Review: Mars Pub & Laser Tag

Friday, 13 January 2012 11:21

Mars Pub & Laser Tag is one of the coolest bars on University Avenue. Located near West Second Street across from The Vault, Mars is close to downtown and an awesome alternative to louder clubs in the area. Mars houses what might be the coolest playtime activity of any bar on the block: A laser tag arena.

Harry Leeds
Photo credit: Sequoia Santangelo

TAG—YOU’RE IT
Laser tag at Mars is a fun way to meet up. Two teams of up to six players each dash into the arena filled with barriers and obstacles, and start shooting at each other with light guns. Co-owner Melissa Del Valle hired local artists to paint a futuristic cityscape with friendly aliens and neon rain. The laser tag room even gets a continuous makeover.
     “One of the coolest things about our laser tag area is that it’s always changing,” says co-owner Gabe Peña. “People come in and play a few games and have a great time, but when they come back, the experience will be totally new.” Ten-minute games of laser tag are $8, or $7 with a student or military ID.

SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE FUN
Besides a decent array of snacks, Mars Pub & Laser Tag specializes in sandwiches. There are 20 kinds of huge specialty sandwiches available, plus any custom sandwich.
     “The Transformer” is just that, a sub with the meat and toppings you want. If your budget is tight, you can get a “slim,” a sandwich with just one kind of meat. Sandwiches run from $4 for a single-meat six-inch to $8 for a foot-long packed-to-the-brim specialty.
     We tried their most popular, “The ’Merican,” a monster sub with ham, roast beef, turkey, American cheese, bacon and all the toppings. Not surprisingly, The ’Merican had just about everything we could ever want from a sandwich. We also tried “The Bee’s Knees,” one of several vegetarian options, filled with apples, honey and walnuts and grilled to a crisp. It was sweet, gooey and crunchy—a sandwich crossed with a pie in the best way possible. 

BEER IS FROM MARS…
There is always a special at the Mars bar. Besides the many taps, the bar has more than 20 bottles available at one time and even a few special drinks. The “Snakebite” ($6.66) is a giant 24-oz. mixture of Guinness and hard cider available on Metal Mondays.
     Three Dollar Thursdays feature every option and laser tag for $3. That’s right, everything is $3. Even tankards and pitchers of any beer on tap. 

PLAYTIME
There are plenty of games to keep you occupied. Two big-screen TVs are hooked up to cable Internet and Nintendo 64. It also has old arcade games; the classic Area 51 shooter, and Galaga (for video game night).
     There’s a foosball table and plenty of board games, including our favorite, Guess Who. If the old cassette tapes with run-out magnetic tape that adorn the walls didn’t clue you in to how serious music is here, the old rock posters on the ceiling would.
     “We have live shows about twice month,” Melissa says. Wino Wednesdays ($2 glasses of wine), is also Vinyl Wednesdays. “You can bring your own records and we’ll play them,” Melissa says. “We play records all night.”

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