In Twin Peaks Part 6 on Showtime, Special Agent Albert Rosenfield tells Deputy Director Gordon Cole that he knows where Diane Evans, Cooper’s long-time secretary, drinks. In the pouring rain, he sets out to find her at Max Von’s Bar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In reality, the bar – Casey’s Irish Pub – is located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, California. During a visit on May 22, 2019, I convinced my wife to visit this Twin Peaks film location with me (a.k.a. visited without first telling her where we were going).
WHERE IS MAX VON’S BAR LOCATED?
Opened in 1969, Casey’s Irish Pub is located at 613 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. The exterior and interior scenes were shot on December 2, 2015 according to the Behind the Curtain extras on the Twin Peaks – From Z to A Collection.
HISTORY OF CASEY’S IRISH PUB
According to the 213 Hospitality group website, the location was built in 1916:
“Originally built in 1916 as a general store and Turkish bath house, Casey’s Irish Pub opened in 1969 before being annexed into Cedd Moses’ 213 Hospitality group in 2007. The underground pub, set in one of Central Downtown Los Angeles’ only single-story buildings, serves a variety of purposes, acting as a restaurant by day and a casual bar spot at night.
The full bar, highlighted by different varieties of whiskey, is accompanied by a food menu offering both traditional Irish dishes as well as sports-bar staples like wings, burgers and sandwiches. The 10,000-square-foot space features an outdoor patio, a dart room, billiards, ping-pong, multiple big screen TVs, and several reception rooms for private parties. In addition, its performance stage offers live entertainment such as musical performances, comedy routines, and trivia.”
The fellow locating-hunting website I’m Not A Stalker shared a little more details about this location before it was turned into Casey’s. It has also appeared in numerous television shows and films including X-Files, Mad Men, and more.
“In 1924, the general store and bathhouse were closed and an upscale restaurant named B&M Cafeteria was opened in their place. The former general store space was transformed into B&M’s main dining room and the former Turkish bath location became the kitchen area. In the years following, the restaurant went through numerous changes of ownership and several different restaurant incarnations, until 1969, when it took on the name of Casey’s Irish Pub.Â
Casey’s owners had the two-level property completely revamped, most notably moving the entire structure thirty feet back from the street in order to make room for an enclosed basement-level patio. After changing hands, but not its moniker – a few more times, in 2007 Casey’s was acquired by the nightlife development company 213’s the very same company that was also responsible for restoring the popular Cole’s Restaurant a few years back.”
OUTSIDE MAX VON’S BAR
I originally found this location after my fellow Bookhouse Boy and Twin Peaks location hunter Ivan asked me about it on June 12, 2017 via a tweet.
So let’s explore this brief but legendary moment from Season 3.
The scene opens with Albert driving in the pouring rain.
The building outside his car window is across the street from Casey’s Irish Pub.
He stops the car nearly in front of the pub.
Notice how the building across the street matches what we see through his driver’s side window.
PARKING OUTSIDE MAX VON’S BAR
In the top image, Albert parks his car along the street. The bottom image shows the approximate location from Grand Avenue. The protruding metal pole made it easy to find a match from the episode.
My wife Katie took this image of me in the spot where Albert Rosenfield walked. Notice my ridiculous smile, which was about the same as when I visited the site of Diane Evans’ apartment exterior in New York City last May.
As Albert walks toward the bar, he has a few choice words for the late Gene Kelly. The bottom image shows the same spot on May 22, 2019.
Albert continues his walk toward the entrance to the pub.
NEON MAX VON’S BAR SIGN
As he passes out of the camera’s view, we see a pinkish-red neon sign advertising Max Von’s Bar.
According to a tweet from @ThatsOurWaldo on June 14, 2017, Karen TenEyck designed this sign based on sketch from David Lynch: “This was based on a sketch given to me by David. Honestly, it’s really his design.”
Karen also designed the logo seen at the Silver Mustang Casino (see this tweet from June 13, 2017).
The sign comes closer to the camera as we walk by. I tried to find the exact spot where the sign was installed.
From what I can tell, the bricks in the circled areas appear to match which means the sign was placed just above the spot.
Unbeknownst to me, my wife took images of me obsessing over the brick wall on Grand Avenue. The crazy part about this location is that the entrance to Casey’s Irish Pub is actually on the bottom floor. This means Albert walked along the wall but never actually entered the location.
INSIDE MAX VON’S BAR
Albert enters Max Von’s Bar which is packed with patrons enjoying a pint or two. I love that some of the decor seen in the episode is actually found at the Pub.
Albert continues walking toward the back of Max Von’s Bar.
He sees the back of Diane Evans who appears to be enjoying a martini while sitting at the bar. I vividly remember the excitement I felt watching this episode on June 11, 2017. We FINALLY see the mysterious Diane who, up until this moment, was only known as a the woman Cooper spoke with via his tape recorder.
Albert stops by a pole and calls to Diane.
Diane Evans (played by Laura Dern) turns toward Albert.
I channeled Diane while sitting at the same spot and enjoying a martini. I don’t smoke so, I pretended to be holding a cigarette.
Diane rejects Albert’s call for help and the scene ends. Notice the pole he is standing next to at the bar. The one at Casey’s Irish Pub has the same wear and tear. Incredible!
The most amazing thing is they still have the screen saver on the register that shows the logo for Max Von’s Bar. I totally geeked out seeing it! The red logo can be seen behind Diane in Part 6. So glad they haven’t changed it.
Special thank you to the staff at Casey’s Irish Pub for tolerating my obsession and for making a killer martini. I also thank my wife Katie who helped with the photos for this article. Finally, I give a nod to Nick and Skip who were attending a nearby conference. It was great chatting about television shows we love.
