Sumith Prasad
In the first season of Showtime’s crime series ‘Dexter,’ Dexter Morgan and his adoptive sister, Debra “Deb” Morgan, frequently visit a restaurant named Loco’s Crab Shack in Miami. They have food and discuss their cases, especially in the first few episodes of the installment. Deb chooses the same spot to introduce her boyfriend to her brother, who arrives with his girlfriend Rita Bennett for a double date. During one of these meetings, Dexter notices Carlos Guerrero, a notorious criminal who uses his men to kill an undercover cop and his wife. The restaurant we see as Loco’s Crab Shack is a hidden spot far away from Miami!
Setting Loco’s Crab Shack Up
Loco’s Crab Shack is a fictional seaside restaurant in Miami, Florida. The production crew of ‘Dexter’ set the restaurant up at a patio located on the west side of On the Rocks, a sports bar once operated at 239 North Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach, a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California. The bar is permanently closed for now. The sports bar was a part of King Harbor, a neighborhood in the city. The 22-mile strand of the region makes it an appealing destination for dining, clubbing, and whale watching. Even though On the Rocks, which was previously known as “Chillers,” doesn’t operate anymore, there are several eateries that can still provide the same ambiance in King Harbor.
The selection of King Harbor in Redondo Beach as the location to shoot scenes set in Loco’s Crab Shack is justified since the real place is home to several seafood and waterfront restaurants. The patio on which Dexter and Deb’s scenes were shot is closer to the sea to the west. A road built in between the patio and breakwater was utilized to shoot the scene in which Carlos Guerrero buys lobsters himself after the arrest of his goon, Norberto Cervantes. Presently, BeachLife Festival is based at the address of On the Rocks. It is regarded as the “largest beach party and live music festival in Southern California.”
Since 2019, the festival has been bringing several renowned artists and bands to the place, including John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, The Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Over the years, Redondo Beach has emerged as a prominent filming destination for varying kinds of productions. Fox’s ‘The O.C.,’ Netflix’s ‘Griselda,’ and HBO’s ‘White House Plumbers’ are some of the other shows shot in the city.
