The diner, the bar and the spa
The mall has three rooms of its own that no outside company runs: a 1950s diner, a bar and grill and a day spa. I asked for them on October 24, and each one took two neighbouring units and joined them into a single room. That gives each a front 48 feet wide and 24 feet deep, under one sign, with one door in the glass.
All three names are invented, and a check against the web found no chain trading under any of them. Nothing in these rooms is sold, and E does nothing. The hint line at the bottom of the screen says so: the menus are decor.
| Room | Units | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Comet Lane Diner | 109 and 111, floor 1 | west side, by the atrium |
| Hearth & Barrel | 116 and 118, floor 1 | east side, back wing |
| Linen & Cedar | 206 and 208, floor 2 | east side, front wing |
Comet Lane Diner
Inside the door you step onto a black and white checkerboard floor with one-foot squares. The walls are glazed white tile to 4.5 feet with a red band on top. Neon signs light the end walls, COMET LANE DINER in pink and MALTS, SHAKES and PIE in cyan.
The counter runs parallel to the glass, 15 feet in, and is 32 feet long. It is clad in red laminate with two chrome bands along its face, a red top with a steel edge, and twelve chrome stools in front. Four pendant lamps hang over it. Behind it is the cook line against the back wall, with two stoves, a steel prep counter with buns on it, and a clock over the pass.
Along the glass are the booths. There are four groups, two on each side of the door. Each is a pair of red seats facing each other over a marble table.
Three menu boards hang on the back wall: Breakfast all day, Burgers and plates, and Shakes, pie and coffee. They set the prices as a diner’s letter board would. Two eggs any style is 7.25, a Comet burger 9.95, a chocolate malt 5.50 and a slice of cherry pie 4.25. Bottomless coffee is 2.25.
The furniture is a set of models from Poly Haven, all CC0. The credits plaque in the atrium lists them. A cook works the line, a server talks across the counter and a host greets at the door, and a few customers sit on stools and in booths.
Hearth & Barrel
The bar and grill is built in warm wood. The walls have a walnut wainscot to 4.2 feet with plaster above, and the floor is brown vinyl. A neon sign in amber reads HEARTH & BARREL, BAR AND GRILL.
The bar is 32 feet long, four walnut cabinets end to end with a thick walnut top, and thirteen stools in front of it. A barrel stands at each end. Against the back wall is the back bar, four more cabinets with rows of bottles along their tops. Pendant lamps hang over the bar and over each table.
In front of the bar stand eight round walnut tables in two columns of four, with two chairs at each. Three boards hang on the back wall. From the grill: a half pound burger is 13.50, and a 12 oz ribeye is 26.00. Sandwiches and sides: wings (10) are 13.00. On tap: a pint of the house lager is 6.00, and root beer is 3.00.
Two bartenders work behind the bar and a server walks the tables. A few customers sit at the bar and at tables.
Linen & Cedar
The day spa is quiet and warm after the other two. The walls are clay plaster, the trim is cedar and the floor is wood-toned vinyl. There is no neon. The light comes from soft panels and a few lamps.
You come in at reception, a walnut desk with a succulent and a candle on it. Two lounge chairs and an armchair stand round a low table by the window, with plants in the corners and framed pictures on the walls. Two people work the desk.
The back third is three treatment rooms. A partition of clay plaster faced with ribbed bamboo runs across the spa, and each room has a doorway framed in cedar. A folding screen stands two feet inside every doorway, so from the corridor you see the screen and never the couch. Walk round either end of it. Each room has a day bed against the back wall, a side table with candles and a succulent, a hanging lamp and a framed picture. A therapist stands in one of them.
Two boards on the partition list treatments with prices. A 60-minute Swedish massage is 95.00 and a classic facial is 85.00. Under Body and hands a manicure is 35.00 and a pedicure 48.00.
How the rooms fill in
The furniture, boards and people of a room are drawn only while you are within 44 feet of it, on its floor. From floor 2, a floor 1 room also shows when you are within 90 feet of its glass and can see it over the void. The effect is that a room fills in as you approach. It also means the two floor 1 rooms, 96 feet apart, are never both drawn at once.
The mall has other places to sit. The atrium has planters and benches in its side bays and the fountain in its east front corner. Five seating islands, a planter with a bench behind it, stand along the concourse. Six benches line the balustrades on floor 2. The food court on floor 2 has the rest.