I'd like to visit the restaurant "Louis" in the Bronx. I know that wasn't the name of the real restaurant, but what is it currently called now? Anyone been there lately? Does it kind of look like how it does in the movie?

Welcome to the boards, turk.

The restaurant is long gone (it closed about a year after the movie was filmed there) but the building itself still remains. Its now a storefront church - The Bethel Church of God. Its located near White Plains Rd. and Gun Hill Rd. Its under the "el" (elevated subway) at #3510 White Plains Rd.

Its only a few blocks east of The Bronx River Pkwy.

Is the toilet still there?

No, but the tape from the gun still is.


Don Cardi

Don't you mean the tape from the holster??

Not only is the tape from the gun and the holster still there, but the box that the holster came in is there with a note from Clemenza to remind Michael to drop the gun, drop the gun.

hmmm...sounds like i won't be visiting it. i thought i read that a restaurant was still in there, as well as the tiled floor.

This morning, I had nothing to do, so instead of wrestling with cabin fever, I decided to take a (nearly two hour!) train ride to the Bronx. I wanted to see, once and for all, the location of Louis Italian-American Restaurant - or rather, where the old Luna Restaurant once was. I had been promising myself I would do this for some time now, and today I finally made up my mind to do it.

Well, it was not at the address SC listed above (me dispiace, Consigliere), and it is not a church (it's not a restaurant, either). I noticed in a photo in Harlan Lebo's The Godfather Legacy (on page 153, both editions) that the address is actually 3531 White Plains Road, rather than 3510. (The address 3510 does not exist.) It is now a fabric and notions store ("Try the velour - it's the best in the city!" ), and it is almost directly under the elevated train station. Take the IRT #2 train to the Gun Hill Rd. station, and there you are.

I took several photographs, and when I get them developed I'll try to get them posted for everyone to see.

Signor V.

Signor Vitelli,

Thanks for having the cabin fever and checking that out for us. I can't wait to see your pic's.

Thanks for the correction, Signor Vitelli. I, too, noticed the different address (in the pix in Lebo's book) but I got the address I posted from two different sources while researching this some years ago.

So much for the accuracy of web information.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

I would just like to send out my Thanks to you as well Signor Vitelli. For those of us living far out any pictures of the scenes/locations from our favorite movie are greatly appreciated.

My uncle lived in the apartment over the restaurant when he grew up (back in the 1930's/1940's). In the exterior shot of the restaurant, you can see the windows of the apartment.

Now, that is a fascinating coincidence, SB!

So, I guess this means that there was always a restaurant there, until Luna closed up.

Too bad there are no period photographs of the place readily available. I'd love to see what it looked like, way back when.

Signor V.

Now, here is a puzzlement: Mario\'s Restaurant in the Bronx?



I'm not aware of any parts of GF1 being filmed there. Does anyone know what they're referring to? Could this have anything to do with the deleted scene where Clemenza has a long lunch while Paulie and Rocco wait in the car?

Signor V.

I have NO idea. Mario's is an Arthur Avenue institution, but I don't recall anything from The Godfather being filmed there, or even in the neighborhood. Heck, A Bronx Tale, which IS supposed to take place in that section of the Bronx wasn't even filmed there. And the scene with Clemenza was definitely NOT shot in the Belmont section of the Bronx.

Don't believe everything you read on the net. I've learned that you have to take a "fact" and do your own research to detemine how true that "fact" is.

A prime example: Its generally accepted that The Luna Restaurant was the filming location used for the scene in which Mike shoots McCluskey and Sollozzo. I've read online (from a few different sources) that the restaurant closed shortly after the movie was filmed and the building then housed a church. The church's address was 3510 White Plains Rd. (despite your belief that the address doesn't exist). Here's a picture of that church at that address:



Now, all I have to do is to confirm the address for The Luna Restaurant. It can be done simply by checking a 1970 phone book.

I'm not suggesting that the restaurant was NOT at 3531 WPR as you've noted (and is evidenced in "The Godfather Legacy") but I'm saying that no one source can be counted as the gospel without verification.

BTW - The building at 3510 White Plains Rd. now houses a "Furniture Plus Warehouse".

I went to see for myself just what exactly was at the address 3510. There was a Jamaican produce market at 3508, and right next door was a doorway with the address 3512.

Is it possible that 3510 is not where it "should" be?

However, only the building housing the current fabric store conforms to the architecture of what we see in GF1.

Signor V.

Now, thanks to Don Malta's new and improved Boards, I can post the photos I took.

Here goes...

This first picture shows the building as it now looks.

Signor V.
(Capo di tutti Capellini)

Hey, whaddya know - it worked!

Let's try another:

This one shows another angle, and also answered a question that had nagged me for years - namely, why were there windows on the wall behind McCluskey? Answer: there was a gas station (now abandoned) to the left of the building, not another attached store. The windows have been mostly cemented over, but their outlines are more clearly visible in person than in the photo.

Note the support for the elevated train in the foreground.

Signor V.

Signor V, Cool pic. Does anyone have a still of Louie's from the movie? My uncle's family lived in the apartment over that restaurant when he was a kid (talking about the 1930's/40's). Unfortunately, he passed away, so I can't ask for the address.

SB, the address is 3531 White Plains Road, right at the Gun Hill Road station on the #2 IRT train.

Now, as far as a photo of the building from the movie, this is where we all try and prevail (alright, lean) upon our Don to use all his powers (and all that state-of-the-art high-tech equipment I'm sure he owns ) to come up with some nice screen captures for us!

Meanwhile, here is another photo from another angle.

One final photo, taken from high up on the elevated train platform. You can certainly see (and hear) how close the train was to the restaurant.

Signor V.

Thanks for the pics. I always thought it perculiar that it was Tessio that described Louie's instead of Clemenza whose turf was the Bronx.

Signor V, Thanks for the pic's. Those are great. Does the city still use that train?

Those El trains are too funny, Mig. When you live in the city, very close to one (as I did growing up), you learn to just live with it. I remember that if you were in the middle of a conversation when the train came by, you would just stop talking, wait patiently for the train to pass, and then resume your conversation when it was gone. It was just part of life. The noise never bothered me. Now, if I ever visit the old neighborhood (which is rare), I am amazed at how loud it is.

Did pictures ever fall off the walls?

Nope, no pictures ever fell off the walls, although I can't speak for the folks who lived closer. I lived a whole half a block in off the avenue.

If me and Bec ever make it to the city I would like to go there and see the train. What kind of a neighborhood is that now?

We moved out of the Bronx back in the 1970's. Although there are some areas (Throgs Neck, Arthur Avenue, Pelham Bay), that are perfectly safe, I'm not too sure about Gun Hill Road, but I would imagine that it's NOT a good idea to be wandering around if you're don't know where you're going.

Well we wouldn't know where we would be going so maybe you could be our tour guide huh?