Debra is out on a date, of sorts, with true crime writer Sal Price.
She's trying to extract info from him about Hannah McKay, but she also seems to have some genuine interest in him.
When she meets him at this sidewalk café, she has just come from an unsuccessful attempt to prove Hannah was a murderer - by digging up one of her victims, her former husband, to
test him for poison.
But
when they open the casket, the body is only bones. Turns out that
Hannah conveniently didn't have him embalmed - so no tests can be done.
Worse, Debra has to tell this to the man's sister, after getting her hopes up about bringing her brother's killer to justice.
So suffice it to say that Debra is upset.
She orders a drink and tells Sal Price what happened. She also says her job sucks.
Sal tells her that he will be interviewing Hannah soon, and might find out something.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
A. A café - but not in Miami.
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. This is the The Mirage Cafe, located at 539 E. Bixby Road, in Long Beach, CA.
It
bills
itself as a Mediterranean Grill, serving Middle Eastern dishes
such as shish kabob, shawarma, falafel, and vegetarian items.
It's located in a row of storefronts on the north side of street, just
west of Atlantic Ave.
It's in the northwest section of Long Beach, not far from several other "Dexter" locations, including Hannah's house, and from previous seasons: Prado's home, LaGuerta's home, and that scene with the giant donut.
(The tall b&w building you see across the street in the background
is Bixby Knolls Towers Retirement, at 3747 Atlantic Ave.)
They used this restaurant once before: back in the second season, where it played Anton & Debra's café.
Only that time, they used the interior, while this time they stuck to the sidewalk cafe/patio area.
To
get there in person, get off the San Diego (405) Freeway at Atlantic
Ave, then head north five or six blocks, and turn left (west) on Bixby
Road, and the café will be on your right side.
A. In the early seasons, I usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes,
using clues from the various scenes. By the now, though,
I've developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an
eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and would let me know
in advance when something was about to film there.
Between those reports, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a
few new resources I discovered, by the time the first episode airs, I
already know most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only
need to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct
locations.
This group of helpful fans includes Rick, Ellen, Elaine, Mia, Joel, Susan, Eric, Jeff, Kerry & others. My thanks to all of
them.
Rick tipped me that they
were shooting a restaurant scene in north Long Beach, but they had a
number of candidates, including the Mirage and Hof's Hut on
Atlantic. So when I heard they were filming, I drove there and
drove past the various candidates, until I found them shooting at the
Mirage (complete with well-dressed extras on Bixby Road).
(On that same afternoon, August 7th, I drove past Hannah's house, and they were filming there, too.)
