| Type | Restaurant/Hideout |
| Location | Cauldron Point, Astoria |
| Owner(s) | Fratelli Family |
| Featured in | The Goonies (1985) |
- “The only thing we serve is tongue! You boys like TONGUE?”
- ―Mama Fratelli as she threatens to cut off a "customer's" tongue
The Lighthouse Lounge (or simply "the restaurant") is an old abandoned summer restaurant located on the cliffside overlooking the beach of Cauldron Point, Astoria which secretly serves as the hideout of the deadly crime family, the Fratellis. It is prominently featured in the 1985 adventure film The Goonies and its various video game adaptations.
Overview[]
- “Mikey, this ain't the kind of place you want to go to the bathroom in.”
- ―Chunk
The Lighthouse Lounge
Near Cauldron Point stood the Lighthouse Lounge, a seemingly abandoned restaurant in severe decay. Its original owners and the date of its closure remain shrouded in mystery. However, at some unknown point, the notorious Mama Fratelli, along with her three sons – Jake, Francis, and Sloth – transformed the dilapidated Lighthouse Lounge into their secret hideout and base of operations for the Fratelli Crime Family. Here, they conducted their criminal activities and concealed their getaway RV in the attached garage.
Despite its disrepair, the Lighthouse Lounge retained functioning plumbing and electricity. The Fratellis also stockpiled enough food to sustain themselves and any unsuspecting "customers" who wandered in. However, their true aim was to deter customers through intimidation and lackluster service, maintaining a facade of a struggling restaurant.
Hidden beneath the restaurant lay a large, humid basement that served as the Fratellis' primary residence and counterfeiting workshop. The basement also housed a surprisingly well-stocked freezer filled with a near-complete collection of Swensen's ice cream flavors. However, this seemingly innocuous amenity concealed a macabre truth: it also served as a chilling repository for the bodies of the Fratellis' unfortunate enemies.
Rounding out the basement's amenities was a bathroom, located conveniently on the first door to the right of the entrance to the basement.
History[]
The Goonies[]
The Lighthouse Lounge on the time-worn doubloon
The origins of the Lighthouse Lounge are shrouded in mystery. Built next to a centuries-old lighthouse, a fixture since the days of pirate One-Eyed Willy, the restaurant's name seems self-evident. The lighthouse's image even adorned onto one of the doubloons that once belonged to One-Eyed Willy, which, when paired with a map, revealed the location of his hidden treasure.
Centuries later, the lighthouse crumbled, but the weathered restaurant remained where it became the unlikely home of the Fratelli Crime Family for quite some time. One autumn day, their reign was disrupted by a group of kids – Mikey, Mouth, Data, and Chunk – from the nearby Goon Docks, but these self-proclaimed "Goonies" weren't interested in the Fratellis; they were actually on a quest for One-Eyed Willy's treasure, hoping to use its fortune to stop the Hillside Country Club Corporation from destroying their homes. Believing the restaurant sat above the entrance to the path leading to Willy's treasure, they ventured inside.
Mama Fratelli serves the Goonies four glasses of brown "water"
Mama Fratelli, a woman who didn't suffer fools gladly, wasn't impressed with their flimsy customer act. They stammered, claiming they just wanted some water. Mouth, ever the scene-stealer, blew their cover with outrageous demands for fancy food and wine. Mama Fratelli, unimpressed, threatened to silence him permanently, offering "tongue" as the only dish on the menu, leading the boys to wisely stick to water. Mikey, seeing a chance to explore the restaurant, feigned needing to use the restroom to search the basement for the hidden entrance to which Mama Fratelli reluctantly complied.
Unfortunately, Mikey's exploration was cut short by Sloth, Mama Fratelli's hulking but gentle son who frightened Mikey out of his wits, leading to flee the basement. Back upstairs, Mikey's brother, Brand, arrived to take the boys home at Mama Fratelli's behest, but undeterred, the Goonies waited for their chance, sneaking back in after the Fratellis left.
Joined later by Brand, along with his two classmates Andy, and Stef, they eventually located the secret passage – hidden within the basement fireplace. Brand, initially hesitant, was convinced to go along with his brother's crazy Goonie adventure when they stumbled upon the Fratellis' counterfeiting operation and the chilling remains of an FBI agent in the basement's freezer, along with a wanted poster revealing the family's true identity. Cornered upon the Fratellis' return, the Goonies, with no other choice, fled down the tunnel. Unknown to the Goonies though, Chunk was accidentally left behind in the locked freezer with the "dead stiff" when the Goonies were trying to put the corpse away, leading to a panicked Chunk to scream for aid.
Eventually escaping, Chunk found himself back in the clutches of the Fratellis along the side of the road. After several intimidating but oddly amusing interrogations, Chunk told of the existence of the tunnel to the Fratellis, though his claims of a pirate passage were met with disbelief at first. However, the sight of a swarm of bats erupting from the fireplace convinced them. Leaving Chunk tied up with Sloth, the Fratellis pursued the treasure. This act though would lead to Chunk forming a close bond with Sloth which led to both of them escaping, allowing them to raid the freezer for rocky road ice cream, futilely call the police (who did not believe a word of Chunk's story due to a previous mishap involving claims of strange creatures that multiplied after being splashed with water) and then go in pursuit of the Fratellis down the tunnel itself.
The Fratellis are arrested by the local police for their countless crimes
After a perilous adventure, the Goonies, and unfortunately the Fratellis as well, reached the treasure aboard One-Eyed Willy's long-lost pirate ship The Inferno, leading to the Fratellis forcing the helpless Goonies literally "walk the plank" of the ancient pirate ship. The Goonies' situation seemed bleak until Sloth, with Chunk by his side, turned the tide by fighting off his own family.
As the climactic battle between the Fratellis and the Goonies reached its end, they were defeated thanks to Sloth and nearly met their end until they were saved by Sloth himself, who still held sympathy towards his criminal family, saving them from drowning and dragging them back to the shores of Cauldron Point where the Fratellis were apprehended by the police. Sloth himself almost became a target of the police as well, but fortunately, Sloth was spared after the Goonies came to his defense and confirmed his innocence.
The Lighthouse Loung was likely raided by the police following these events and a testimonial from the Goonies, but it is unknown if the FBI agent's corpse was ever recovered as his body was seemingly relocated by Jake Fratelli prior to their arrest.
The Goonies II: The Fratellis' Last Stand[]
Mama Fratelli holding Annie captive
Following the arrest of the Fratellis, the Fratelli family would not sit still for long. Still desiring vengeance against the Goonies who ruined their schemes, Mama Fratelli plotted a new plan of revenge and orchestrated her family's escape from the police once more, this time aiming to bump off the Goonies for good.
After the Fratellis successful escape, they returned to their now abandoned Lighthouse Lounge to plan their next move, plotting to kidnap the Goonies and do them in one by one. As they made their plans, Mama Fratelli made an unusual and valuable discovery― a legendary mermaid by the name of Annie. Seeking to use the rare being for her plan, Mama Fratelli captured Annie and imprisoned her, and once this was done, Mama Fratelli and her sons began kidnapping each of the Goonies one by one and locked them away in their new hideouts until they could be dealt with, successfully kidnapping all of them until only Mikey was left, spurring him to save his friends before it was too late.
After overcoming many leaps, hurdles and deadly foes, Mikey was eventually able to infiltrate each of the Fratellis' hideouts, save his friends, including Annie who he returned to the sea, and foiled the Fratellis' plans, leading to their arrest once again by the local police.
Menu[]
Being that it was mostly just a hideout, the lounge wasn't really well equipped to serve food to customers, although they did have enough food and "water" to at least satiate any little brats who came snooping about, although whether the water they served was really "water' was a matter of debate. Notably, Jake Fratelli was a decent cook and could prepare meals for himself and his family and was even asked by Mama Fratelli to prepare something when the Goonies came snooping around posing as customers.
- "Water" - A dubious brown liquid that the Fratellis pass off as water. But hey, it's wet ain't it?
- "Tongue" - The only food that's served at the lounge. Mostly just a means of intimidating customers into not ordering anything too big, such as when Mouth ordered a veal scallopini, fettuccine alfredo and a bottle of Fettuccine from 1981.
- Ice Cream - The Fratellis posses a considerable amount of Swnesen's brand ice cream of varying flavors, however it is unknown if they will serve any of it to customers.
- Pepsi Cooler - There is a Pepsi cooler outside of the lounge which was likely used by the previous owners of the lounge, however it is all but dry and barren now, as noted by a disappointed Chunk.
Fratelli Family[]
The Fratellis
The Fratelli Family are a notorious crime family based in Astoria with a long history of violence in the area, including armed robberies, arson, counterfeiting and murder, with the Fratellis eventually ending up on the FBI's most wanted list. The family is made up of four members, mainly Mama and her three sons, however only two of her sons were actually active in her criminal business and suffice it to say, the family was very dysfunctional, with Mama often subjecting her sons to both verbal and physical abuse while her boys squabbled constantly to the point of attacking one other or even threatening to kill the other over petty reasons.
Mama Fratelli[]
Proprietress of the Lighthouse Lounge and family matriarch, Mama Fratelli
Mama Fratelli is the ruthless matriarch of the Fratelli Crime Family and the mother of its other members, having raised them into a merciless life of crime.
Acting as the leader of the crime family, she carries and plans out most of their affairs and acts as the main manager and waitress for the Lighthouse Lounge when hiding out, but retains her violent persona at all times, not being above even threatening children who annoy her. Mama maintains a very dysfunctional relationship with her boys, regularly berating and insulting her son Jake, keeping her son Sloth locked away like a beast, while constantly doting on her favorite son Francis, regarding him as her favorite.
Francis Fratelli[]
Youngest son, Francis Fratelli
Francis Fratelli is Mama's youngest son and acts as her right-hand man, with Mama personally admitting that Francis was always her favorite son.
Francis is notably more insecure than his older brother Jake and is quite self-conscious about his baldness and toupee, but he is nonetheless just as murderous as Mama and Jake, even taking delight in starting fires. He maintains a heated rivalry with his older brother, with both often insulting and threatening to kill each other, with Francis notably being more smug likely as a result of knowing that he is Mama's favorite.
Jake Fratelli[]
Eldest son, Jake Fratelli
Jake Fratelli is the oldest of Mama's children, but is also her least favorite, but she nonetheless goes to great lengths to aid him whenever he gets captured by the police.
Jake is a naturally talented operatic singer and acts as both the cook for the Lighthouse Lounge and also helps to "dispose" of unwanted corpses. Jake is notably more sensitive and slightly more amicable than Mama and Francis, taking Mama's criticisms towards him very personally and detests his brother Francis for being Mama's favorite.
Jake doesn't even get along with his younger brother Sloth due to the latter hating his singing, a fact which makes Jake even more upset due to both Mama and Francis also hating his singing, leading to Jake to shout and throw food at Sloth while lamenting the fact that nobody respects him, although he claims that at times when his mother and brother considered abandoning Sloth, he was the only one to stand up for him. He was also the only one of the Fratellis aside from Sloth to actually end up liking Chunk to a degree.
Regardless of his emotional insecurities, Jake is just as violent and ruthless as Francis and Mama, willing to kidnap, assault or kill anyone that gets in his way, even his younger brother Francis who he would not hesitate to kill if given the chance.
Sloth Fratelli[]
Middle son, Sloth Fratelli
Lotney "Sloth" Fratelli is the middle son of Mama's children but also the only one who is not actively involved in his family's criminal operations or in managing the Lighthouse Lounge.
Sloth's lack of involvement with the family business is mainly due to his mental and verbal handicap as a result of his mother dropping him multiple times when he was a baby, leading to his behavior being quite primitive and destructive, but he is nonetheless a kind and gentle soul who is usually kept locked away in reinforced zoo chains in the basement of the Lighthouse Lounge, supposedly for his own good, where he is allowed to watch TV 24/7 and given food by his brother Jake, and it was this gentle but lonely nature which led to Sloth forming a strong bond of friendship with the young Goonie called Chunk.
Despite Sloth's disability and physical deformities, he is endowed with superhuman strength, capable of breaking almost anything he wants and defeating his brothers in a fight with zero effort, as shown when he was willing to fight off his own family to protect his new friends, the Goonies. Regardless of his family's hostilities and harsh past with them, Sloth still holds some degree of affection for them, particularly his Mama even if he scorns her for having dropped him as an infant, and ultimately Sloth still saved them from drowning when the cave housing One-Eyed Willy's ship collapsed.
Following the arrest of the Fratelli Crime Family, Sloth was formally adopted by the family of his new friend, Chunk, becoming an official member of the Cohen family and even given his own welcome party and bar mitzvah in his honor.
Appearances[]
- The Goonies (1985)
- The Goonies Novelization by James Kahn (1985)
- The Goonies Souvenir Magazine (1985)
- The Story of the Goonies as narrated by Chunk (1985)
- The Goonies (Commodore 64) (1985)
- The Goonies (Famicom) (1986)
- The Goonies (MSX) (1986)
- The Goonies II: The Fratellis' Last Stand (1987)
Trivia[]
- The filming location for the Lighthouse Lounge was a set created in Ecola State Park overlooking Cannon Beach, Oregon, with the cabin used for the lounge having been made specifically for the film, with construction taking around three weeks to finish.
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