Watching "Ransom for a Dead Man" last evening rekindled my curiosty concerning "Barney's Beanery", so this morning I did some checking and discovered it's more than just a real life establishment, it's been a West Hollywood landmark since the 1920's.

From all accounts, a notable watering hole, it's also quite the regional meat market too (I can just imagine). Oddly enough, I found nothing written about its appearance(s) in film among its biographical reviews, but then, it wasn't mentioned in the credits either ... nor was "Host" airport services for that matter, and that was an air travelers institution in those days.

Anyway, to make sure I wasn't reading about some other incarnation, I found these photos of the place, and here she is -- over three decades later, and nothing much has changed. You can almost picture Columbo and Margaret sitting there talking.

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/images/r_11.jpg http://images.wcities.com/www.wcities.com/cityrecords/8015.jpg

Thanks for the links.

There's quite a bit about the real Barney's Beanery in our "Columbo's Chili Habit" article, in the Scrapbook section of this site:

http://www.columbo-site.freeuk.com/chili.htm

Wasn't Barney's Beanery also made reference to in "Uneasy Lies the Crown" and "It's All in the Game"?

Thanks for the tip Ted ... I should peruse the site more.

Hi David, I think you'll find all the info in the Scrapbook article I mentioned. "Barney's Beanery" made multiple Columbo appearances, on way or another, in both the early and the later episodes. I don't recall that the restaurant in "Uneasy Lies The Crown" is identified, but Columbo is served in that place by John Finnegan, who later became the "regular" proprietor of Barney's Beanery.

Barney's itself -- the "Columbo" version -- underwent a couple of revisions over the years in its internal appearance, but the outside shots were always authentic, and the "Ransom For A Dead Man" scene appears to be, at least in part, actually shot on location.

I've never been there, but, the next time I have an opportunity to be in Los Angeles, you can bet I'll be making the pilgrimage out to West Hollywood for a bowl of 3-alarm chili.