Cameron’s Seafood from “Say Anything . . . “

The restaurant business is an insanely fickle one.  So when I set out to find the eatery where Diane Court (Ione Skye) lunched with her mom, Mrs. Court (Lois Chiles), and her mom’s boyfriend, Ray (Stephen Shortridge), in the 1989 flick Say Anything . . . a few years back, I never dreamed it would be a place still in operation that I could actually stalk.  It wasn’t until partnering with Greg Mariotti, from The Uncool website, to write our joint article about the movie’s Los Angeles locations in 2017 that I learned the scene had been filmed at Cameron’s Seafood (no relation to director Cameron Crowe ) at 1978 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  When I inputted the restaurant’s name into Google, I was shocked to not only discover that the joint was still open, but that it was a place I was very familiar with.  Though I had never dined there, I drove by it regularly during the 10+ years I lived in Crown City and was always struck by its resemblance to The Fish Market outposts, a favorite restaurant chain of my parents.  (You can check out what a couple of those places look like here and here.)  So to the top of my To-Stalk List Cameron’s went and the Grim Cheaper and I headed right on over there for lunch a few days later.

Cameron’s Seafood opened its doors in 1984.

Originally founded by John Cameron (hence the name), it was taken over just two year later by Peter Gallanis, who still owns it to this day.

Cameron’s quickly became a neighborhood staple – the go-to spot in Pasadena for fresh seafood.  Per a 2003 The Conduit article, the popular eatery averages a whopping 400 patrons on weekdays and 900 on weekends.

The sprawling 9,800-square-foot space features an exhibition-style kitchen . . .

. . . a large main dining room . . .

. . . a front bar . . .

. . . a rear bar . . .

. . . an on-site fish market . . .

. . . and nautical décor throughout.

The GC and I both loved our lunch at Cameron’s and are now kicking ourselves for not frequenting the place regularly when we lived in the area.  The crab cakes I ordered were divine, the ambiance warm and inviting, and the bartender who served us could not have been more friendly.  The cherry on top of our meal, though, was when I asked said bartender if she was aware of any filming done at the restaurant, and she replied, “A movie was shot here once, but that was a really long time ago – in the ‘80s.”  Shocked, I inquired if she was talking about Say Anything . . . and was floored when she responded in the affirmative.  In my experience, it is a rare occasion for employees to know any filming information, even if the filming is iconic (case in point – the concierge at the Plaza Hotel New York who had no idea Home Alone 2 had been lensed on the premises), so for her to be aware of a relatively short scene shot at Cameron’s almost thirty years prior was downright phenomenal!

In Say Anything . . . , Cameron’s Seafood is the site of a rather terse luncheon during which Diane pleads with her mother to tell the IRS nice things about her father, who is being investigated on embezzlement charges.

In the scene, Diane, her mother, and Ray sit at the rear of Cameron’s main dining room, just beyond the counter that overlooks the exhibition kitchen.  Though I didn’t get a close-up photo of that area of the restaurant, it is visible in the far back of my picture below.

With its nautical-themed décor, it is not very hard to see how Cameron’s came to be used Say Anything . . . , which was set in Seattle.  Amazingly, the place still looks much the same today as it did onscreen 29 years ago.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Cameron’s Seafood, from Say Anything . . . , is located at 1978 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

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