'Top Gun' Bar Destroyed
Filed under: Action, Classics, Drama, Paramount, Tom Cruise
On the heels of the terrible Universal Studios fire comes word of another landmark movie location gone up in flames. San Diego's Kansas City Barbeque, which can be seen in Top Gun (watch one of its memorable scenes, dubbed in Italian, above), was been gutted by a fire that started yesterday in an open cooking pit. According to the AP article reporting on the fire, the restaurant was used for the scene in which Maverick (Tom Cruise) first picks up Charlie (Kelly McGillis) by singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," but this is incorrect (that scene was shot in Coronado, at the Officer's Club at Naval Air Station North Island). Kansas City Barbeque was used for the above scene in which Goose (Anthony Edwards) and Maverick are singing "Great Balls of Fire," as well as the final scene when "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" is playing on the jukebox.
The restaurant had capitalized on the fact that Top Gun was filmed there, and as you can see on its website, people referred to it as the "Top Gun Bar." You could even purchase Top Gun merchandise there and see props from the film, including the piano that Goose plays on and the jukebox from the end. Although the fire was reportedly extinguished in only 20 minutes, the restaurant has been destroyed and apparently those props are now lost forever.
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Very....Very Sad!!
Posted at 5:26PM on Jun 27th 2008 by Christopher
3. Been there, wanted to put a quarter in the juke-box to roll the ''lovin' filling'' and to wait for my ''Kelly'' to show up.... but... what a disaster... I could not believe my eyes... I do not want to even now...
Posted at 2:57AM on Sep 18th 2008 by Greg - SLOVENIA
1. My friends and I used to make a point of eating there whenever we went to the San Diego Comic Con. It was within walking distance of the convention center. Had a big red, white and blue neon "Top Gun" logo in the window, and if I recall, a funny sign that read something like "The sleazy bar from the Top Gun movie." Whenever we brought someone new with us, we'd point out that the piano was a landmark that had touched Meg Ryan's ass. Our last experience there led to the rather Zen observation that "There is no Meg Ryan's ass" (don't ask). This sad news gives that a whole new meaning for us. What a bummer -- this is the end of an era.
Posted at 1:11PM on Jun 27th 2008 by roadkillbuddha