Eden Prarie

The 1996 Coen Brothers film “Fargo” is set in North Dakota and Minnesota and while some filming did occur in both states, none took place in the titular city of Fargo, North Dakota. The majority of the film was shot around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, but due to some unusually low snowfall in the winter of 1995 when filming took place, some shots were done in Northern Minnesota and North Dakota.

Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, meets with Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, at The King of Clubs, supposedly located in Fargo. The real building was located near 929 NE Central Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55413, but was demolished in 2003.

The home of Jerry Lundegaard is supposedly located in Minneapolis. The real home is located nearby in Eden Prairie.

LOCATION: 6358 Ginger Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55346

The Blue Ox Motel, where Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud have sex with two prostitutes, was actually a truck stop in South St Paul, which was dressed to look like a motel for the film

LOCATION: 501 Farwell Ave, South St Paul, MN 55075

Police chief Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand, interviews the two prostitutes at the Lakeside Club in Mahtomedi. The building looked nearly identical to how it appeared in the film, but was demolished in 2022. However, we were able to visit while it still stood.

LOCATION: 10 Old Wildwood Rd, Mahtomedi, MN 55115 (now demolished)

According to several sources online, the interior kitchen of the Gunderson house was located at 2215 Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404. There are real estate listings online and while the garage seen through the kitchen window appears to match up to the current property.

The 1995 Kevin Smith film “Mallrats” was mostly filmed in Minnesota, with some scenes filmed in Smith’s native New Jersey, as well as a few additional scenes shot in Los Angeles, California. There are several existing cuts of the film, the two most famous being the theatrical cut and the extended cut. Some locations only appear in certain cuts, which we’ll note in this article.

The house of Brodie, played by Jason Lee, can be found in Minneapolis.

LOCATION: 4808 Valley View Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55424

As TS Quint, played by Jeremy London, drives to the house of Brandi, played by Claire Forlani, he drives past the Quick Stop Groceries, which is of course famous for being the central location of Smith’s first film, “Clerks.” The store only appears in the extended cut of the film. The location has appeared in many of Smith’s other films as well, such as “Chasing Amy,” “Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Clerks II” and “Clerks III.”

LOCATION: 58 Leonard Ave, Leonardo, NJ 07737

The location of the house of Brandi is confusing because two different places were used and depending on which cut of the film you see, different houses appear. The extended cut of the film features the original location in Minnesota, where a news crew waits outside as TS visits with Brodie. After the original movie opening performed poorly with test audiences, the opening was reshot in Los Angeles. For the shorter, theatrical cut, a totally different home was featured, where TS meets Brandi alone and tries unsuccessfully to take her on a trip to Florida. This is the Los Angeles location of the reshoot scene.

LOCATION: 414 S Rimpau Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Hedges have since been planted along the front of the property, obscuring much of the house from street level.

In the Mallrats audio commentary for the theatrical version, Smith confirms the scene was shot long after the original footage and was indeed filmed in Los Angeles. The location is omitted altogether from the extended cut of the film, in favor of the original footage. The Minnesota location of Brandi’s house, which is only seen in close-up shots, has yet to be found.

The key location of the movie, the Eden Prairie Center Mall, has since been heavily remodeled and no longer appears how it did in the film.

LOCATION: 8251 Flying Cloud Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55344.

The “dirt mall” where TS Quint and Brodie meet a topless fortune teller has since been demolished. It was formerly located at 17 US-1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

At the end of the film, TS and Brandi are married at the Jaws ride, supposedly at Universal Studios Florida. The scene was instead filmed at the Jaws ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.

LOCATION: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608

Film Oblivion

Movie and TV locations, points of interest.

Fargo (1996)

Mallrats (1995)