same corner.” Though he mentions Homicide: Life on the Street, The Corner and The Wire, because I have never seen any of those productions, I am unsure which of the three were lensed in the vicinity of Freddy’s, nor could I find any information online about filming on that same block of Greenmount Avenue, unfortunately.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The vacant storefront that masks as Freddy’s BBQ Joint on House of Cards is located at 2601 Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore.

July 12, 2017July 10, 2017

The Old Place from “Scorpion”

There are some spots in L.A. that I miss more than others. The Old Place pretty much tops that list. I first stalked the rustic eatery, tucked away on a forested road in the picturesque mountain town of Cornell, in 2011 and was immediately smitten. Because the restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday and because I don’t get out to the Cornell area very often since moving to Palm Springs, I haven’t been able to frequent it as much as I’d like. So I was thrilled when it popped up in a recent episode of my latest TV obsession, Scorpion. Though I blogged about the Old Place after my initial visit six years ago, come to find out, I missed a lot of the restaurant’s onscreen appearances in the post. As such, I figured it was definitely time for a redeux. So here goes.

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The history of the Old Place was covered pretty extensively in my 2011 write-up, but I thought I’d include a brief recap here, too. The eatery was originally founded by Tom Runyon (Los Angeles’ Runyon Canyon is named after his family) and his wife, Barbara, in a former general store/post office that dates back to either 1884 or 1914, depending on which publication you happen to be reading.

The couple purchased the site, which at the time was abandoned, in 1969 and spent the next year transforming it into a rugged restaurant.

Tom did most of the work himself, salvaging unique items to use as décor. Booth backs were created out of doors from a San Francisco hotel, columns flanking the end of each booth came from the Old Santa Barbara Mission, and the bench that runs the length of the 30-foot antique bar was fashioned out of a wooden diving board. The result of his efforts is a majestic, intimate, and one-of-a-kind spot.

The minuscule restaurant consists of five booths, three tables and a scant forty seats – and for many years had only two employees, Tom and Barbara. Tom served as the chef, cooking up the only two items on the menu, steak and clams, while Barbara manned the bar and worked as the waitress. Despite the tiny confines and limited menu offerings, the Old Place thrived – and became a celebrity hotspot, serving up the likes of Ali MacGraw, Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Jack Lemmon, Dolly Parton, Emilio Estevez, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Elvis Presley even stopped by in February 1966 while in town filming Spinout. (You can see some photos of him out in front of the eatery here.) In recent years, Britney Spears has been known to pop in.

When Tom passed away in 2009, Tom and Barbara’s son, Morgan, took over the restaurant, along with Tim Skogstrom, who runs the Cornell Winery & Tasting Room next door. The duo expanded the menu and wine list and added a credit card machine, but left the rest of Tom’s creation virtually untouched. One step over the Old Place’s threshold and guests are immediately transported back in time.

The site’s low-slung ceiling, wood-paneled walls, dimly-lit sconces, and friendly servers all add to the warm, intimate atmosphere. It is hands-down one of my favorite spots in all of Los Angeles – as evidenced by its prominent placement on both My Must-Stalk List and My Guide to L.A. – Restaurants. I honestly cannot say enough good things about the restaurant.

Thanks to the eatery’s uniquely rural charm, location managers have flocked to it over the years.

Which should come as no surprise – the Old Place looks like it jumped straight out of a Western movie set.

Back in 1964, when the site still housed a general store/post office, Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) stopped there to pick up his boss’ mail in the Season 2 episode of The Fugitive titled “Tug of War.”

Two years later, the property popped up once again on The Fugitive, this time as a sheriff’s station in Season 3’s “Stroke of Genius.”

In 1972, the Old Place was used as the exterior of Elmo’s restaurant in the Season 5 episode of The Mod Squad titled “The Thundermakers.” (Interiors were filmed elsewhere.)

Sy Rogers (Gary Sandy) worked at the Old Place in the Season 5 episode of Barnaby Jones titled “Renegade’s Child,” which aired in 1976.

In the 1977 action film Telefon, the Old Place masqueraded as The Dougout, the Halderville, Texas bar where Barbara (Lee Remick) and Major Grigori Borzov (Charles Bronson) fought spies.

Only the exterior of the site was utilized in the flick. Interior scenes were shot on a set constructed at MGM. Though the set very closely resembled the interior of the Old Place, it was built much larger than the actual restaurant.

In 1987, the Old Place portrayed Last Stop Sandwich, the roadside stop where Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) spotted Nicki Rains (Lydia Cornell) grabbing a drink in the Season 3 episode of Hunter titled “Straight to the Heart.”

The exterior of the Old Place also popped up briefly as a Native American artifacts store in Hunter’s Season 5 episode titled “Return of the White Cloud,” which aired in 1989. (Interiors were filmed elsewhere.)

In 1990, the restaurant masked as the Bookhouse, aka the meeting place of Twin Peaks’ secret society, in the Season 1 episode of Twin Peaks titled “Episode 3” or “Rest in Pain.”

The Old Place is where Vann (Owen Wilson) met Casper (Sheryl Crowe) at the beginning of the 1999 thriller The Minus Man.

In the Season 7 episode of The X-Files titled “En Ami,” which aired in 2000, the Old Place played Cory’s Café, where Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and CGB Spender (William B. Davis) stopped for gas while in Goochland, Virginia.

Earlier this year, the Old Place masqueraded as Montana’s Jefferson Grill in the Season 13 episode of Grey’s Anatomy titled “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?”

And, as I mentioned in my intro, the Old Place also recently popped up on Scorpion. In the Season 3 episode titled “Faux Money Maux Problems,” the restaurant portrayed the Simi Valley Saloon, where Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel), Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham) and Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick) sought refuge after escaping their Norteguayan kidnappers.

Both the interior and exterior of the property were featured in the episode.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Old Place, from the “Faux Money Maux Problems” episode of Scorpion, is located at 29983 Mulholland Highway in Cornell (or Agoura Hills). The restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday, so plan accordingly. You can visit The Old Place’s official website here.

July 10, 2017July 10, 2017

Retro Dairy Mart from “Say Anything . . . “

“That’s L.A. – they worship everything and they value nothing.” So says Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) while lamenting the closure of a historic jazz club and its subsequent transition into a samba/tapas place in La La Land. Though I did not like the movie (as mentioned previously), I have to agree with Seb on this one. Los Angeles does often show a blatant disregard for its history, regularly razing notable buildings and sites with a nonchalant swoop of its proverbial hand. One yesteryear locale that somehow not only escaped the fate of the wrecking ball, but also popped up in La La Land is the Retro Dairy Mart in Burbank. The property’s onscreen stint in the 2016 musical has been well-documented online for quite a while now, but I was completely surprised when Greg Mariotti, from Cameron Crowe’s official website The Uncool, informed me of its appearance in Say Anything . . . while the two of us were working on our round-up of the 1989 flick’s Los Angeles locales. Since the drive-through market has been featured in two such iconic productions, I figured it was worthy of its own blog post.

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Retro Dairy Mart was originally established as an Alta Dena Dairy market in 1962.

The Alta Dena Dairy company began building the mini grocery stores in 1951, providing patrons with basic sundries like eggs, milk, sugar, and butter all from a convenient drive-up window. The cash-and-carry markets, as they were referred to, became quite popular and countless outposts were constructed across Los Angeles throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s. Though not nearly as prevalent today, there were still 82 of the shops dotting the Southern California landscape as of 2006.

The Burbank site remained in operation until 2014. When it hit the market, recent retiree Patricia Franco saw an opportunity to revitalize the space, while still embracing its retro roots. And revitalize it she did! Patricia completely revamped both the property’s interior and exterior. Over a period of five months, she added a front patio, implemented a red, white and black color scheme, planted foliage, installed new countertops and black-and-white checkered flooring, and expanded the inventory. She dubbed her new shop “Retro Dairy Mart.” It really is an adorable little spot and I am not at all surprised that it turned up in La La Land. The site looked quite a bit different 27 years prior to that, though, when Cameron Crowe pegged it as a location for Say Anything . . .

Masking as a Seattle-area gas station/convenience store, Alta Dena Dairy pops up towards the end of the movie, in the scene in which Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) asks some male friends – including a young Jeremy Piven – for advice on girls. After they share some not-so-choice pieces of wisdom with him, Lloyd can’t help but question, “If you guys know so much about women, how come you’re here at, like, a Gas N Sip on a Saturday night, completely alone, drinking beers, with no women anywhere?” Their response? “By choice, man!”

In the segment, Lloyd is pacing along the market’s east side (in the area pictured below, which is now covered by an overhang), while his friends sit across from him in front of the chain link fence that separates the mart’s parking lot from that of what is now the Burning Bonzai restaurant located next door.

Lloyd’s positioning in the scene is denoted with a pink “x” in the aerial view below, while that of his friends is denoted with blue circles.

Though the market no longer resembles its Say Anything . . . self, its slanted front roofline remains unchanged.

As do the pipes and electrical equipment visible behind Lloyd’s friends on the Burning Bonzai next door.

I cannot express how cool it was to stand there, in the footsteps of Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, and Gregory Sporleder (Hello, Coach Romano from Never Been Kissed!), 28 years after the fact, and see those pipes and wires in the exact same positioning that they were in when filming took place.

Even the ledge Lloyd’s friends sat on appears untouched, aside from a paint job.

Though Retro Dairy Mart only popped up briefly in La La Land in the scene in which Seb grabs a morning coffee, a much wider view of it was shown than in Say Anything . . . Other than the fact that the front patio area was expanded for the shoot, the site looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.

Unfortunately, the brightly-colored Californian Oranges mural seen on the wall of the Burning Bonzai building was just set decoration that was painted over after filming wrapped.

Van Beek, the jazz-club-turned-samba-tapas place that Seb laments throughout La La Land, sits directly across the street from the Retro Dairy Mart. As Sebastian explains to Mia (Emma Stone) in the movie, “I get coffee five miles out of the way just so I can be near a jazz club.” In reality, that building is the former Magnolia Theatre.

The Magnolia appears twice in La La Land – first in the scene in which Seb grabs coffee and then in a later segment in which Mia helps Seb destroy one of the bar’s signs.

Though there seem to be differing reports about its history online, from what I have gathered the Magnolia Theatre was designed by architect Clifford A. Balch in 1941. The one-screen, 797-seat venue was shuttered in 1979 when the owners lost their lease and was subsequently transformed into a recording studio named Evergreen Studios, established in part by Barbra Streisand. Though the property has since been sold and renamed numerous times, it continues to operate as a music studio. Just a few of the stars who have recorded on the premises include Frank Sinatra, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Plácido Domingo, Mariah Carey, George Martin, and Stephen Sondheim.

La La Land is hardly the first production to utilize the Magnolia Theatre.

Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) helps Lona McLane (Kim Novak) with some car trouble in the parking lot of the Magnolia after catching a flick at the theatre in the 1954 noir Pushover.

In the Season 3 episode of Columbo titled “Double Exposure,” which aired in 1973, Dr. Bart Keppel (Robert Culp) perfects his use of subliminal advertising at the Magnolia. The theatre looks a bit different in Columbo than it did in Pushover due to a renovation that took place in 1963.

Thanks to the Dear Old Hollywood website, I learned that the Magnolia Theatre is where Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) discovers that his wife is having an affair in the 1975 thriller Night Moves.

The Season 1 episode of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl titled “Glitter Rock,” which aired in 1976, also took place at the Magnolia, which the narrator says is located in a “seedy, run-down section of the city.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Retro Dairy Mart, aka the Gas N Sip from Say Anything . . ., is located at 4420 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The Magnolia Theatre from La La Land is located across the street at 4403 West Magnolia Boulevard.

July 7, 2017July 5, 2017

Off Limits Cocktail Lounge from “Rosewood”

I’m still in quite a bit of shock – not to mention completely heartbroken – over the recent cancellation of Rosewood. The cancellation was especially stinging being that there are a couple of locations from the former Fox series that I stalked, but have yet to blog about – namely Off Limits cocktail lounge, the supposed Miami-area dive-y bar that Dr. Beaumont ‘Rosie’ Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and partner Det. Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) regularly frequented. In reality, the watering hole (which, like Rosewood, was recently shut down) can be found in Orange County – Anaheim, to be exact – where the vast majority of the Florida-set series was lensed.

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I discovered this locale thanks to an April 2016 The Orange County Register article in which Rosewood co-executive producer Vahan Moosekian was quoted as saying, “We were scouting locations for a bar and house and we looked all over and we found them in Anaheim. The house (on Lemon Street) looked like it belonged in Florida and then we found the (Off Limits) bar just a few miles away.” Thank you, OC Register!

Sadly, by the time I stalked the place in mid-March of this year, it had been shuttered, so I only got to see the exterior. Yelp still has photos of the interior posted, though. You can check them out here.

As I learned from commenters on Off Limits’ Facebook page, the bar’s owner passed away earlier this year and the property was subsequently sold. Much to the dismay of the many longtime regulars, the site’s future is currently up in the air.

Thankfully, the watering hole’s signage has been left intact for the time being.

And what fabulous signage it is!

I’m kind of obsessed. I absolutely love retro roadside signs.

Off Limits cocktail lounge was originally established way back in August 1990. Prior to that, the space housed an upscale cook-your-own steak eatery/piano bar known as The Roberts Room.

Off Limits first popped up in Rosewood’s second episode, titled “Fireflies and Fidelity.” In the episode, Villa explains to Rosie that she “basically grew up” at the bar, spending many afternoons drinking Arnold Palmers while her dad hustled money out of gullible pool players. Despite her classification of the place as a “dump,” it holds special meaning for her. She says, “It’s my sanctuary. Some people go to church. I come here.”

The bar went on to become Rosie and Villa’s regular hangout, appearing almost weekly on the series.

It was utilized so often, in fact, that I am surprised a set re-creation of it wasn’t built at MBS Media Campus, the Manhattan Beach studio where the show was shot. That does not appear to have been the case, though. From what I can tell, the many scenes that took place at Off Limits were actually shot on location at the bar.

Though it was Off Limits’ interior that was mainly featured on Rosewood, the exterior – with its fabulous sign – did show up on occasion.

Off Limits was only utilized throughout Rosewood’s first season. Though it was never discussed on the series, Rosie and Villa just stopped hanging out there during Season 2.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Off Limits cocktail lounge from Rosewood was formerly located at 819 South Euclid Street in Anaheim. The site is currently closed.

July 3, 2017June 29, 2017

The Fourth of July Parade Location from “The Wonder Years” Finale

Americans nationwide will be gathering together tomorrow to celebrate the birth of our country. So what better time than today to write about a location related to the holiday? Back in late 2015, I stalked the street where Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his family and friends attended a July 4th parade in the final episode of The Wonder Years, Season 6’s “Independence Day.” Filming of the nostalgic – and, let’s face it, incredibly sad – scene, which was the second to last of the entire series, took place on Greenleaf Avenue in Uptown Whittier. Though I had planned on blogging about the picturesque street last year in honor of the Fourth, I somehow completely forgot to do so. Then, in a rather fortuitous turn, I randomly came across my images of the site while going through old photographs a couple of days ago. Talk about perfect timing!

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Uptown Whittier was originally established in 1887.

The charming business district, which is centered around tree-lined Greenleaf Avenue, boasts shops, boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and a historic theatre.

The district also boasts quite a few historically significant spots, including the National Bank of Whittier Building at 13006 Philadelphia Street. Constructed in 1923 by architects John and David Parkinson, the Beaux Arts-style structure was the site of Richard Nixon’s first law office.

Greenleaf Avenue could not be more idyllic and perfectly encapsulates that Smalltown, U.S.A. feel, especially when viewed through a camera lens.

It is not very hard to see why location managers have flocked there over the years.

I first learned of Greenleaf Avenue’s appearance in The Wonder Years finale thanks to the Tourist Inspiration website, which I came across while researching locations during my binge of the series back in 2014. The website states, “The parade scene in the final episode of The Wonder Years was filmed at the corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Street. Kevin is standing under the awning of Rocky Cola Café. He crosses Philadelphia to meet Paul (Josh Saviano) as a parade goes by.” I immediately added the information to my To-Stalk List without doing any verification of it, which was an unfortunate mistake. As I discovered when I sat down to write this post, Tourist Inspiration’s data is as erroneous as that pesky rumor that Saviano grew up to become Marilyn Manson. Not only did Kevin not cross a street to reach Paul in “Independence Day,” but he also never stood in front of the Rocky Cola Café. In the parade scene, Kevin sidles up to Paul outside of what is now Pour Le Bain at 6721 Greenleaf Avenue. (Sadly, because of the erroneous info, I took photos of the wrong areas of Greenleaf while I was there, so you’ll have to make due with some Street View imagery in this post.)

Kevin and Paul – and Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), who is also in tow – then head over to where the Arnold family is waiting, on the sidewalk in front of the small park-like space situated in between what is now La Monarca Bakery, at 6727 Greenleaf, and Mimo’s Café, at 6735 Greenleaf.

That area is pictured below via Street View.

The group then proceeds to watch the parade while standing in front of what is now Legends Boardshop, at 6725 Greenleaf.

As I mentioned above, Greenleaf Avenue has long been popular with location scouts. In 1987’s Masters of the Universe, He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) searches for a portal-opening cosmic key on Greenleaf.

After finding out they are going to have a baby in 1995’s Father of the Bride Part II, George (Steve Martin) and Nina Banks (Diane Keaton) drive down Greenleaf and watch various parent-child interactions.

Greenleaf is also the road Franck Eggelhoffer (Martin Short) speeds down on the way to the hospital at the end of the film.

Greenleaf is the site of Wendy Carroll’s (Ashley Williams) candy shop in Lifetime’s 2013 made-for-television movie Christmas in the City.

Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) re-create Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” music video on Greenleaf in the Season 6 episode of Glee titled “The Hurt Locker: Part 1,” which aired in 2015.

The upcoming movie Spinning Man also did some filming on Greenleaf Avenue.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Fourth of July parade from the “Independence Day” episode of The Wonder Years was filmed on the 6700 block of Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, in front of what is now Pour Le Bain (6721 Greenleaf), Legends Boardshop (6725 Greenleaf), and the small park-like space located in between La Monarca Bakery (6727 Greenleaf) and Mimo’s Café (6735 Greenleaf).

June 30, 2017June 29, 2017

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour

My knowledge of Elvis Presley is basically limited to the fact that he was a singer (duh!), his 1957 drafting into the army served as the inspiration for the play and movie Bye Bye Birdie, he called a spectacular Tennessee mansion named Graceland home (the manse is the setting of one of my favorite plays ever, Ellen Byron’s aptly titled Graceland), and he learned his famous hip-thrusting moves from a young Forrest Gump. (Ha, just kidding about that last one.) So yeah, virtually everything I know about The King was gleaned from some sort of movie or stage production. (Truth be told, most of my knowledge comes from movie, stage, or TV productions.) I’m always interested in learning more about anyone or anything Hollywood-related, though. So when my good friend Steffi (who surprised me with a visit recently for my 40th birthday) mentioned that she wanted to take a tour of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance.

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I have stalked the exterior of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway a couple of times over the years and covered its history pretty extensively in this July 2012 post. So as not to repeat myself, today’s write-up will focus mainly on the tour and only include a brief recap of the property’s background.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway was originally built in 1960 for real estate developer Robert Alexander. Designed by the mid-century-modern master William Krisel, the layout of the sprawling pad consists of four perfect circles situated on three levels.

Elvis leased the residence, which Look magazine dubbed “The House of Tomorrow,” for a year beginning in September 1966 and used it as a vacation home. He quickly fell in love with Palm Springs during his visits to the dwelling – so much so that he decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, in the property’s backyard next to the swimming pool. As the story goes, gossip columnist Rona Barrett, who lived nearby, caught wind of the impending nuptials and announced it on her nightly TV show. A media firestorm quickly erupted and journalists descended upon the home. The frenzy caused Elvis and Priscilla to rethink their decision and in the early morning hours of May 1st, 1967, the two headed to Las Vegas, courtesy of Frank Sinatra’s private plane, and tied the knot in a suite at the Aladdin hotel. They returned to their Palm Springs pad later that afternoon, where Elvis carried Priscilla up the front steps, across the threshold and upstairs into the bedroom, forever cementing the home’s status as the “Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.” Two days later, the newly betrothed couple headed back to Graceland, though they visited the Hideaway several times throughout the year it was leased. Elvis eventually purchased a house of his own nearby, which he owned until he passed away in 1977. (You can read about that residence, located at 845 West Chino Canyon Road in Little Tuscany, here.)

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour begins at the threshold Elvis carried Priscilla over.

The tour is actually led by a longtime reader/fellow stalker named Michael (that’s him below), who I’ve been friends with on Facebook for years. Michael is a veritable expert on all things Elvis. There was literally no question about the singer that he couldn’t answer. Listening to his stories about Presley and anecdotes about the house was fascinating. I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to walk in the footsteps of The King with.

Setting foot inside the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is like stepping back in time to 1967. The pad is virtually frozen in time from the days when The King called the place home.

Just beyond the threshold is a large sunken living room . . .

. . . where circle motifs can be found in abundance.

Not only is the room rounded . . .

. . . but the space boasts an amazing circular fireplace and hood . . .

. . . as well as a circular ottoman and a 64-foot curved banquette couch –

– the very same couch that was installed at the house during Elvis and Priscilla’s tenure.

Yep, that’s a photo of them sitting on said couch pictured below.

Amazingly, guests are not only allowed, but encouraged to sit on the couch to pose for photos.

From there, visitors are led into the circular kitchen . . .

. . . which features a rounded stove –

– a close-up of which you can see below;

a massive fridge and two ovens;

and an indoor BBQ (for those hot Palm Springs days when it is much too warm to do any outdoor grilling).

There it is open.

Visitors also get to check out the guest bathroom . . .

. . . which boasts a dressing-room-style mirror;

and a shower.

Obligatory Elvis bathroom selfie!

After passing through the jungle-themed sitting area . . .

. . . visitors are led up the very stairs that Elvis carried Priscilla up the night of their wedding . . .

. . . and into the master bedroom, which is fabulous.

Because of the home’s circular shape, regular photos just don’t do it justice.

It is much better showcased via panorama pics.

None of the furniture or furnishings in the residence are off-limits to guests. As was the case with the couch, visitors are invited to pose on Elvis and Priscilla’s bed, which Steffi and I gladly did!

We also got to catch a glimpse of the master bath . . .

. . . which boasts a massive sunken tub . . .

. . . as well as a built-in magazine rack and a bidet.

I honestly cannot recommend the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour more! It’s the perfect experience for fans of The King, those who want to catch a glimpse of the interior of a celebrity home, and architecture buffs alike.

Sadly, the property is currently for sale, so I am not sure how long tours will be offered.

For those in the market for a new pad, the 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 4,695-square-foot property, which features a pool, a tennis court, gardens, a fruit orchard, and three parcels of land, can be yours for a cool $7 million.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is located at 1350 Ladera Circle in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Tours are offered daily at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. You can find out more information about the tour, as well as purchase tickets, here.

June 28, 2017June 26, 2017

The Gilmore Mansion from “Gilmore Girls”

While I realize this may be considered blasphemy in some circles, I have never really watched Gilmore Girls. On paper, the show definitely looks like something that would appeal to me, but for whatever reason, I failed to tune in when it originally started airing in 2000. At the behest of fellow stalker/Gilmore Girls aficionado Chas, from the It’s Filmed There website, I finally viewed six or so episodes early last year, but the series just didn’t hook me. Don’t get me wrong – GG is not bad or unentertaining by any means. I just can’t seem to get into it – which I think is largely due to the fact that the show boasts 7 seasons, 153 episodes, and a 4-part reboot. That’s a lot of binge-watching to get through. It’s kind of overwhelming to even think about. Despite my viewing neglect, I do know quite a bit about the series’ locations, thanks both to Chas and the fact that I’ve gone on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, where GG was mainly lensed, countless times. One locale I did not know about – heck, not even Chas knew about it – was the home used for establishing shots of the Gilmore mansion, aka the stately pad where Richard (Edward Herrmann) and Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) lived.

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It is pretty common knowledge among Gilmore Girls fans – and regular Warner Bros. tourgoers such as myself – that the exterior of the Gilmore mansion was a façade built inside of a soundstage on the studio lot. So imagine Chas’ surprise when he received an email from Thomas Pucher, of the Falcon Crest website, a couple of months back informing him that said façade was modeled after the exterior of an actual house – a handsome 1924 French Provincial Revival-style manse located in Pasadena. Not only that, but actual footage of the dwelling was used in establishing shots of the Gilmore residence during Season 1.

In real life, the massive 5-bedroom, 7-bath, 8,124-square-foot property, which sits on a 0.74-acre lot, is known as the William R. Staats House.

It was designed by the Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury architecture firm for real estate developer William Staats, who worked with Henry Huntington in developing Pasadena.

The William R. Staats House was not the only mansion utilized as the Gilmore home on Gilmore Girls. In fact, the tale of Richard and Emily’s residence is a bit of a long one. The GG pilot was lensed largely in Toronto, Canada and its environs, with a few re-shoots done on the Warner Bros. Studio backlot. In the pilot, a dwelling at 61 Binscarth Road masked as the Gilmore mansion.

The interior of the Binscarth Road pad was also utilized in the pilot.

Once Gilmore Girls got picked up, production moved to Los Angeles. Virtually all series filming took place at Warner Bros. GG is not a show that left the lot very often. One of the few non-studio locales utilized was the William R. Staats House. The exterior of the residence was first featured in the Season 1 episode titled “Kill Me Now.”

The exterior also appeared in “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers.”

While I knew that the studio-built façade was also utilized during Season 1, because I don’t watch the show, I was unsure of which bits were shot at the real house and which were shot on set. Enter my friend/guest poster extraordinaire Michael (you can read his many IAMNOTASTALKER articles here). Michael is a big fan of GG, so I passed the information about the Staats House along to him. He wound up reviewing several Season 1 episodes and came to the conclusion that the Pasadena pad only appeared in establishing shots a couple of times on the series and that all of the scenes that took place in front of the Gilmore mansion involving actors were lensed at the set re-creation. It was easy for him to distinguish between the real home and the façade based on three factors – the façade bricks are much whiter and flatter than those of the real house, the studio re-creation bushes are much taller than those of the real home, and, most telling of all, the set mansion does not have a threshold, while the real house does.

As Michael further explained, “In the first season they keep pretty close to the door. I assume they hadn’t built much of the exterior at that point. Then in the second season, the front driveway set is expanded, ivy is added to the facade, and a second light is added next to the door, all deviating from the Pasadena location.”

Though some commenters on this recent Reddit post about the Gilmore mansion speculate that the actual interior of the Staats House was utilized during Season 1, that is incorrect. Once the series was picked up, a set replica of the interior of the Toronto residence used in the pilot was constructed. Said set was featured from the second episode, titled “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton” (pictured below), through the end of the series – though it was altered a bit over the years. As creator Amy Sherman-Palladino explained during Entertainment Weekly’s PopFest in October 2016, “We always had this issue with the Gilmore house where we didn’t have a lot of money that first season, so it was a little tiny, and it kinda looked like Ed [Herrmann] was in a doll house. He was a very tall man, and the next year we had a little bit more money, so we could make a room a little bigger every year.”

The enlarged Gilmore mansion interior from Season 2 is pictured below.

As Thomas informed Chas, the Staats House also popped up in two Season 5 episodes of Falcon Crest as the Monte Carlo chateau where Peter Stavros (Cesar Romero) was held prisoner. It first appeared in “Gambit Exposed.”

The interior of the property was also shown in the episode and, as you can see, it does not look anything like the Gilmore mansion.

The Staats House then appeared in the subsequent Falcon Crest episode, titled “Finders and Losers.”

Thanks to Chas, I also learned that the Staats House masked as the home of Richard Montana (Balthazar Getty) in the Season 6 episode of Charmed titled “Love’s a Witch.”

The episode affords us a fabulous look at the interior of the residence.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to Thomas Pucher, from the Falcon Crest website, for finding this location and to Chas, from It’s Filmed There, for telling me about it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Richard and Emily Gilmore’s mansion from Gilmore Girls is located at 293 South Grand Avenue in Pasadena.

June 26, 2017June 27, 2017

The Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Glow”

Be sure to check out my latest article for Los Angeles magazine detailing the filming locations of Glow, the new Netflix comedy series about a 1980s female wrestling organization. I have to admit that when my editor first pitched me the story, I was skeptical. The show did not sound like my cup of tea. But one episode in and I was hooked! Not only is Glow hilarious, but it centers around a group of out-of-work actors in L.A. – and we all know how much I love anything having to do with show business, not to mention the ’80s. I highly recommend Glow to all of my fellow stalkers who have a Netflix subscription.