Space Age Restaurant in Arizona

​Mother's Day Lunch in Gila Bend, AZ
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​You have to love the name of this restaurant. 

And you have to appreciate the name of this town as well!

​Why Did We Go?
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​This was not exactly a Destination Mother's Day Celebration. We were on our way from Alpine, CA to Tucson, AZ. 

It happened to be Mother's Day, which meant I got a little extra say so in where we stopped for lunch. How could I resist this 1960's diner, with the sparkly white paint job. The blue tiles had glittery sparkles, too. Wish my photo could have captured it.

Where is Everyone?
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​It was sort of a bad sign that the place wasn't packed on Mother's Day.  There was nowhere else do go in Gila Bend and who wouldn't want to bring their mom here? 

I had to grin when I walked inside. The modern spotlights were aimed at the colorful space mural and the counter stools were right out of the Jetson's cartoon show. The white dots on the shiny black floor made me feel like I was looking down into outerspace!

The Menu

​We were given menus right away.

 

 

I admired the friendly cover, with a very exciting image of a flying saucer/coffee cup.

​The History
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​Inside the menu there was a write up about the history of the Space Age  Restaurant and Motel, built in 1964. (postcard image from the internet) The futuristic design was created by Al Stovall, who at that time was affiliated with the newly founded Space program. 

He owned a plastic factory among other things and was able to use factory materials to create some of the unique features, like satellite replicas on the roof. Mr. Stovall passed away in the '70s, but his family is still involved in ownership. The restaurant was rebuilt after a fire in 1998, so sadly some of the truly retro features are missing.

Food

We were starved, so ordered quickly. ​​

 

Don's hamburger didn't look terribly exciting, but the space age china that the burger sat upon, made up for that. Do make note of the etched glass behind Don. Planets and Spaceship!

​Another Room

​I made sure to order a salad bar with my tuna sandwich and chili. That meant I got to go into another room with more wall art. Painted Rockets and astronauts, saucer style lamps, dramatic blue ceiling with dangling planets!

This shouldn't impress me since Houston's Space Center, is a 45 minute drive from my home. But it all seemed hysterically fun, out in the middle of nowhere, in Arizona!

My Dish

​You can tell by the unmelted cheese that my chili was not served piping hot. Our server was kind enough to give it a little zap in the microwave, when I asked.  ​

It still was only lukewarm, but I enjoyed my flying saucer plate so much that I hardly cared.

Time to Go

​I'm glad we didn't drive 2 hours (or 2 days) just for Mother's Day Brunch, because our dining adventure was over in about 30 minutes. ​

Which was just fine since we needed to get on the road. I wish we'd had time to stop in the motel lobby before departing. The lobby is underneath the saucer-like structure to the left!

My Purchase

I did make a fine purchase from the diner gift shop.

 

This very awesome Space Age mug is my most favorite coffee mug these days. I made sure to capture its image on some reflective foil to add some excitement to the photo.​

When We Return

​Don and I realize we may not have hit the restaurant on the best of days.

I have a feeling the people of Gila Bend were doing what all families should do on Mother's Day. They were home celebrating with Mom. So we'll just have to return another time and maybe even stay at the Space Age Lodge!
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