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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Interplanetary Restaurant | ||
| An eatery and watering hole designed for use by a variety of space-faring races. |
This is an early depiction of a restaurant or bar with alien clientele.
| Few people were about. All Earthlings, Fennel noted. He was a little surprised at not seeing any balloon -headed, skeleton men from Mars. Or those infernal Venusians! This part of New York was extremely popular with the inhabitants of Earth’s neighboring planets. Especially after midnight.
Greg was hungry. The new Interplanetary Restaurant was just around the corner. It was a dandy place to pick up news items for his ten-minute column in the New York Radio Star. Fennel started ahead. The restaurant occupied a ground-floor segment near the middle of the block. The segment adjoining it was still lighted. Greg caught soft strains of Martian music as he passed. The proprietors, two lanky Martians, were sitting in front of one of the ether-phones for which they were the agents... Bert Lippert conducted him to a booth. Lippert was one-third owner. The other two-thirds was owned by Flan, a Martian, and Bellon, a Venusian. Fennel disliked both. “Glad you came, Greg,’’ Lippert greeted him. “You’ve been leaving us out of your air column lately. Why?” “No news, Bert.” Fennel adjusted the arrow on the menu set in the table top and punched the various dishes he wanted. “I don’t handle advertising. Give me news and your restaurant goes on the air...”
 (Alien bar scene from Asteroid Pirates by Royal W. Heckman) Lippert glanced at the row of booths opposite them. All were occupied. Most of the occupants were Venusians. but there was a fair sprinkling of Earthlings and Martians among them. One booth held three Saturnian apes. They looked savage, but were from a very intelligent race. None took any interest in what Lippert was doing so he went on. |
| Technovelgy from Asteroid Pirates,
by Royal W. Heckman. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1938 Additional resources -
|
What kind of dish can a man get at the Interplanetary Restaurant?
Fans of Larry Niven may recall the Draco Tavern stories.
Compare to the multi-species hotel from Hotel Cosmos, by Raymond Z. Gallun, published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1938 and the science fiction restaurant in Expedition to Earth (1953) by Robert Zacks.
Ah! Roast beef flanked by Martian potatoes! And a huge plate of Venusian mushrooms!
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| Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month |
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
