Hit action show ‘Reacher’ shoots at Memphis Fire Barbeque in Stoney Creek
Scene featuring two DEA agents shoots at popular Highway 8 restaurant
The popular Memphis Fire Barbecue Co. will make an appearance in the hottest show on TV — “Reacher.”
The Amazon Prime show, filming its third season around Ontario, was at the Winona landmark on Highway 8 at the end of April.
It was one of two locations the hit show shot in Stoney Creek on April 23. The other was at a home on Corman Avenue, near King Street East, and downtown Stoney Creek.
Alan Ritchson, who plays the troubleshooter Jack Reacher from Lee Child’s books, was not at the restaurant for the filming.
Two actors (Roberto Montesinos and Sonya Cassidy) shot scenes playing DEA agents in front of the business. Montesinos is playing agent Guillermo Villanueva and Cassidy plays agent Susan Duffy.
Season 3, which may drop this December, is based on “Persuader,” one of more than 20 Reacher books by Child. It appears Reacher, a former military police investigator, will join forces with the DEA agents to dismantle a drug smuggling ring involving a foe from his past.
At the time of the shoot, Ritchson was filming in the picturesque town of Millbrook, near Peterborough. Posts on social media showed him walking in the village’s downtown and one showed Reacher fighting two guys near two pickup trucks.
Last week, the show was filming on a residential street in Toronto.
Steve Popp, co-owner of Memphis Fire with his wife, said he was approached a year ago about having his business become a location for the show.
He said it didn’t impact business because it is normally closed on Tuesdays.
Popp said he has had about half a dozen productions shoot at the business in the last 15 years, mostly independent films.
“I think we’ve been typecast as the roadside restaurant and we’re fine with that,” said Popp. “That’s what we are.”
“Reacher” has been the largest production so far.
“The parking lot was just full,” said Popp, estimating that there were 200 people on hand. “It was a big production. It was really something to see. It’s the logistics of it all. I don’t think people understand what it takes to make what we see on TV.”
He said the production took down some signs in front of the business and put up its own. He estimated filming lasted about three hours, and that people should learn it was his business that hosted the production.
“The sign on our front door should be in there,” Popp said.
The show left behind flower baskets it hung around the restaurant’s patio.
Season 2 featured scenes filmed locally in 2022. It was based on the book “Bad Luck and Trouble.”
So, what of Hamilton do you see in Season 2?
The show shot scenes in downtown ■ Cayuga, when Reacher takes down a carjacker. It played a small town in Arkansas.
Reacher obtains a package from a U.S. postal station. That was filmed at the BMO outlet on James Street North, near Barton Street.
Later, Reacher and a colleague are crossing Barton at James. If you look quickly, you will see the name of a local coffee shop.
■ Reacher and his compatriots get pulled over by a tough New York City cop, Officer Guy Russo, (Domenick Lombardozzi) investigating a murder.
That is Lansdowne Avenue, which runs beside The Cotton Factory.
■ Hamilton airport is used in the climactic scenes where Reacher confronts bad guy Shane Langston (Robert Patrick). They took over a section of the airport and flew in a Super Puma transport helicopter with cast members and stunt performers on board. The finale is staged in one of the airport’s hangars.
The airport shoot gets a shout-out in a February story in Variety about U.S. filmmakers filming in Ontario. “In most jurisdictions, that’s a very difficult thing to do,” producer Lisa Kussner says.
■ The program also shot at the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. It is almost certain those scenes involve characters who landed in forests after being tossed from a helicopter.