This episode occurs in Dayton, OH with C. J. giving a speech and visiting her ailing father. She bumps into old friend / boyfriend Marco Arlens (Mathew Modine). The speech is made at a restaurant I immediately recognized in the external establishing shot as (the former) Kirie's in River Grove, Illinois. Aaron Sorkin's dad, or uncle, Dan (a Chicagoan) must have considered it a favorite and taken the family there. I was guested there by family as a child and can still remember the delicious fried chicken every time we dined or drove by. Kirie's was too small to have a stage as depicted in the episode as the kitchen occupied the widest (north) portion of the restaurant. The restaurant has been misidentified elsewhere as Horvath's, a restaurant on Harlem Ave in Elmwood Park, Illinois.
Long before this restaurant aired, the Kirie's Restaurant site [41.930550 (N) -87.835961 (W), 41º 55' 49.9794" N 87º 50' 9.459" W] had been sold and existed as a variety of bars and taverns before being razed. The latest incarnation at 2826 Thatcher Ave is River Cafe & Bar, according to the Apple Maps app. The River Cafe & Bar does not sit on Kirie's footprint on this triangular parcel.
Aside from the personal hypermnesia the episode shows aspects of C. J. only shown here. Her father's Alzheimer's is painful for her and balanced by making love with Marco, hardly a spoiler.
Long before this restaurant aired, the Kirie's Restaurant site [41.930550 (N) -87.835961 (W), 41º 55' 49.9794" N 87º 50' 9.459" W] had been sold and existed as a variety of bars and taverns before being razed. The latest incarnation at 2826 Thatcher Ave is River Cafe & Bar, according to the Apple Maps app. The River Cafe & Bar does not sit on Kirie's footprint on this triangular parcel.
Aside from the personal hypermnesia the episode shows aspects of C. J. only shown here. Her father's Alzheimer's is painful for her and balanced by making love with Marco, hardly a spoiler.