Hometown Eats: Lost in Taste

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - “Space, the final frontier” might not be something you think about when talking about Christiansburg.

But if cosmic cuisine is what you’re searching for, we found it at Lost in Taste for this week’s Hometown Eats!

“The great thing about a space-themed sports bar, there’s not politics in it. Unless you believe in flat earth or that we didn’t land on the moon,” said owner Alan Johnson.

Ground control to Major Tom, set your coordinates for this retro diner just off Interstate 81. Welcome to Lost in Taste on Roanoke Street in Christiansburg.

I asked Alan, “Star Wars or Star Trek?”

“Man, great question and I don’t know if I should answer that because people may be offended,” Alan answered.

Alan Johnson loves sci-fi. So, it was no surprise in 2022 when he named his restaurant after one of his favorite franchises, Lost in Space.

“Bad guy, Dr. Smith, danger Will Robinson, and that’s kind of what we do here. We go all in on it as part of our identity,” said Alan.

And once word got out about this diner-turned-spaceship, people lined up to put something on board.

“We’ve had some local artist do some artwork for us. It’s NASA cars is what I call it instead of NASCAR. Race cars going around Jupiter’s rings there. Marvin the Martian was brought in by a guest. You just find things over time and you put them together,” said Alan.

As for this wooden space shuttle, it’s actually been in space.

“I’ve always been into sci-fi as well. I remember Lost in Space as a kid and plus if you like sports there are lots of screens that you can find something to watch,” said regular customer Angela.

“We’re going to name our food after characters. Real characters and sci-fi characters,” added Alan.

Like the Roswell Ribeye.

“Some people don’t think that we have a ribeye that’s top of the line. I don’t want to do anything that’s halfway so we’re going to make sure that it’s quality and perfect,” said Alan.

Space In-Taters, Big Bang shrimp, or the Total Eclipse salad.

“Our most popular salad and the hard-boiled egg, we make it look like a total eclipse,” said Alan.

A favorite among staff and regulars, the Creamy Spudnik potato soup.

“Potato soup. It’s a homemade recipe,” said Alan.

“This potato soup. It is so good,” added Angela.

As for the burger, if the Millennium Falcon is known for making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, the Briezo Bebop should be known to infinity and beyond.

“Here in America people love burgers. I do as well so I was like we’re going to have a good burger,” said Alan.

If you’re looking for the spice, just dive into The Earth’s Core. Stacked with ghost pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, bacon, avocado, blue cheese and the supernova hot sauce.

Things can get a little funky around this joint from the cosmic cocktails to trivia and karaoke.

“Friday nights he and I get in on some karaoke together. Long Train Running, Doobie Brothers,” said Alan’s father, Alan Johnson Sr.

And the best part, you don’t need a jump to hyperspace to get here.

“You need to step away from the chains,” said Angela.

“If you’re in Roanoke it’s right here off interstate 81, really easy to get to and a great place to eat,” said regular customer Nathaniel.

“The food is fantastic, service is great, I think you’d enjoy yourself so come on down,” added Alan Sr.

Lost in Taste, a hometown eat that’s out of this world.

Lost in Taste is located at 2675 Roanoke St, Christiansburg, VA 24073 and is open 11am to 10pm Sunday through Wednesday, 11am to 11pm Thursday, and 11am to 1:30am Saturday.