By Krista Diamond
Where everybody knows your name. Unless it’s classified.
IT’S DUSK AT THE BORDER OF AREA 51 and I’m drinking a White Russian. Behind me, there’s a one-story white building emblazoned with hand-painted lettering: Earthlings welcome. A gray flying saucer dangles unassumingly from the back of a tow truck beside a glowing sign advertising a restaurant, bar, and motel.
This is the Little A’Le’Inn, the only business in Rachel, Nevada: population 96. It’s a community gathering space, a welcome sight for travelers along the remote stretch of NV-375… oh, and it’s on the edge of a highly classified military installation/alien conspiracy-theory hub.
“It’s just normal life for me,” says Connie West, who co-owns the Little A’Le’Inn with her mother, Pat.
That normal life means offering a welcoming place for anyone to grab a drink, a bite, and maybe a rest in one of the on-site trailers. It just so happens that “anyone” includes UFO aficionados, curious naysayers, and workers who may or may not spend their days exploring the mysteries of the cosmos.
SURPRISINGLY, THE LITTLE A’LE’INN wasn’t conceived in an attempt to capitalize on the lure of Area 51. When West’s father purchased the business in 1988, it was simply known as the Rachel Bar and Grill. He intended to change it to the Little Ale Inn, but due to a mishap at the printers ended up with a logo that read the Little A’Le’Inn. A friend pointed out that the accidental punctuation seemed like a play on the word “alien.”
Coincidentally, noted Area 51 conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar had just made headlines for an interview discussing his alleged employment at the mysterious military base. Lazar claimed to have worked on “Sport Model” flying saucers (he’s currently selling autographed sketches of them on Instagram) at aircraft hangars hidden in the desert mountains.
The West family ran with it. They started cooking up alien-themed hamburgers, selling t-shirts decorated with flying saucers, and attracting guests from all over the world. Since then, the Little A’Le’Inn has garnered a reputation as a middle-of-nowhere destination for both believers and skeptics.
“We’ve had people that come in and they are truly looking, as they say, to ‘go home,’” says Connie West. “They are looking for the mothership or a connection.”
The Inn draws a wide array of customers—”I am the only business and I have the only toilet in between Alamo and Tonopah, Connie notes—including workers from Area 51, though she says she doesn’t push any boundaries and prod them with questions. And the inn draws many, many would-be Mulders asking the same question: How do I get to Area 51?
