New breakfast and lunch restaurant to replace closing Forbidden Planet in Iowa City

Forbidden Planet, the retro pizza arcade in the heart of Iowa City's pedestrian mall, is set to close.

According to Forbidden Planet co-owner Tommy Connolly, the venue will have its last day open on Wednesday. Plans are already in place for a new breakfast and lunch restaurant, The Dandy Lion, to open in its place in spring.

'"Tis with a heavy heart and trembling hand that I say Forbidden Planet will be closing, as in forever," said a Facebook post written by one of the pizzeria's owners by Connolly last week.

"We had a glorious run, but, alas it is time to do something different. Please stop in to say goodbye," said the post. "We have something in the works, and updates will be forthcoming."

Forbidden Planet opened its doors in downtown Iowa City, 111 S. Dubuque St., in November of 2014. It replaced The Tobacco Bowl, one of the few smoking cafes in eastern Iowa at the time. The Tobacco Bowl was open for nearly 25 years.

Connolly said Tuesday that The Dandy Lion will focus on serving a breakfast and lunch menu seven days a week. In the afternoon, they plan to close the kitchen and have the spot turn into a cafe with coffee and other drinks. Some prepackaged food will also be sold when the kitchen is closed.

Forbidden Planet stood alone in the Iowa City area as the only pizza arcade. While venues like Colonial Lanes still sport various arcade machines like the classic "The Simpsons" arcade game, Forbidden Planet's collection featured some of the iconic games and names in the video game world: Tetris, Mario Bros., Ms Pac-Man and Burger Time, along with various pinball machines.

Their menu sported eclectically-named pizzas like the Al Gorgonzola, the Burger Time, the Morrissey — topped with nothing but vegetables, as famously vegetarian The Smith's lead singer Morrissey would want — and the Q-Bert.

Connolly said most of the arcade machines have already been sold, but that the restaurant will host a open house Saturday to sell the rest of its games and other restaurant items.

Along with pizzas from thin crust to deep dish, Forbidden Planet also served salads, antipasti, sides and full selection of alcoholic drinks from its bar.

The news of Forbidden Planet's closing comes days after it was announced that Iowa City restaurant Northside Bistro had closed.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.