Q. What is it supposed to be on the show?

A. A breakfast buffet

The kind of location isn't specified, it is either a restaurant/cafe, or perhaps a buffet provided by the hotel where Dexter is staying.

 

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A.  Somewhere in New York City.70% 

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 2 of Season One of Resurrection.

Dexter has just recently arrived in New York, and has met a friendly rideshare driver named Blessing Kamara, who told him about a serial killer terrorizing New York, whom the press has nicknamed “The Dark Passenger”.

In this scene, he is having breakfast at some sort of buffet. 


In a comic start, Dexter watches a kid pile pancakes onto his plate,  smother them in syrup, then drink the syrup directly from the dispenser. Dexter thinks: “Where is his father?.”    

We next see Dexter at the counter, eating a bowl of breakfast cereal.

He is reading the New York Post, and the newspaper is filled with stories about the Dark Passenger killer. 

Intrigued, and resenting the fact that this killer has .“stolen his name”, Dexter remembers that Blessing (the rideshare driver) had told him about a friend, another rideshare driver, who barely escaped being killed by the Dark Passenger.


Thinking that this friend might be able to provide information that would allow him to track down this serial killer, Dexter phones Blessing Kamara, and asks him whether the friend will be at the upcoming dinner party that Blessing is having at his house.   Blessing assures him that he will be, and asks Dexter if he will be coming. Dex says that he will.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A hotel lobby bar.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This was shot in a small bar in the hotel lobby of what is now called M Social Hotel New York Downtown.
 
At the time Dexter was filming there, it was still named Millennium Downtown New York.  It  changed its name in July of 2025.



But regardless of the name, this 56-story tower it is located at 55 Church Street, in New York's financial district, across the street from the World Trade Center, and just steps from the Oculus.

To find this little corner spot, after you enter the hotel, just turn right and walk to the end of that lobby corridor. It's little more than a counter/bar with a few tables and chairs. It's easily recognizable as our location by the horizontally-striped wood paneling on the walls, the distinctive square accent lamps on those walls, and other details.  
 
They did, however, cover up the area behind the bar to hide the bottles of alcohol that are usually visible there. And they added a few minor props, such as a drink refrigerator, what appears to be a cereal dispenser near  the counter to.     

There isn't much information on the web about this spot, but based on the array of liquor bottles behind the counter (seen in the photo below), I suspect this is more of a lobby bar then a cafe, and I'm not even sure they serve food there. But I am fairly certain that they do not have a breakfast buffet here... 

The hotel was damaged during the 9/11 attacks back in 2001, and closed for almost two years while being refurbished.

The Dexter producers like to cluster their locations and shoot more than one scene at any given location, if possible, and this World Trade Center stop gave them three different scenes.
 
We see this hotel more than once in this episode. In the scene where Dexter gets his new driver's license from the DMV, the exterior of what is supposed to be the DMV office is actually just the outside western wall of this hotel.

And just a short walk west of this hotel is the Perelman Performing Arts Center, where they shot the scene of the Dark Passenger killer getting into a car with his victim.
 
Here is a matching StreetView of this hotel lobby bar:


 
Here is an aerial photo of the location.  And here is a map link.