After an intimate night with Diane/Linda at a nondescript hotel in Twin Peaks Part 18 on Showtime, Richard/Cooper drives to Odessa, Texas in search of a waitress. He spots a coffee shop with an interesting name – Eat at Judy’s – and stops to investigate. In reality, this scene was shot at a restaurant in southern California. I originally found the location on September 4, 2017. On May 25, 2019, I finally got to visit this now iconic film location from Season 3.
Eat at Judy’s is actually Eat at Rudy’s located at 558 E Anaheim Street in Wilmington, California.  Rudy originally worked as a cook at Joe’s coffee shop in Redondo Beach until he decided to fulfill a dream of owning his own business. He opened the first Rudy’s in Torrance and later this second location in early 2007.
According to their website, the previous restaurant before Rudy’s opened was called “Jack’s Country Kitchen.” It operated from 1996 to the mid-2000s. Of course, I’d like to believe that Jack from Hap’s Diner in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was the owner (Ha!).
Part 18 aired on Showtime on September 3, 2017. By 4:56 p.m. on September 4, I had found the location and shared the news on Twitter. How did I find it? It was a sign for Wilmington Industrial Park that was the final clue.
On October 13, 2017, I shared details about Richard/Cooper’s drive to Eat at Judy’s via Twitter. I’ve combined both tweets into this article to show how the film location was discovered.
During a visit to to southern California on May 25, 2019, I visited this spot and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast complete with endless cups of hot, black coffee.
DRIVE TO EAT AT JUDY’S
After a brief establishing shot of an Odessa, Texas sign, Richard/Cooper is seen driving over railroad tracks. Using street view on Google Maps, I followed Anaheim Street away from Eat at Judy’s until I found those tracks.
Above is an image of the approximate spot where the scene begins.
When identifying locations, I typically look for items that are less likely to change over time. They include items such as buildings, mountains, trees or, in this case, a utility pole with three yellow stripes. I knew I was on the correct route.
The scene cuts to Richard/Cooper passing a industrial building. Notice the placement of the stop sign and yellow fire hydrant.
In September and October 2017, I didn’t have the Blu-ray set so I used the Showtime app to rewind this scene multiple times. It was the brief glimpse of the Wilmington Industrial Park sign that narrowed my search for finding Eat at Judy’s. Before spotting this sign, I figured they shot the scene somewhere near a port or shipping area due the number of shipping containers and semi-trucks seen in the episode.
The scene continues with Richard/Cooper driving past the industrial park. Notice how the trees and building in the distance match the episode.
He continues his drive until he spots the restaurant on the left side of the road. Notice the giant tree and white gate in the background.
The giant red arrow shows the approximate distance in which Richard/Cooper drives until spotting Eat at Judy’s.
EAT AT JUDY’S
When Richard/Cooper first spots the side of Eat at Judy’s, you can see shipping containers located in a yard behind the restaurant. Those containers are part of South Bay Logistics located at 513 E G Street.
I didn’t see any Maersk containers the day I visited the location.
The camera continues along the road offering a first look at the restaurant’s sign. I remember when I first saw this episode, I was quite excited to see the name “Judy” as to the connection with my favorite David Lynch film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. From a production perspective, changing only one letter – R to J – must have made things really easy.
Notice there is no white horse outside the actual location. Bummers. It was most likely added when the crew turned this restaurant into a “Texas-themed” environment. I discovered some additional information about the coin-operated kiddie ride horse they used … maybe.
While researching this history of the coin-operated horse, I discovered the image above on iCollector.com. The horse was up for auction in Bozeman, Montana (!!) and sold for $1200. It’s the only horse with a blue base that I could find while looking for a match.
The horse in the episode is white so either a similar horse was painted or there was an actual white horse produced by this company. From what I could see, the horse’s face looks like it could match the yellow one above.
The camera cuts back to Richard/Cooper continuing to look at the restaurant from his car.
We get a better look at the front of Eat at Judy’s, including the kiddie ride horse parked outside the entrance. It’s also important to note that the main entrance to the restaurant is located here. The side entrance that Richard/Cooper uses is actually an emergency exit.
You may also notice there is a parrot-shaped kite on the far left side of the building in the episode. Being a long-time Parrothead (a.k.a. Jimmy Buffett super fan), I immediately recognized it.
The Parrot-themed decor is a 37-inch Island Parrot Spinner made by Premier Kites. It’s references a song made famous in 2003 by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett titled, “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere.” This means that Jimmy Buffett is actually a part of Twin Peaks universe. Â First Figment from EPCOT Center, now Buffett … all of my interests are colliding. Ha!
Here are several screen-to-location comparisons of Eat at Judy’s / Eat at Rudy’s.
I love how they kept the “Coffee Shop” sign for the episode.
Look carefully and you’ll spot the street number – 558 – on the side of the building. It remains the same for the episode unlike Carrie Page’s home.
After a beat, Richard/Cooper turns into the parking lot of Eat at Judy’s. I love that we can see his watch which I still need to identify.
The day I visited, there was a white truck parked in almost the same spot as the episode).
Richard/Cooper continues to pull into the parking lot.
Richard/Cooper parks the car and walks toward the entrance (which, as mentioned, is actually the Emergency Exit) Notice the “Used Parts” sign in the background in the episode. There was a gentleman dining at the table next to the door the day I visited, so I couldn’t take an exact shot (he was giving me looks while I was nerding out).
See more about the interior scenes from this location in this article.
The “Used Parts” sign is located down the street from Eat at Rudy’s. At first, I thought it was a fake sign added by the production team.
The sign is for Auto Recycling of Wilmington located at 418 East Anaheim Street.
Whew! After writing this article, I could go for a bacon and tomato sandwich with a refreshing bottle of Coca-Cola. More on that later…
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Awesome article. Awesome scene in the show. Thanks for blogging this!