In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Special Agents Chet Desmond and Sam Stanley visit Hap’s Diner for dinner following their early morning examination of Teresa Banks’ body at the Deer Meadow Sheriff’s Department. Since I adore the first 35 minutes of David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece, this location is one of my favorite spots. While its history is traced to the early 1960s, the potential for flooding from the Snoqualmie River has turned this location into a ghost of the past. This article looks at the outside of Hap’s Diner (I’ll have a look inside in another story).
WHERE IS HAP’S DINER FROM TWIN PEAKS LOCATED?
Located at 4050 Fall City-Carnation Road Southeast, Fall City, Washington, this restaurant was located down the street from the Roadhouse and The Bookhouse locations (circled in red). The coordinates for this location are 47°34’14.46″N 121°53’13.31″W.
BOB’S DRIVE-IN
This location’s history begins with Bob (!!) Jones, son of Elmer and Ida Jones who moved to Snoqualmie Valley when he was a child. By 1940, the family had relocated to Fall City and founded E.H. Jones and Son Lumber Company.
After serving in the US Merchant Marines at the age of 17 during World War II, Bob returned home and married Mary Ann Wing from Snoqualmie. Together, they raised four children in Fall City.
In 1962, he opened Bob’s Drive-In, a small 672-square-foot restaurant along the highway connecting the towns of Carnation and Fall City.
According to the Snoqualmie Valley Record from March 11, 1965, Bob’s Drive-In suffered a series of break-ins for more than two years.
“Bob Jones, owner of Bob’s Drive-in, Fall City, apprehended a burglar at the drive-in shortly after 4 a.m. on Friday morning. Jones said this was the 10th time in 27 months his drive-in has been broken into.”
Supplementing his income, Bob expanded his building with a 2,040 square-foot addition in 1966 to sell small items and trinkets. At some point, the Drive-In became a sit down restaurant, encroaching on the retail space.
This became an issue decades later when zoning clarification was sought for the on the property. Jim Chan, Interim Director of the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review said in December 2017 that the property was originally “zoned commercial and restaurants were allowed uses.” But no permits were issued for Jones’ expanded building which clouded the actual zoning use for the property.
Following the death of their 15 year old daughter Barbara in the mid-1970s, Bob and his with MaryAnn divorced. In April 1977, the Drive-In restaurant and small retail shop was sold to JoAnn “Jody” Barfuse (née McGann), wife of Ulis who was working in Alaska at the time to which she renamed it The Other Place. According to King County records, it may have been named Big Willies before Mrs. Barfuse renamed it.
Jones would later remarry and move to Arizona, then Las Vegas, Nevada. He retired at 90 and passed at the age of 91 in Las Vegas on February 8, 2019.
THE OTHER PLACE
Ulis Barfuse was born at home in Fall City to William “Bill” and Hazel Barfuse. The Snoqualmie River had flooded so the Barfuses were unable to leave their home. Dr. Cheney arrived by row boat to deliver the baby at their house. He would later attend Mount Si High School until his sophomore year when he dropped out and began working at the Weyerhaeuser Mill. Jody and he married in May 1953 while Ulis was on leave from his US Army post in Germany.
Upon returning to Washington state, he held a number of jobs including working on the I-90 project. After Jody purchased the restaurant, Ulis would work their washing dishes, cooking, and cleaning the ice cream machine. He also worked in King and Snohomish Counties at the Seattle Veterans Hospital, Snoqualmie Falls Lodge in Snoqualmie and Paine Field Airport in Everett.
In June 1990, Jody passed and Ulis soon retired in 1991. He would live until September 6, 2018, having spent the rest of his days helping his family, camping, working on his classic cars, traveling, and spending time with Patricia Beagle.
THE FALL CITY GRILL
According to court documents from 2001, the Richard Maki and Diane Lind established the Fall City Grill at this location in 1991. Maki took over sole ownership in 1995, which means that at the time Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was shot, the location was named Fall City Grill.
The court documents continue: “The Fall City Grill is a casual family restaurant, featuring a sports decor and serving a widely varied menu. While the Grill gets a fair share of seasonal tourist traffic, its mainstay business is based on local repeat clientele. Afternoon business is slow during the winter but picks up in warm weather when nearby golf courses are busy and other sports and recreation activities are available.”
According to a Yelp review, the restaurant was a gun shop prior to opening in 1991. But this could mean that the retail portion of this location sold guns while the restaurant continued to operate.
Maki also operated the Riverbend Cafe in North Bend for about 12 years. The cafe was closed when the property was sold and the lease was not renewed in 2021. An article on LivingSnoqualmie.com from October 21, 2021 mentioned the flooding at the Fall City Grill.
“Maki has had two restaurants in the Snoqualmie Valley over the past 30+ years. His first restaurant was the Fall City Grill on the Carnation side of the 202/203 bridge. Two floods, in the last four years he was open, convinced Rich to find another location.”
As you can see in the above photo, flooding from the nearby Snoqualmie River was a constant challenge.
FALL CITY DINER
At some point around 2010-2011, Fall City Grill changed ownership and the new owners renamed the restaurant Fall City Diner. At some point, King County records show the restaurant may have also been named Small Fryes at some point.
The location changed hands again (maybe around 2013) and the restaurant was renamed Fall City Bistro. The location operated until April 2017 when the owners relocated to 15715 Main Street Suite 101, Duvall, Washington and renamed the restaurant Flavour Bistro. As of May 2023, the Duvall restaurant is now under new ownership.
In November 2017, a flower shop opened in the lot next to the former restaurant. It’s unclear what will happen to the building but it’s sat vacant for nearly seven years now.
THEATRICAL RELEASE APPEARANCE
In the theatrical release, there is an extremely brief establishing shot of the parking lot at Hap’s Diner. It’s the only time we see the exterior in the film. The original script from August 8, 1991 also includes the name “Hap’s Diner” which likely means the location was always meant to have this name.
I first visited this location on August 10, 1996 as part of the film location bus tour held during the 1996 Twin Peaks Fan Fest. The building looked almost like it did in Lynch’s film.
I returned to the location on September 14, 2019 as the now closed Fall City Bistro stood silent.
HAP’S DINER IN THE MISSING PIECES
Thankfully David Lynch released The Missing Pieces in 2014 which gave us an extended look at the exterior of Hap’s Diner. We see Agent Desmond’s car pulling into the parking lot. As it does, the edging stones at the base of the half-lit neon clown sign is illuminated by the headlamps.
When I visited on January 23, 2020 in the pouring rain, I took a wider shot of the restaurant and sign. You can see some of those edging stones still circle the sign.
UTILITY POLE MOON
The Missing Pieces shined [moon]light on Hap’s as the deleted scenes showed happen happened when Agents Desmond and Stanley left Hap’s Diner at dawn. There is also one brief shot of the Moon by a utility pole. It appears after Irene tells the Agents that Hap’s Diner “has no specials” which may provide a clue as to when this footage was captured.
This utility pole is located before driveway that turns into the former Fall City Grill or Diner or Bistro.
According to the official shooting diary for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me by Charlotte Fraisse on Dugpa.com, the clash between Cliff Howard the deputy and Agent Desmond was shot on Friday, September 13, 1991.
This means Chris Isaak who played Chet Desmond was in Washington state around mid-September. The next entry is Monday, September 16 when they shot the Double R Diner / Tremond Intersection scenes. There is no mention of Chet Desmond being on set for those scenes.
According to MoonGiant.com, there was an almost half moon on September 14. This appears to match the moon in The Missing Pieces, which means the Hap’s Diner scenes were captured between September 13-15, 1991.
HAP’S DINER – NEAR DAWN
In The Missing Pieces, Hap’s Diner is supposedly shown in the early morning light though I think they actually shot this scene at dusk based on the way the light falls. The sun sets to the left of the neon signs.
I love the little details in this scene including a “Help Wanted” sign in the window (probably a result of Teresa Banks’ passing). I also spot red and black balloons in the window along with three patrons standing on the corner of the restaurant.
A similar shot from my visit in September 2019.
I love this shot of Agents Desmond and Stanley from the Hap’s Diner parking lot.
The biggest change in dialogue from the August 8, 1991 script is Agent Desmond says they should visit the Canyon Trailer Park, not the Fat Trout Trailer Park.
The “good morning” exchange with Irene cracks me up – nice twist to the song “Goodnight, Irene.”
The parking lot in September 2019 which mostly looks the same.
The FBI Agents and Irene get into their respective cars and exit the Diner’s parking lot. Chet and Sam’s next destination is the Fat Trout Trailer Park to question Carl Rodd.
FLICKR
You can find high-resolution images on my Flickr account. The photos are licensed as Creative Commons so only attribution to “Sam Howzit” is required for use elsewhere.
INTWINPEAKS.COM
I close this article with a look at images from InTwinPeaks.com, the now defunct website that inspired me to create this blog. I loved Charles’ photos from his visit to Hap’s Diner in the 2000s.
