# Normal Places Made Famous by an Arts and Entertainment Thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803 "2023-03-06T20:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/141 "2023-03-10T13:52:43Z")
That’s the most believable thing about the whole franchise I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/142 "2023-03-10T15:24:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’ve read that it was based on Dirty Dave’s Gay '90s bar/pizzeria in Redlands, CA, which the Charles brothers were regulars at while attending college in the area. Gay 90’s Pizza was a dump aspiring to be a dive. It was nothing more than a chicken coop, a couple of Conex containers and a patio in a dirt lot, right next to the railroad tracks. Total fire-trap with all the crap on the walls. It was never known as “Dirty Dave’s.” They tore it down a couple decades ago and built an Italian drive-thru on that lot. First place I ever saw cashews as a pizza topping. I damn near lived in that place in high school/college. Cheap pitchers and a loose approach to carding people. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/143 "2023-03-10T16:12:11Z")
I would love to visit all of these places. Maybe I could even get picked up by Large Marge. > **[Pee-Wee's Big Adventure](http://www.thennowmovielocations.com/2021/08/pee-wees-big-adventure.html)** > > Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was released into theaters on August 9th, 1985. Filming locations include Cabazon, Santa Clarita and S. Pasadena, Ca... Of course, the Alamo was already famous, even without a basement. 🙂 I’d like to see these too, from _ **The Getaway** _: [![](https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/g/Getaway-1972-San-Antonio-Train-Station.jpg) ](https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/g/Getaway-1972-San-Antonio-Train-Station.jpg) [![](https://www.filmedthere.com/uploads/1/1/7/4/117411990/20150927-140812-preview.jpg) ](https://www.filmedthere.com/uploads/1/1/7/4/117411990/20150927-140812-preview.jpg) [![](https://www.filmedthere.com/uploads/1/1/7/4/117411990/20200224-142843.jpg) ](https://www.filmedthere.com/uploads/1/1/7/4/117411990/20200224-142843.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/144 "2023-03-10T19:57:27Z")
Sam Wo Restaurant in Chinatown, San Francisco was probably already somewhat famous, but I doubt there would be as many tourists eating there if Conan O’Brian hadn’t done a bit about it on his show. > **[Sam Wo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Wo)** > > Sam Wo (traditional Chinese: 三和粥粉麵; simplified Chinese: 三和粥粉面; Jyutping: Saam1wo4 zuk1 fan2min6; pinyin: Sānhé zhōu fěnmiàn, literally "Three Harmonies Porridge and Noodles") is a Chinese restaurant located in San Francisco, California. The restaurant's first location on 813 Washington Street was famous for being a venerable mainstay in the local Chinatown area, having been in the same location since 1912. Sam Wo gained notoriety in the 1980s for being the employer of Edsel Ford Fung, who was kno... [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qlRTYFhgHcY/maxresdefault.jpg "Sam Wo on Late Night with Conan O'Brien") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRTYFhgHcY) Note that the original location where you entered through the kitchen was closed by the health department, but it reopened in a new location a few years later. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/145 "2023-03-10T21:08:28Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > A bakery in Washington DC called Georgetown Cupcake was featured on a reality television program about ten years ago. As a result, it became very popular and there were often long lines to buy their cupcakes. People I know who tried them say they were fine, but not worth waiting in a long queue. [Voodoo Donuts](https://www.voodoodoughnut.com/the-voodoo-doughnut-story/) in Portland is in the same vein. I’ve had their donuts, but other than some quirky flavor combinations, they’re just a donut. I’d rather have Joe’s Donuts from Sandy, but it’s a moot point, I’m not allowed donuts anymore 😭 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/146 "2023-03-10T21:16:11Z")
What was the name of the deli in NYC that David Letterman used to take his cameras into? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/147 "2023-03-10T21:22:08Z")
https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211sQJvNXwuxRK_yHJmt1nrXJQ%212m2%211d40.7635617%212d-73.9832994%213f39.96%214f8.322%215f0.75 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/148 "2023-03-10T21:22:17Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > More obscurely, I posed with my toddler son in front of the same trees, in Primrose Hill > park, London, on the album cover for one of my favorite Rolling Stones albums, “Between the Buttons.” I’ve also made a trek to primrose hill (in a relative fashion - I was already going to Regent’s Park), because it was mentioned in the Emiliana Torrini song Unemployed in Summertime. In fact, I was able to listen to her singing about walking up Primrose Hill on my phone while I was walking up Primrose Hill. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/149 "2023-03-10T21:26:34Z")
That would be the Hello Deli. > **[Rupert Jee's Hello Deli as Seen on Letterman](https://www.hello-deli.com/)** > > The official web site for Rupert Jee's Hello Deli in New York - as seen on Late Show with David Letterman. I actually know that because years ago a coworker was trying to get tickets to see a filming of The Late Show. Tickets are free if I remember correctly, but I think there was so sort of lottery, plus you have to answer a couple of trivia questions about the show (I assume they want to make sure they go to actual fans of the show). So my coworker’s name got drawn, and someone from the show called him up at work to ask him the trivia question. And my coworker yells out from his cubicle “Hey, what’s the name of the deli Letterman goes to on his show?” And someone else yelled back “The Hello Deli!” And I see I got ninja’ed while I was typing out my little anecdote. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/150 "2023-03-10T23:27:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Total fire-trap with all the crap on the walls. Most of that crap is still on the wall in the Olympia location to this day, though I assume the modern building is more fireproof than what you describe. 🙂 Did they already have the topless painting of Daisy Duck back then? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/151 "2023-03-10T23:33:28Z")
> **[Pin on Redlands](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/100697741645091685/)** > > Jul 4, 2015 - another picture of the old "Gay 90's" ~ best pizza ever! Hard to find photos of the old place. There is actually a Facebook group called “Cashews On Pizza” that is full of old habitues of the place. No duck. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/152 "2023-03-11T01:45:52Z")
In Minneapolis, there’s a place\* called The Gay '90s that was a gay bar/nightclub/disco long before that became a thing. Its main attraction in the early days was “Shalimar, the World’s Most Beautiful Sex Change.” \*Or at least there used to be. It eventually moved into the building occupied by the Army–Navy surplus store where I used to browse when I was a young lad. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/153 "2023-03-11T01:48:29Z")
Whereas the other Sam Wo’s in New York got a publicity boost from _Manhattan_ - specifically, the scene where Woody mentions their crabs in a list of things that make life worth living. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/154 "2023-03-11T02:33:55Z")
The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England was just a small jazz and skiffle club that nobody would remember today, expect for one band they booked called The Quarrymen, who eventually became The Beatles and played there almost 300 times, up until they recorded a little tune called “She Loves You.” Today, it visited by around 850,000 people a year. McCartney played there as recently as 2018, sixty years after his first gig there. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/155 "2023-03-11T04:40:03Z")
Actually it’s just south of CA 190 some miles east of Lone Pine, CA and west of Death Valley Natl. Park. We went looking for it on our way from Lone Pine to Death Valley, but were stymied by our youngest son who was freaked out by the idea of snakes in the desert. 36.33115336374402, -117.74882755722058 [Finding the U2 Joshua Tree - Todd Dominey](https://www.todddominey.com/2022/03/27/finding-the-u2-joshua-tree/) I don’t know if it’s “Arts and Entertaiment” exactly, but Dallas City Hall was made a little famous as being the first seven stories of OCP headquarters in “Robocop”. [Robocop in Dallas City Hall | Texas Film Commission | Office of the Texas Governor | Greg Abbott](https://gov.texas.gov/film/trail/dallas-city-hall#:~:text=Dallas%20City%20Hall%20was%20used,Consumer%20Products%20(OCP)%20Headquarters.) ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/156 "2023-03-11T05:05:14Z")
The original Cavern Club was demolished, that’s a replica in a different location. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/157 "2023-03-11T07:47:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There is actually a Facebook group called “Cashews On Pizza” that is full of old habitues of the place. I had never encountered cashews on pizza until I moved here. Dave Wilson brought it with him when he opened his own Gay '90s here and it spread throughout the region from there - apparently there was at one point a few knockoff Gay '90s places in Tacoma and Seattle that borrowed liberally from the Olympia location, but those went out of business sometime around 15-20 years ago. The Gay '90s Special pizza (pep, sausage, onion and cashews) is still the very first thing listed on the menu, and they also offer a sub sandwich called “the Jake” which I believe was named after a regular at the Redlands place - pepperoni, ham, and salami, topped with pizza cheese and broiled in the oven, then finished with lettuce, tomato, and Gay '90s Caesar vinaigrette. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/158 "2023-03-12T09:10:48Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Luckenbach was a ghost town when Waylon Jennings recorded “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” in 1977. Thank you! I was thinking of this place, but wasn’t sure what to search for. My former boss told me many times that he wanted to go to the U.S., rent an RV, drive on Route 66, and make sure to stop in Luckenbach. As I had never heard of it, I was surprised that anybody would think it’s interesting. Probably not as well known outside of the Doctor Who / Torchwood fandom, but there’s [Ianto’s Shrine](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/iantos-shrine) in Cardiff. The same article mentions a place made famous a century ago, [Reichenbach Falls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichenbach_Falls), well-known to fans of Sherlock Holmes. [Contra Dam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_Dam) became a lot more popular for bungee jumping after James Bond jumped off it for GoldenEye. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/159 "2023-03-30T18:50:25Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Thank you! I was thinking of this place, but wasn’t sure what to search for. My former boss told me many times that he wanted to go to the U.S., rent an RV, drive on Route 66, and make sure to stop in Luckenbach. As I had never heard of it, I was surprised that anybody would think it’s interesting. Just FYI, there still isn’t much of anything out there, and what there is, is kind of tourist-trappy. It’s about 10-15 miles out in the middle of nowhere SE of Fredericksburg, TX (which IS a good place to visit). ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/160 "2023-03-30T18:55:00Z")
nevermind [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803.md?page=9)