I love The Room, I think that I love the behind the scenes gift to literature that is The Disaster Artist even more. This past summer my friend Adam and I ventured to San Francisco to do the ultimate Disaster Artist and The Room tour of filming locations and places referenced in the book. Here’s how we got on and finally, how you can do your own tour.
For me I was relatively late to discover the cult movie that is The Room. In fact, I first found The Room documented in a video by OSW Review. A production by three Irish lads who usually discuss 80’s pro wrestling decided to branch out and take a look at films. In their one-hour video they proceeded to regale me by making fun of this terrible looking movie. I told my friend Adam from college about this feature movie whom promptly downloaded it, watched it and reported back how he had no clue what it was about. So, I finally watched it, not the review but the masterpiece that is The Room proper.
Simply put we were both raptured. We discussed it and pondered what it was all about. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait ten years for the movie by James Franco or the book by Greg Sestero as the book was already released and the film would be in cinemas by the following December. Something we did do was promise to find the locations from The Room if we ever visited San Francisco and this past summer we did just that.
Getting There
“I think this could be deemed an inauspicious beginning” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 25. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
I currently live in the midlands and Adam in Fleet, he’s just outside London so I picked him up on the way to London Gatwick airport. For us, our Room pilgrimage began on a Wednesday morning getting to the airport in time for what I referred to as “second breakfast” and Adam merely “breakfast”. Now, I had a feeling pretty early on that it was going to be a good trip especially as Room references began popping up as early as before boarding. We headed into a few shops, as you do when you have masses of time to use up only to be confronted by this next to the till in one shop:
Once on the plane, (we flew Norwegian, pretty decent by the way) I decided to take a look at the entertainment and had a go at the in-flight quiz. One of the questions asked the name of Jude Law’s character in The Talented Mr Ripley. Now, if you’ve read The Disaster Artist you’ll know that many a chapter opens with a quote from this very film. What a coincidence. Then, when looking through the films on offer to reduce the 11 hours trapped, I only went and found Rebel Without a Cause. Both Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero are huge fans of James Dean and is the source from which Tommy famously bastardised the tearing me apart line.
Fisherman’s Wharf
“And what about you, young man? What is your dream, other than finding map?” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 79. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
At the hotel (we opted for Fusion in the Tenderloin) our first act was to deposit luggage, take two maps from the concierge and plot out where filming locations are on one map and holiday/vacation stuff on the other (also known as grown up map). If you do The Room/Disaster Artist tour either prepare your own map or do what we did. You can pick up a map from a hotel lobby or the San Francisco Visitor Information Centre. The map was so useful to have when in a Wi-Fi blackspot.
Tommy’s Building
Heading to Fisherman’s Wharf we made our way to 555 Beach Street via a train to The Embarcadero & Stockton St station. Approximately one block over from Jefferson and opposite the Marriott hotel you too can discover one of Tommy’s former Street Fashion USA locations plus a poster of the former denim peddler’s face. This was an absolute treat and seemed surreal. We stopped here for a photo and pondered why the giant oversized jeans remain even though Street Fashions no longer exists?
Pizza Zone
The next location to visit is right here as Pizza Zone is the coffee shop which Johnny and Mark discuss amongst little else, the state of Mark’s sex life. We entered Pizza Zone and found two treats here. First there’s a couple of small photos of Tommy Wiseau on stage at The Golden Globes, one behind the counter and one by the door.
Secondly, following a slice of pizza (House Special for myself and pepperoni for Adam) I just happened to ask the guy behind the counter what Tommy’s favourite pizza was and rather than delivering a prepared verbal slice of “Half Canadian bacon with pineapple, half artichoke with pesto and light on the cheese” he instead pointed to the stainless-steel shelf to his immediate right, my left containing a top shelf hosting four mannequin groins each adorned with official Tommy Wiseau underwear.
Already owning a pair which I picked up from the man himself the previous summer at a screening in Bristol I made sure to get another for $10. If you stop by make sure that you get yourself lunch, document your visit with a photo and mention Tommy’s name for a peek inside the big bag of underwears.
Alcatraz
While actually hitting the wharf, if you head to the end of pier 39 to the viewing area, past where the sea lions jostle for position and throw each other off the floating boards, there’s a really great view of Alcatraz here. As you can’t get access to the roof of Tommy’s building, here you can get a similar viewpoint as the cutscene shot featured within the first minute of the film.
In a side excursion which took us away from all things Wiseau related, we made our way over to AT&T Park for the stadium tour. We’d got tickets for the baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates playing later that night. Prior to the tour starting we headed to the Starbucks nearby on King Street. Whilst waiting for Adam to have his drink made for the second time, I couldn’t help but notice a photo of the aforementioned stadium on the wall. Obviously due to the close proximity to the ballpark they want to celebrate the local area and have photos on the wall celebrating the success of the Giants. Gazing at the photo though, something stood out to me. The See’s Candy advertising board – another tenuous link to our tour. I thought back to The Disaster Artist and reminded Adam about when Greg mentions how he had to buy “apology chocolates” for Tommy that were from a See’s candy store following a calamitous scene in Jean Shelton’s acting class. An impromptu stop to a See’s location was added to the list.
See’s Merchant
The following day we headed back to Fisherman’s Wharf, giggled at the building which has an enormous picture of Tommy’s face on it. We again, marvelled at the people walking past blissfully ignorant to the nonsense that it represents and walked up to the See’s merchant chocolate shop.
To get here walk up literally one block away from Pizza Zone and toward Hyde Street, here you can pick up a box of Tommy’s favourite chocolates. Adam’s new catchphrase essentially became the “get me the mint” line, which led us to buying two types of mint as we didn’t know which was the correct one. The good news is that there’s actually a few of these located in the city if you find yourself wanting to get the mint, yet not at Fisherman’s Wharf.
More Locations
“I see you Thursday at three p.m in front of Bank of America. Van Ness and the Market. Don’t be late, okay?” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 45. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
Bank of America
Staying at the Fusion hotel we were able to easily get on a Muni train from Powell Street station to Van Ness station. This stop is right outside Bank of America on Van Ness and Market and is where Tommy picked up Greg before they went and bought their chosen play to rehearse at Pasta Pomodero. Initially I did want us to visit here for lunch but upon researching our trip I discovered it closed down back in 2009.
There’s nothing really of note here other than it’s on the way to Guerrero Street. We documented it with a photo due to the business of the road. Why wouldn’t you offer to pick some one up of a quieter side street?
Guerrero Street
Walking along Market after a few minutes you’ll turn left into Guerrero for four blocks before getting to the next destination which is found on 16th Street. Along this Guerrero is where Tommy used to live. Now, it could well be beyond 16th but Greg does mention in his book that Tommy lives near here. Adam and I took in all the buildings and decided there’s probably only one that looked to have underground parking and could have been Tommy’s apartment.
Sofia Café
Continue until 16th and then hang a right and eventually you’ll get to Sofia café formally Anniversary Flower and Gifts. The florist has been gone since some when between 2006 and 2010 going by reviews left on Yelp, so the exterior obviously looks a little different. When we stopped by the outside I was mid photographing when a guy with a splendid beard stopped and spoke to us about The Room! Apparently, he once had dinner near Lisa and Johnny’s apartment with friends at the marina. He also lamented that it’s a shame the cafe doesn’t have a Room themed drink to capitalise on the foot traffic from weirdos like us that have visited specifically to quell our Room fix.
We both ordered a muffin and coffee and only then noticed the stuffed pug sitting on the shelf by the till. They could totally capitalise on the value of their location by actually selling these stuffed creatures here.
The Painted Ladies
From Sofia we caught a bus up toward Alamo square park where one of the cut-scenes shows the view of the famous painted Ladies. This is clearly a hotspot for tourists with lots of people about. We ruined many photos just walking through the park, I’m sure.
The Entertainment
“Let’s go eat. Go see feature movie. Something different.” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 185. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
Shelton Studios
Tommy and Greg first met in Jean Shelton’s acting class in 1998. Today, Shelton Studios on Sutter Street offers something that a giddy Greg and Tommy fan such as myself can really experience like no other tour before ours, not that I’ve seen documented anyway. Shelton Theatre has shows that will allow you to actually get in the building and even view the basement studio that our protagonists would have taken classes in.
We opted for the 8pm Secret Improv Society show. Free Oreos before the show and some decent laughs from the clearly experienced four-person crew and we were content with our Jean Shelton visit. At the time of writing you can also see a Tennessee Williams play plus various comedies and dramas. at the theatre.
Following the Secret Improv Society show we sat in the bar and just took in the surroundings. We had travelled a long way to celebrate our odd fascination. The Room had entertained us and The Disaster Artist had educated and now we were where Hollywood’s least likely success story first originated. It was fun to actually be in the building that Greg and Tommy first met. Before leaving we took a photo to document our stay.
The Room Screening
No Room tour of San Francisco should be complete with attending a screening of The Room at The Clay Theatre. The Clay shows regular midnight screenings on the first weekend of each month. If doing your own tour try and time it so that the dates allow you to fit a viewing in. This was an important step for us as both Adam and I have wanted to attend a screening in America since our first in Bristol and then multiple in London. We were both curious to see the differences from across the Atlantic and were eager to steal some new material.
It should probably be stated that it’s a prerequisite that you should have at least a couple of beers before going to see The Room. Here’s your quandary: The Clay Theatre doesn’t sell alcohol. Our solution? We found two bars nearby to get tanked up before seeing the film, our preference was Palmer’s Tavern just across the road.
With spoons in hand the film began. The Clay is a nice cinema with decent audio and is certainly better than what we are used to at The Prince Charles in London. I ate an entire sack of popcorn in the absence of a proper dinner. We found our American friends yelling “water!” instead of the tepid “meanwhile in San Francisco” we have back in London. I was pleasantly surprised to see a barrage of balloons during the party scene. In a new one for us, one ritual involved a gaggle of people running down at the end of the movie to stroke the characters hair as they mourned Johnny. Apart from both falling asleep for 10 minutes due to being hammered it was a great experience in all.
Sausalito, The Marina and a Bridge
The Jetties
The following day we caught the midday ferry to Sausalito from the ferry building near Embarcadero station. It costs $12 to take the ferry and you arrive in Sausalito around 30 minutes later. There’s a great opportunity to photograph Alcatraz on the way past. We found this to be a suitable replacement for the Alcatraz tour which we missed out on. My tip for Alcatraz: book well in advance. We couldn’t get a tour two months in advance apart from the £150 VIP tour. There were two reasons for our visit to Sausalito, the first is that in The Disaster Artist Greg shares that Tommy once moved here for a short time and secondly, because there is a cutscene filmed here taken from the opening credits. Once landed, take in the sheer number of bicycles (you can cycle across the Golden Gate bridge and get the ferry back, we didn’t) and also the stunning architecture. If you start to walk toward the Golden Gate Bridge and head to the end of Bridgeway and before Richardson Street and you’ll find a curve in the road next to the ocean. Stop and look to your left and you’ll find a view that may look familiar. Here is the Cote D’Azur Homeowners Association and jetties further down.
Golden Gate Bridge
Just Around the corner is a restaurant called Aurora. We stopped here for lunch. With parmigiana and pizza consumed, the next act was to get to one of the peaks overlooking Golden Gate Bridge. My pro tip here: go early as once the fog rolls in you can’t see anything. Going by the book all we had to go on was Greg’s description of “a peak overlooking Golden Gate Bridge” that and the still from the film. I ascertained that to get a photo and see a similar shot as what was used in the infamous film we would need to get to either Point Diablo, Battery Kirby or Battery Wagner. Adam ordered an Uber and promptly kept the car waiting whilst he pissed on his own shoes in the Italian’s restroom. The short drive led us into a thick fog as we ascended, this meant that we had to forgo stopping or even exiting the car. We stayed in the car and came straight back down Conzelman Road. Bearing in mind that visibility improved by about five times once at bridge level it still looked like this:
We abandoned snapping a photo here and came back out this way the following day. We were on the other side of the bridge to be fair but still managed to document it as part of out trip. When doing your own tour go early to avoid fog and aim for Point Diablo. Also take many, many layers.
The Palace of Fine Arts
From the foot of Golden Gate Bridge at the Welcome Center we headed over to the nearby Palace of Fine Arts. This stunning location in the Marina District was about two miles away but seemed longer due to the difficulty the Uber driver had collecting us. Head to Baker Street where you can take a photo or just consume the setting. Here we encountered a Segway tour, yoga photo shoot and some wedding photos being taken.
Johnny and Lisa’s Apartment
Upon walking to the next location, Lisa and Johnny’s apartment, we noticed houses across the street from the Palace of Fine Arts and the view from simply walking out of your drive if you lived there, it was phenomenal. The houses must have been insanely expensive. We walked about five minutes and just a few blocks over. The apartment exterior is situated in a residential street and the building in question had the French doors open with people visible inside. We didn’t want to loiter around here too long so once we had identified the correct house, documented it and moved on.
Lyon Street Steps
Depending on the time of day that you arrive at Lyon Street steps, prepare for many people exercising by striding up and down the steps at a furious pace. Naturally, when we had a quiet moment we had a quiet moment we replicated the run to the top that Johnny and Mark do during the cutscene. If you’re arriving here at Green Street prepare to climb A LOT of stairs. Get here at Broadway and you’ll be at the top looking down.
Exploring the rest of the City
“’My city’: That’s how he will always refer to San Francisco” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 244. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
Golden Gate Park
This one was a total disaster for us. The famous American football scene. Head to the polo fields at Golden Gate park. We got here using the 5R bus (as in Chris-R and in 5 minutes …) from a stop near the Powell Street station. Do not however, try and go when the entire polo fields are closed for two weeks for the Outside Lands festival.
The entire field was fenced off for us so no photo and no football. I was especially pleased at that point that I didn’t buy an American football at Target earlier that day.
We wandered aimlessly here saddened that we couldn’t retrace the steps from The Room. Coming all this way and then this. Damn. Your tour, I hope, will have better luck. Picking ourselves up and moving on we found ourselves a few blocks away on Judah Street. Passing Wang Insurance and both taking a photo like a couple of miscreant schoolboys, we stopped at Sunset Strip café. Next door was a shop. Of course, I was able to make a (very weak) connection to The Room’s dialogue.
Tommy’s Joynt
It was dinner time so we headed for the location of The Room’s San Francisco wrap party dinner which fed Tommy, Greg, Zsolt, Joe and Todd Baron. Tommy’s Joynt reminded me of a carvery. You get in line, they chop off a load of meat for you and then you find your own table. I had brisket with vegetables. It was really tasty and given the opportunity I would have totally had it again while we were in San Fran. They sell root beer on tap and you can pick up a Tommy’s Joynt T-shirt here. I would have considered getting one but to be honest, due to the English accent it took me about three attempts just to be understood ordering my drink. This place features interesting décor and if you’re as lucky as we are, just outside a homeless guy pissing next to you in the street as you wait for your Uber.
Denny’s
A couple of blocks over from our hotel was Denny’s diner. Add this to your tour and stumble in through the door stating “Hi Denny” and get yourself some French toast. To be honest, this stop was pretty much because we’d grown tired of eating McGriddles every morning and wanted to change it up a bit. Also, the name.
Grace Cathedral
Grace cathedral and the long street shot both featured in the opening credits around two minutes into The Room and are located right next to each other. Make your way to California Street before Taylor and you’ll find a familiar view. If you wait a little while you can get the cable car outside the cathedral and snap a photo and relive the exact cutscene shot.
Taylor + The Hilton
From here, walk toward Taylor Street and turn your back to the Cathedral and look down Taylor, you’ll find the long shot that begins at the top of a tall building and pans down during the Room opening credits. As it turns out, that huge building is a Hilton.
Union Square
We held off on the cutscene shot at Union Square Park as it was just up the street from our hotel plus, I wanted it to be taken at night. When we finally went we worked out if you stand in the middle of the park and face the steps going up with your back to Macy’s, you can view where Johnny walks shortly before heading home for his surprise birthday party. The Disney store has since gone but you can identify the building by the shape around the windows.
Sue Bierman Park
Sue Bierman Park is located near the ferry terminal, it’s also easily accessible by the Muni underground station at Embarcadero. If you get here just after sunset you can get the lighting similar to that from The Room’s scene. It’s pretty difficult to pinpoint the exact spot. We did ponder than the layout of the park may have since changed. Lining up the clock we ascertained that we were roughly in the correct place.
Cheesecake Factory
On our final night in San Francisco we decided to end the evening with a slice of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. Pizza Zone (sadly) doesn’t sell cheesecake being well, a zone for pizza, so we felt that this was a suitable replacement. If you want to do like we did, pass the homeless guy opening the door at Macy’s and take the elevator to the top floor. Here you can find cheesecake that weighs in at about 1,500 calories by the slice. I opted for Reece’s peanut butter and chocolate and could literally eat half at best at best. There’s also a rooftop terrace here where you can take a great night-time photo of Union Square.
Check List and Your Room Tour
“I miss San Francisco little bit” – Sestero & Bissell. The Disaster Artist, page 225. Simon & Schuster. 2013.
Here’s a map of every location that we visited painstakingly located and added so that you don’t need to spend the time scouring maps, the Internet and walking around aimlessly like we did.
The Room/Disaster Artist Ultimate Tour checklist:
- Visit Tommy’s Street Fashions USA building
- Drop by Pizza Zone for a slice and grab some official Tommy Wiseau merchandise
- Try Mint chocolates at See’s
- Take in a view of Alcatraz
- See Union Square at night
- Retrace Johnny’s steps through Sue Bierman Park
- Jog up Lyon Street steps
- Find a spot to take in the entire of Golden Gate Bridge
- View the painted ladies
- Throw spoons at a Room screening at the Clay Theatre
- Leave the door open at Denny’s when going for breakfast
- Dine in at Tommy’s Joynt
- Find Johnny and Lisa’s apartment
- Discover the Palace of Fine Arts
- Take in the view of the jetties
- Wait for a tram to sit at the lights next to Grace Cathedral
- See the view down the road with the Hilton in the far distance
- Enjoy a show in the basement theatre at Shelton Studios
- Stop for coffee at Sofia Café and say hai to the stuffed doggie on the shelf
- Walk down Guerrero Street
- Visit the polo fields where Mark and Johnny play football
- Acknowledge Bank of America on Van Ness and Market and wonder why Tommy would pick up anyone on such a busy road
- Consume Cheesecake
I’ve read your article now what?
Here’s some fun Room stuff that you can do:
Play The Room game
Watch an episode of The Room Actors: Where Are They Now?
Read Tommy and Greg’s AMA
Get tickets to a screening of The Room in London
Listen to The Disaster Artist audiobook
Read Sandy Schklair’s book I Directed The Room
Find a copy of The Room: The Definitive Guide (Also known as Adam’s birthday present)