NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – The Brad Pitt racing film “F1″ hits theaters this weekend, and Central Florida residents will see a once-iconic restaurant in the movie.
Part of the film was shot at the iconic Pappas Drive-In restaurant in New Smyrna Beach before it burned down and was later demolished last year.
Chris and Soula Pappas — the original owners of Pappas Drive-In & Restaurant — made a statement on social media announcing the demolition.
We want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to our cherished patrons for your unwavering support throughout the years. Your smiles, laughter and shared moments have been the heartbeat of our establishment from family gatherings to impromptu celebrations, each day spent together has been a joy that we will always treasure.
We also want to think our incredible employees who have loved the restaurant as much as we did. Your hard work, dedication and passion for serving our community have been immeasurable with your help, we built a place filled with warmth and laughter where countless memories were created.
Our doors may be closing, the memories we created together forever in our hearts we invite you to come and visit Chris and Soula when you can. They would love to hear your stories and reminisce about all the wonderful times we shared as a community. Thank you once again for being more than just customers and employees; you have been our friends and family. We are profoundly grateful for the love and kindness. You have shown us during our journey where we started as young immigrants with a dream and a hope to be a part of and serve this community.
The film’s director said to give the real feel of what it’s like inside a race car, the crew had to create cameras never used before.
Pitt and his co-star Damson Idris also did some of the driving themselves.