This weekend we trekked up to Albertville for a birthday party at Space Aliens Grill and Bar ^[1].

I’d driven by this place a few times during (forced) trips to the outlet mall ^[2], but never had the opportunity — or desire — to stop. I’d never heard of this regional chain, but apparently they are in Bismarck, Fargo and Minot, ND and Albertville, Waite Park and Blaine, MN.

With the tag line “Fill Up Your Inner Space,” Space aliens is kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese ^[3] minus the animatronic mice and singing gorilla drummer.

A domed ceiling with stars and asteroids fills the main eating space, alien art, planets and sculptures line the walls and electric-touchy zapper things are in many of the booths. The Bar from Mars is an adults-only area with all your favorites on tap and plenty of big screen TVs for sports. The Galaxy Games Arcade features your standard token-amusements, including Skee-Ball, Whack-a-Mole, and other ticket-giving games. Even the restroom boasts classic sci-fi alien abduction movie posters.

Food: I tried the fire-roasted garlic chicken intergalactic pizza, which was absolutely stellar. Others in my group had burgers, barbeque, chicken and salad. Everyone said great things about their food, which was actually reasonably priced.

At a certain point, a voice from above says, “Attention Space Aliens Grill and Bar visitors, an alien has been spotted in the vicinity. Please keep your eyes peeled for visitors from afar” or something like that, and an employee (I’m guessing the least-respected employee) comes out in an alien costume to crash childrens’ birthday parties in progress and shake their hands.

We spent $25 in the arcade trying to get 400 tickets so the birthday boy could get a killer prize whose actual dollar value was probably $4.75. For the record, I’m damn good at Skee-Ball, and on most days, that’s an untapped, unmarketable skill.

It was definitely an “out of this world” experience up there in Albertville and highly recommended for the little alien in your life.