Pleasant Street Diner has been transformed into “JoJo’s Cafe” complete with retro signage advertising “Open 24 hours” and the tagline “Where everyone is Family!”
The production
The Institute, based on Stephen King’s 2019 novel, is filming its second season across Dartmouth from February 9 to May 22, 2026. Season 1 shot in Dartmouth and Windsor from August to December 2024 and premiered on MGM+ in July 2025. The series follows kidnapped children with psychic abilities held in a mysterious facility, and a haunted ex-cop whose path collides with theirs.
The timeline
The diner was open with altered signage on Tuesday, closed for interior filming today (Wednesday), and reopens as normal Thursday, Feb 5th.
The reaction
The owners are taking it in stride, calling the shoot “pretty cool” and thanking customers for understanding.
From Pleasant Street Diner, Dartmouth (Facebook):
Just a heads up, Tuesday Feb 3rd, the Diner will look a little different on the outside due to a television film shoot, but it will be business as usual. On Wednesday Feb 4th we will be closed as said television show will be using our diner as a set… which is pretty cool. We will be back as normal on Thursday, Feb 5th. Thank you everyone for understanding!
Cast
- Mary-Louise Parker as Ms. Sigsby (Weeds)
- Robert Joy (CSI: NY, Land of the Dead)
- Ben Barnes as Tim Jamieson (Shadow and Bone, The Chronicles of Narnia)
- Joe Freeman as Luke Ellis (Doctors)
- Simone Miller as Kalisha (Run the Burbs)
- Fionn Laird as Nicky Wilholm (Under the Banner of Heaven)
- Jason Diaz (The 100, Vampire Academy)
- Hannah Galway as Wendy Gullickson (Sex/Life, Billy the Kid)
- Julian Richings as Trevor Stackhouse (Supernatural, Man of Steel)
Director Jack Bender (Lost, Mr. Mercedes) helms the series, with Benjamin Cavell (Justified, The Stand) as showrunner.
(Portions of this page aided by AI. We are not a media outlet.)
