I visited an interactive Las Vegas grocery store where you can't really buy food

Taylor RainsJan 14, 2024, 02:27 IST

I had a fun time exploring the Omega Mart grocery store.Taylor Rains/Insider

Area15 in Las Vegas hosts an interactive art installation called Omega Mart.
The grocery store is full of fake foods, abusrdist products, and secret passage ways.

Omega Mart, a giant grocery store in Las Vegas, attracted more than 1 million people in its first year of opening — but it doesn't actually sell food.

Owned by arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf, the store is an interactive — and particularly Instagrammable — labyrinth of never-ending rooms and digital art.

It can be enjoyed as a walkthrough exhibit starting at about $50 for out-of-state visitors and about $40 for Nevada residents.

Or, for $3 more, you can experience Omega Mart's mystery game by searching for clues, reading emails, and watching videos hidden inside the attraction.

There are also VIP experiences that cost between $100 and $150 a person.

I recently visited Omega Mart and spent hours getting lost in the colossal maze.

Omega Mart is located inside Las Vegas’ popular Area15 entertainment venue.

Omega Mart inside Area15 in Las Vegas.Taylor Rains/Insider

The interactive experience starts in a supermarket with aisles full of fake products like sauces, cereal, medicine, and canned soup.

Notice "bird mustard" on the sign and the spoof cleaner.Taylor Rains/Insider

The produce section was on one side of the store, and the butcher's stall was on the other.

The food was fake, though.Taylor Rains/Insider

The product section had everything from vegetable-shaped figurines to wasp sculptures.

The vegetable figurines appeared to be collectibles.Taylor Rains/Insider

Nearly nothing was edible, and the fake foods were actually little buyable knick-knacks.

There was an avocado coin purse for sale. Taylor Rains/Insider

Food-inspired souvenirs include things like a chip bag-shaped pillow and tortilla coasters.

The pillow and the coasters would be good gag gifts.Taylor Rains/Insider

Of all the products, I thought the "stash" cans — a security box that can hide items in plain sight — were probably the most useful.

Stash cans are everyday items that have been hollowed out to hide things like keys or cash.Taylor Rains/Insider

Everything inside the supermarket was pretty absurdist and odd, yet comical in a good way.

A tower of canned soup inside Omega Mart.Taylor Rains/Insider

Almost all of the food is fake, but Omega Mart has since added a few consumable things, like juice and candy, to its shelves.

The right refrigerator contains drinks, but the left refrigerator is actually a hidden entrance.Taylor Rains/Insider

There were also screens littered around the market, and a doomful announcement regularly played as part of the mystery game.

The screens gave information on Omega Mart and its secretive parent company, Dramcorp.Taylor Rains/Insider

The add-on only cost a few dollars more, and I thought the story was well thought out and actually challenging.

One of the machines around the store where you could tap the $3 "boop" card for the mystery game.Taylor Rains/Insider

In the game, players become Omega Mart “employees," learn the store is seedy, and then investigate a giant conspiracy.

This giant security screen inside the attraction was part of the mystery.Taylor Rains/Insider

Visitors don’t have to participate in the mystery to see the entire art installation, but it makes some of the props inside make more sense.

The rustic sign looks like an art sculpture but is part of the mystery.Taylor Rains/Insider

If you play, make sure to budget three to four hours to complete the game.

One of the art installations inside Omega Mart.Taylor Rains/Insider

But the exhibit itself is still awesome as a walkthrough. To access the full experience, visitors need to find the hidden passages.

A tourist heads behind Omega Mart via the freezer.Taylor Rains/Insider

There were a few incognito entrances, like the crawl space inside the camping tent.

Thankfully, none of the rooms were only accessible by crawling.Taylor Rains/Insider

Beyond the market is a totally different world, complete with neon colors, unique sculptures, digital art, and vibrant paintings.

Inside the main room behind Omega Mart.Taylor Rains/Insider

The artwork is created by local and international artists. I loved that the art is part of the mystery story but can also be appreciated on its own.

I had fun exploring the art-filled room. Taylor Rains/Insider

The main art space felt like a forest, with colorful lights displaying different scenes and images along the walls.

A view of the main room from the second level.Taylor Rains/Insider

There were little huts here, too. They doubled as a sleuthing space with computers, books, and props for the mystery.

I loved the old-timey computers inside the exhibit.Taylor Rains/Insider

I tried to find as many hidden rooms as possible, like the spooky nook with a bedazzled skeleton.

The skeleton was covered in vibrant neon.Taylor Rains/Insider

I also found a room that's full of colorfully patterned walls.

Inside the Omega Mart super-labyrinth.Taylor Rains/Insider

Upstairs there's a huge “office” space full of clues for the conspiracy.

There were computers scattered throughout the office.Taylor Rains/Insider

It was actually pretty incredible how thorough the emails, letters, and videos in the office were, and the acting was surprisingly not cringey.

Players need to listen to phone calls to solve the mystery.Taylor Rains/Insider

If you’re playing, you’ll need to check every single phone and desktop in the office to piece the story together. Plan to spend some time in the room.

A man working at one of the computers in the office.Taylor Rains/Insider

But I didn’t like waiting on the computers that were required to solve the mystery. I also felt a little rushed when it was finally my turn.

Waiting for my turn to use one of the computers.Taylor Rains/Insider

A large slide connecting the first and second floors is another eye-catcher inside the maze.

There was a spiral slide inside Omega Mart.Taylor Rains/Insider

But when I visited, it didn’t appear like people could actually ride down the slide.

The end of the slide was filled with fruit.Taylor Rains/Insider

Further inside the labyrinth, visitors will find more hidden paths leading to rooms, including one with mirrors on the walls.

Inside the funky mirror room.Taylor Rains/Insider

The paths connecting the rooms are also pretty trippy.

One of the tunnels inside Omega Mart.Taylor Rains/Insider

It's pretty much impossible to explore every nook and cranny of Omega Mart, but I thought it was a great family-friendly activity near the Strip.