Porter’s Stowaway Tavern from “Revenge”

The Grim Cheaper and I recently became obsessed with Revenge.  We randomly started watching the ABC series on Netflix one night in early September and could NOT stop.  For the next three weeks, the two of us obsessively binge-watched episodes, to the extent that I’m kind of surprised no one staged an intervention.  We headed to L.A. for a few days in the middle of our Revenge-fest and made sure to bring along our Apple TV so that our viewing would not be interrupted.  And we ordered room service every single night while there so that we could stay in front of the television during dinner!  I was relieved when we finally caught up to the series’ current season, as it meant I could go back to living a normal life.  It also meant that I could finally stalk some of the show’s locations, the first of which was the storefront that masquerades as Porter’s Stowaway Tavern.

Though the Stowaway is said to be located in Montauk, New York, the exterior of the watering hole owned by Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) on the series can actually be found in a small shopping center named Fisherman’s Village in Marina del Rey.

The picturesque complex is made up of five brightly-colored New England-style buildings situated along a cobblestone promenade that lines the waterfront.

And what a stunning waterfront it is!

Fisherman’s Village is best-known for the tall blue and white lighthouse that sits at its center and houses a walk-up café.

Sadly, the 1.2-acre complex started to decline in popularity in the ‘90s and city officials are now looking at redeveloping it or possibly tearing it down and replacing it with a parking lot.  I certainly hope that does not happen.

Though most of the shops were vacant, I found Fisherman'”‘”‘s Village to be extremely quaint and charming.  I would love to see new businesses move in and revitalize the place!

Interestingly, the Revenge pilot was not shot in California, but at various locations in North Carolina.  The Fishy Fishy Café at 106 Yacht Basin Drive in Southport masked as Porter’s Stowaway Tavern in the episode.  (You can check out some photographs of the restaurant being dressed for the shoot here.)  The exterior of the café (pictured below) does bear a striking resemblance to the buildings at Fisherman’s Village, so it is not hard to see why the shopping center was chosen for filming once the series got picked up and production moved to Los Angeles.

From the second episode of Revenge on, a building that stands in the middle of Fisherman’s Village has masqueraded as the Stowaway.  In real life, the structure houses a bike shop named Daniel’s Bicycle Rentals & Sales, an ice cream stand named Daniel’s Ice Cream, and a few other small offices.

The two-story building is only used for faraway establishing shots, though . . .

. . . as well as some rare walk-bys.

All close-ups of the tavern’s exterior are actually shot on a set.  I was so hoping to see the Stowaway’s entrance . . .

. . . and patio area, and was shocked to discover upon stalking Fisherman’s Village that they actually only exist inside of a soundstage at MBS Media Campus, where the series is lensed.

While typically only the western side of the Fisherman’s Village building is shown on Revenge, in the recently-aired Season 4 episode titled “Ashes,” in which the Stowaway catches fire, the opposite side was utilized.

The super-nice Daniel’s Bicycle Rentals & Sales employee that I spoke with even sent me a photo of the fire scene being set up.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!  As you can see, a fake façade was put over a portion of the bottom floor of the building for the shoot.

For the filming of the pilot episode, the actual interior of the Fishy Fishy Café was used as the interior of the Stowaway.

A (much larger) set resembling that interior was then built at MBS Media Campus for all subsequent filming.

Revenge is hardly the first production to make use of Fisherman’s Village.  In fact, it popped up in another of my favorite shows, The O.C.   In the Season 1 episode titled “The Rescue,” the shopping center was where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) and Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson) grabbed pizza after helping Marissa to escape from the hospital.  The scene was shot outside of what is now the Hornblower Cruises & Events office.

Later that season, in the episode titled “The Ties That Bind,” Seth and Ryan hung out on Seth’s boat which was docked at Fisherman’s Village.

The center was also the site of Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand on Arrested Development.  On the series, the banana stand was situated directly in front of the Fisherman’s Village lighthouse.

And in the Season 3 episode of Greek titled “All Children . . . Grow Up,” Fisherman’s Village stood in for Myrtle Beach, where the CRU kids spent Spring Break.

On a side-note – I would like to wish my mom a VERY happy birthday today!  I love you!  xo xo xo

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Porter’s Stowaway Tavern from Revenge, aka Daniel’s Bicycle Rentals & Sales, is located at 13737 Fiji Way, in the Fisherman’s Village shopping center, in Marina del Rey.  “The Rescue” episode of The O.C. was shot outside of the Hornblower Cruises & Events office located at 13755 Fiji Way.  Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana stand from Arrested Development was situated in front of the Lighthouse Fountain & Grill, which is located at 13735 Fiji Way.

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