The Real Double R Diner

Located at 137 West North Bend Way, the original diner, Thompson's Cafe, opened its doors to the public in 1941.

In the mid-nineteen fifties, the diner changed ownership and a large neon sign was erected out front bearing its new name, the Mar-T-Cafe. Below, an original business card from the Mar-T.
In 1989, the Mar-T was used, to great effect, as the Double R Diner in David Lynch's new television series, Twin Peaks.

Below, Mädchen Amick and Dana Ashbrook listen intently as Lynch directs them in a scene from the pilot, filmed in the Mar-T Cafe's parking lot.
After the pilot was shot in Washington State, sets were built on a soundstage in Los Angeles to mimic the look and feel of the Mar-T Cafe. These sets were used for the rest of the series. You'll notice that the diner set is somewhat larger than the original location and powerfully lit by studio lights.
The Twin Peaks crew descended upon the town of North Bend and the Mar-T Cafe once again in the summer of 1991 to shoot scenes for the film Twin Peaks:Fire Walk With Me, shown below.Sometime around '98-'99, the cafe changed hands yet again, to become Twede's Cafe.Unluckily for the new owners, and for fans of the show, a fire in 2000 set the scene for a devastating renovation in which the entire interior was gutted and redone. The still from Fire Walk With Me, seen above, is what the diner looked like before the fire. Below, you'll see a recent photo of the interior. Sadly, the cafe no longer retains that same rich sense of warmth and small town authenticity that was so present in the show.

Luckily, they kept a relic of the neon lights on the ceiling.
Incidentally, a friend pointed out to me that the jail scenes from the pilot were shot inside the building across the street from the diner and, last I checked, you could still see the jail cells up on the second floor. You'll notice that they covered the right-most three windows in order to block out light for the shoot.

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