In Twin Peaks Part 2 on Showtime, Mr. C hosts a dinner party with Ray Monroe, Darya and Jack at a restaurant in South Dakota. The establishing shot for this scene was from Bell’s Motor Lodge in Spearfish, South Dakota (as seen in this article). The restaurant interior, however, was filmed in southern California. It took a group effort on Twitter by fellow Blue Rose Task Force members and one damn, fine Twin Peaks actor to identify the location.
The interior scenes were shot at Mandy’s Family Restaurant located at 13510 S Inglewood Avenue in Hawthorne, California. The discovery was made following a lively Twitter conversation on February 18, 2018.
Fellow Twin Peaks fans @SnoqualmieCarl and Ivan and I were discussing the possible location of the restaurant. One thought was the scene could have been shot at the Four Aces Movie Ranch as it was the backdrop for a few other scenes in Twin Peaks Season 3. The interiors, however, didn’t match the restaurant from Part 2.
Snoqualmie Carl reached out to George Griffith on Twitter, who played one of my favorite characters from Twin Peaks Season 3, Ray Monroe.
He provided this clue which helped our quest to find the restaurant. Searches began for “Family Restaurant” in the Los Angeles area.
One possible location was Dinah’s Family Restaurant, which was used as a location in “Pulp Fiction.” This spot was quickly ruled out as the seats didn’t match.
The booth seating in the episode has buttons (as seen above) while the seats at Dinah’s Family Restaurant did not.
The location discovery was finally made by @Cap_Kat on Twitter who scoured Yelp for “for pictures of family restaurants or diners with button-seated booths.”
Here’s another shot provided by Thomas Mitchell on Google Maps. Notice the button seats near giant windows and wood paneling.
George Griffith later confirmed this was the location (he replied to @Cap_Kat with “kcoR uoY” on Twitter).
Here are a few additional screen caps from the series and a closer look at the building exterior. You can see some of the plants found outside Mandy’s in the series.
One final observation about this scene for folks who NEED another Twin Peaks-inspired coffee mug.
Mr. C drinks from a Brea Mug by Tuxton China. Notice the Tuxton logo on the bottom of the mug and the handle shape that looks like an ear.
