View Outside the Double R Diner – Pilot and Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me

The windows of Twede’s Cafe look out onto years of history in the small town of North Bend, Washington. This location served as the interior and exterior location for the Double R Diner in the pilot episode, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and season three. For this article, I’m examining the views as seen in the pilot and film (I’ll save the 2017 series for another time).

TWEDE’S CAFE

The building opened in 1941 by Roy Thompson as Thompson’s Cafe but was renamed to Mar-T Cafe ten years later.

Located at 137 W North Bend Way in North Bend, Washington, Mr. Kyle Twede purchased the restaurant in 1997 from Pat Cokewell who owned the establishment for 21 years.

During filming in 1989 and 1991, Cokewell’s restaurant was known as the Mar-T Cafe. After a fire that closed the restaurant in July 2000, it reopened in 2001 as Twede’s Cafe. A neon “Twede’s” replaced word “Mar” on the giant red “T.”

On Twin Peaks Day 2020,  Rachel and Max, the new owners of Twede’s Cafe  shared the news they were taking over the iconic restaurant from Kyle Twede. Since then, they have pour an incredible amount of love into the restaurant, especially during one of the most challenging times in recent years.

On August 28, 2023, a Kickstarter-funded neon “RR” sign was officially turned on at Twede’s. The original neon sign was only added during production. It had not appeared at the location since September 2015 during filming of season 3.

HEIDI’S ARRIVAL TO THE DOUBLE R DINER

In the Pilot Episode, we’re introduced to the Double R Diner as Heidi the waitress parks her Volkswagen Beetle outside. The scene was shot on the February 21, 1989, the first day of shooting for the pilot.

Here’s a similar view of the diner from a trip in October 2019.

The camera follows Heidi as she briskly walks to the diner’s front door. Behind her, we see North Bend Way and Bendigo Boulevard.  A logging truck waits at the intersection which once caused major backups in the town.

Here’s a similar view from my visit in January 2020.

According to a Snoqualmie Valley Record article from October 12, 1978, the first traffic light in the town of North Bend, was turned on at 3:00 p.m. on July 1, 1965.

Prior to its installation, traffic was regulated by a flashing light as the intersection which was a hotspot for accidents. For several years, the newly installed traffic light was manually operated on weekends due to the high volume of both pedestrian and automobile traffic. The I-90 bypass eventually helped diminish traffic yet many still recalled the long waits at this one intersection.

This is the same intersection which features the traffic lights seen in Twin Peaks.

HOTELS AND HABITATS

Heidi passes a historic building dating to the early 20th Century that now houses Birches Habitat, a lifestyle boutique which opened around November 2008.

According to the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum, The Cascadia hotel and Store was constructed by Gustin and Tibbetts around 1885-1889 on North Bendigo Street and First Avenue (later North Bend Way) before the change in the Sunset Highway. The North Pacific Rail Road bridge is in the distance at the left in the photo above.

The hotel is a two story, “L” shape building. There was a General Merchandise Store on the first floor of the “L” facing the street. There is a balcony above the sidewalk, with a door and windows of the upper level.

The Cascadia would eventually be consumed by fire several years later and was replaced by the McClellan Hotel.

This original McClellan Hotel was constructed in 1918. The building was split in 1941 and a portion moved down the block to become a tavern.

According to SavorSnoqualmieValley.org, the “widening of North Bend way for US-10 (the precursor to I-90)  changed North Bend significantly in the early 1940’s.” The town of North Bend successfully bargained with Washington State officials to keep the main highway (a.k.a. The Sunset Highway) going through the town, which the state had originally planned to bypass.

Here’s a look at the aforementioned intersection from the 1950s. Notice the McClellan Hotel to the right.

In the distance of Heidi’s entrance, you can see the tail end of the Birches habitat building.

It’s now was home to Pioneer Coffee, which opened its doors in May 2012. It was later named Vintage Baristas.

Today it’s known as Hartwood Cafe.

Earlier in 2008, Maguire Hill Real Estate helped rejuvenate the building which had fallen into disrepair. Co-owners Bob Perrell and Terry Hill worked with King County and Tonie Cook from the North Bend Community and Economic Development Department to decide how to paint the building and what signage to use. They also rubberized the roof, installed new carpets and repainted the downstairs level.

For a time, Old Shanty Tavern occupied the spot where Pioneer Coffee Hartwood Cafe is now located. Eric Beck ran the small town pub from January 2003 to July 2009 in North Bend.

This 1921 image taken by Mrs. Knierim shows the corner of First Ave (North Bend Way) and Bendigo St. looking East toward Snoqualmie Pass. It’s about the same spot as my Pioneer Coffee shot above.

HEIDI ENTERS THE DOUBLE R DINER

Heidi enters the front door of the Double R Diner. Pay attention to the vehicle in the parking lot across the street with the hood up.

Giggling, Heidi apologizes for being late. Bobby and Shelly give her a difficult time as she enters and gets to work.

That empty lot was once home to a Union / 76 gas station. It’s adjured to Lee Bros. Grocery which I’ll discuss later in this article.

SUNSET GARAGE OUTSIDE WINDOW OF DOUBLE R DINER

Shelly Johnson grabs her coat as Bobby Briggs offers to give her a ride home. Behind Shelly we see the former Sunset Garage, which housed the Twin Peaks jail in the Pilot and the production offices for Lynch/Frost Productions during location shooting.

Before it was a garage, it was home to Peter Maloney’s Livery Stable built around the late 1890s, early 1900s. Notice the barrels on the roof which were an early form of a sprinkler system in case of fire.

In 1915, the town of North Bend became a last stop for gas, food and lodging before motorists traveled to Snoqualmie Pass along the newly completed Sunset Highway.  Harry Snyder capitalized on this new road by opening the appropriately titled Sunset Garage in 1922. The repair and auto parts shop was originally housed in Peter Maloney’s wooden structure.

Three years later, Snyder was also using the garage as a Durant Motors dealership, selling Flint Six and Star automobiles. Notice North Bend Mercantile is sitting in the spot where Twede’s Cafe now stands today!

Around 1929, Snyder replaced the wooden garage with the concrete building that still stands today. He held the grand opening about a week before the stock market crash in October that year.

Once Durant Motors folded, the Sunset Garage became a Buick dealership. According to LivingSnoqualmie.com, Snyder sold the Buick-Pontiac dealership in the 1960s, but others continue to sell Buicks at the garage under the names Taylor-Green Buick Pontiac GMC then Eastway Buick Pontiac GMC.

The Glazier family also purchased the building in 1960s and they still own it today. The garage sat vacant for decades until D Squared Energy moved in around 2014 and later Compass Outdoor Adventures joined them. The garage received an extensive makeover in late 2018 with the building’s exterior returned to the original 1929 look.

Today, the building has been painted blue.

Interestingly, the Glazier family also introduced Volition Brewing to North Bend. Before it was an excellent handcrafted brewery, the building was the film location for Run Silent, Run Drapes in season three.

HERE’S A TUNE FOR YA GALS

Bobby drops a quarter in the jukebox as he heads for the front door. Notice the car across the street has changed.

A similar view from January 2020. The front door was replaced many years ago.

A logging truck passes as Bobby selects “I’m Hurt Bad.”

Then a local shuttle bus pulls up to the stop light as Bobby tells Norma that he “see [her] in his dreams.”

As Bobby and Shelly depart, we can see the corner of the North Bend Theater.

The North Bend Theater opened on April 9, 1941 with, as described in the Snoqualmie Valley Record,  “beautifully lavish interior and excellent sound.” An article continued describing the opening night gala and screening of “Tall, Dark, and Handsome” starring Cesar Romero and Virginia Gilmore:

Guests were welcomed in the lobby by Manager and Mrs. Jay Tew and the builder Emmet Jackson and Mrs. Jackson … The theatre which has been built, conforms to the latest standards in construction under the supervision of Wm. Blaisdell and Herbert Johnson. The building is 40 by 100 ft. of reinforced concrete and is the “last word” in theatre buildings. W.E. Stoddard of Meadowbrook is responsible for carrying out the interior decorative scheme – yellow and dark red being the predominating colors. With 412 deluxe seats, upholstered in red plush, it will be a real pleasure to watch the pictures … A large and beautiful Neon sign, which can be seen for a long distance has been erected in front of the theatre.

The North Bend Theater (North Bend Cinema at the time) was home to a screening of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me during the 1992 Twin Peaks Fan Festival. According to the North Bend Theater’s website:

In 1999, the Slover family undertook a major renovation in keeping with the Art Moderne style of the building. The Walker family bought the theatre in 2006 and brought in the popular mountain film festival that continues to run annually October through December, and in 2013, with the support of the community, brought the theatre into the digital age so that it could continue to bring Hollywood blockbusters and other digital presentations to the community. On April 1, 2018, the Burrows family became the new owners of this beautiful historic landmark. 

GROCERIES AND ANTIQUES

This brings us to our final stop in our historical tour and a brief scene from The Missing Pieces of David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Across the street, you can see a logging truck parked in front of Snoqualmie Valley Antique Company.

Here is a similar view inside Twede’s Cafe from my last visit in January 2020. Notice, Volition Brewing Co. can be seen across the street.

Long before the spot across the street was an antique store, it was home to an entirely different set of businesses. From a photo atop Maloney’s Livery Stable on the Snoqualmie Valley History Museum website, the corner location housed a “Bakery, Drug store, Victor Talking Machines, Oberto and Bates Saloon, North Bend Church, WC Williams Wood Yard, The Bohemian Bar, Cascadia Hotel, and E Catching Store.” Mount Si is seen in the distance.

By 1926, the building had been replaced by a larger restaurant and bakery, and a separate office building to the east. King County assessor records indicate that a new building of hollow clay tile was constructed at this location in 1928. In 1930, it served as an auto sales and service business with space for a small post office.

Around 1932, the spot was home to Midday Lunch.

This diagram shows where future buildings would be located.

In October 1932, Al (Elvyn) H. Lee acquired the building. He and his brother Art ran Lee Brothers’ Grocery, with the post office remaining. [Note – Thank you to Brian Lee, grandson of Al and great nephew of Art, for offering a clarification on May 4, 2024! Brian said he loved the store back in the day.)

With a planned road-widening happening around 1940, Lee updated his building to a more Art Moderne look which was popular at the time:

This large one-story building of poured concrete has a number of features typical of the “streamlined” look that was popular in the 1940s. These include a plain concrete exterior with a smooth stucco surface, a curved corner entrance, a suspended marquee, and a horizontal series of transom windows. Its overall dimensions are 68 by 66 feet. A parapet wall that is stepped at the southwest corner to emphasize the formal entrance surrounds the flat roof.

In April 1941, the Snoqualmie Valley Record noted, “Glazier’s Dry Goods and Lee Bros. Grocery, with keen foresight, had erected new buildings to the rear of their old places of business, and are now all set to tear down and dismantle their former stores and move into the fine new locations at the back All they need to do is build afront and put up the necessary signs, and they will be out of the way of the invading highway crews.”

Lee was offered compensation from the State for his loss of business and for moving his stock. Initially, the post office remained in the building but relocated to another location later.

Many long-time residents of North Bend seem to recall a World War II memorial erected in the vacant lot next to Lee Brothers.

Each name on the memorial was removed as each service member returned home from the war. When they all returned (except for those who were buried) the honor roll was taken down and a permanent memorial put up in the cemetery.

At the time of shooting in February 1989, it appears the Lee Brothers store was vacant. I’ve been unable to locate when they closed up shop but I’m guessing it was around the 1970s.

We see the then-vacant building and lot where the war memorial once stood in first two seasons of the show.

In September 1991, the Snoqualmie Valley Antique Co. now occupied the building. It appears to have operated there until the 2000s when the name was possibly changed to Rosen Antique Company.

During the late 2000s or early 2010s, the building was occupied by Peepers Potter & Petts, a furniture upholstery and window treatment company.  I don’t believe they are operating in the space as of today. I’ve found hardly any information about any of the companies post Lee Brothers.

All of this research has worked up my appetite. I could go for a slice of pie and cup of coffee from Twede’s Cafe right about now.