Mos Eisley Cantina

The Chalmun's Cantina (often called "Mos Eisley Cantina" or "the Star Wars Cantina") is a fictional bar (cantina) of the Star Wars universe located in the "pirate city" of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine. It is the haunt of freight pilots and other dangerous characters of various alien races and contains booths, a bar counter, and some free-standing tables, and sometimes a band of musicians named Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes.

The establishment is extremely rough in nature, and the clientele and the management give incidents of deadly violence no more than a moment's attention. Droids are not allowed inside; a droid detector near the front door alerts the management of any entering droid.

The exterior scene was initially filmed in 1976 at the little town of Ajim, which is a fishing port on the Isle of Djerba, Tunisia in North Africa. The film crew added some false frontage to the structure, giving it a more dramatic appearance. The building has seen no refurbishment since 1976. The interior set was constructed and filmed on Stage 6, Elstree Studios in London. In early 1977, Lucas added several alien close-ups at Hollywood Center Studios, because he was dissatisfied with both the make-up and the limited coverage he had from the Tunisia footage. The new material was cut into the film by Lucas' editors, including then-wife Marcia Lucas. The Cantina segment was enhanced by composer John Williams' jazz instrumentals, featured on the soundtrack album as "Cantina Band" and "Cantina Band #2". The score reflects Williams' interest in jazz from the 1950s; the composer later cited his intention to invoke kind of a "1940s feel" for the scene, sounding "both alien and yet familiar at the same time."

The anthology of intertwined short stories Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, edited by Kevin J. Anderson, explores the cantina and its clientele further. The book also explores the reasons for the cantina's ban on droids: the bartender Wuher claims to dislike everyone, but lashes out at droids because they are the only thing that will not try to fight back; the proprietor, a Wookiee named Chalmun, does not tolerate droids because they do not drink, and therefore occupy valuable space.

...
Wikipedia