PROGRESS: The Warp Zone combines a bar with a video arcade

Knocking back a cocktail called 4 Raccoons in a Trench Coat might do the trick.

The drink -- made with vodka, gin and orange liqueur, finished with lemon, vanilla and a slug of Coca-Cola -- is one of several video game-inspired cocktails offered at The Warp Zone.

Opened in May 2024, the 611 Fifth St. business, as you've probably already guessed, is part bar and part arcade.

While the national chain of Dave & Buster's has popularized the concept of a bar mixed with an arcade, isn't it still a quirky combo for the Midwest?

Not according to owners Lindie and Chris Stauder, who thought Sioux City needed such an establishment.

The couple, who both had experience in the hospitality field, noted that similar businesses had been in Omaha and Sioux Falls.

The Stauders took their idea to the Siouxland Growth Organization (GO)'s Innovation Market in 2020 where they won the top prize.

"Like four days before everything shut down for COVID," Lindie Stauder said. 

The dream may have been delayed but the Stauders were committed to the concept.

After all, they both grew up playing 1990s era videogames.

Walking into The Warp Zone is like living out the childhood of a millennial.

That vibe is certainly enhanced by the vintage collection of video games as well as beeping pinball machine boasting images of such Clinton era icons like Ah-nold from "Terminator 2: Judgement Day," Mulder and Scully from "The X-Files" as well as Cartman and his crew from "South Park."

Since many millennials are now moms and dads, The Warp Zone offers both alcoholic and nonalcoholic versions of such videogame-themed cocktails as the Collision Colada, Pac-Man Punch and Funky Kong.

"We have plenty of parents who bring along their kids," Lindie Stauder said. "Arcade games are something the entire family can do together."

However, families also have to eat. This is why The Warp Zone offers food from the Sioux Falls-based Sunny's Pizzeria, which has a devoted cult following among pizza aficionados.

To keep things interesting, Warp Zone regularly hosts contest dedicated to classic Nintendo and tabletop games.

"Ever since the pandemic, I think people want to go to bars that offer more than just drinks," Lindie Stauder said. "People are also looking for experiences."

Which is exactly what the Stauders want to offer.

"When it comes to our games, our food and our drinks, we just want everyone  to have a good time," Lindie Stauder said.