Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. A café. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 1, of Season 5, "My Bad". Dexter, grieving over Rita's death, thinks about the first time they met, and we see a flashback of their first date - at a small café. Dexter is already in the restaurant when Rita arrives and introduces herself. The date seems to be going well, but Dexter is distracted.  You see, he chose this particular café because he is stalking yet another one of his murderer/victims: a guy sitting at another table in the café. And so, when the guy gets up to leave, Dexter rather abruptly excuses himself and follows him. Dexter pulls on a pair of gloves, then confronts the man in the restaurant's parking lot. They struggle a bit, but Dexter sticks a needle in his neck, then tosses his unconscious body into the trunk of his car. Back inside the restaurant, he makes some feeble excuse to Rita, and rudely walks out on the date to take care of business - leaving the poor girl baffled. ( Later, he reassures her, and tells her that he enjoyed the date. ) Q. What is it actually in real life? A. An actual cafe. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This scene was shot inside Delancey, a café & pizzeria at 5936 Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood. You'll find the low, brick building on the south side of Sunset, at Tamirind Ave. The café is just a block east of the Sunset-Gower Studio where they film "Dexter".

It's right next door to the bar where Quinn recruits Stan Liddy to spy on Dexter.

It's also close to several other Dexter locations, including Teegan's house, Wendell Owens' house, the hooker motel, the street where Trinity walked the dog, and the strip mall where Debra picks up the photos for the funeral.


The café has its own website at www.delanceyhollywood.com.
They refer to themselves as "a bar and pizzeria", but Los Angeles magazine says "this hopping Italian café is much more than a pizza joint."




Here are two photos of Delancey's, from their website:








The outdoor parking lot, where Dexter abducts his victim, is located just west of the restaurant, at Sunset & Gordon Street. (In that scene, the camera appears to have been facing the ivy-covered, southeast corner of the lot.)


Here's is a photo of that parking lot (and its ivy wall), shot by Rick in September of 2010:







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

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  In previous seasons, I've usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using various clues from the scenes.  By the 5th season, though, I'd 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, and my own personal reconnaissance around town, by the time the first episode aired, I already knew most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only needed to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Kerry, Rick, Joel, Geoff, Ellen, Julie, Susan, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.

This particular tip came from two sources. Geoff told me that he had read somewhere online that Rita had done a flashback scene at a pizza place in Hollywood. So I went looking on the web and found this photo report, which identified it as Delancy's.  I knew that was right around the corner from the studio, but I double-checked after the scene was broadcast. (Thanks, Geoff!)