The setting, Bagdad, California, is a former town on the National Trails Highway (U.S. Route 66). After being bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1973, it was abandoned and eventually razed. While the town had a "Bagdad Cafe," the film was shot at the then Sidewinder Cafe in Newberry Springs, 50 miles west of the site of Bagdad. The cafe has become something of a tourist destination; to capitalize on the film, it changed its name to Bagdad Cafe. A small notice board on the cafe wall features snapshots of the film's cast and crew. In 2015, the motel was torn down and the trailer was removed from the property.
