The Wahlberg whirlwind visit to Des Moines included a store tour, Mass and an outdoor party

An estimated 5,000 screaming, crying and starstruck fans packed a West Des Moines mall parking lot Saturday night to welcome a triumvirate of celebrity.

Actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg and their chef brother Paul Wahlberg greeted fans who screamed their names and held out phones to take video and pictures.

The brothers came in for a brief visit to the metro for the opening of their new Wahlburgers restaurant at Jordan Creek Town Center. Hy-Vee, which sponsored the event, has a franchise agreement with Wahlburgers to operate 26 stores in the markets where Hy-Vee exists.

The amped-up crowd, which started gathering outside the restaurant Friday night in anticipation of the Wahlbergs’ visit, held signs that read “Mark Rocks,” and “Missin Iowa game so mom can fulfill her childhood dream.” Two large video screens captured the event and music blared out over the parking lot.

“I’ve seen crazy, and Iowa is bringing it today like I’ve never seen,” Donnie Wahlberg told screaming fans as the brothers came onstage. He announced that the band he was in as a teenager, New Kids on the Block, would be in Des Moines next year as part of the revived group’s latest tour.

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Hy-Vee’s CEO Randy Edeker, who hosted the Wahlbergs on stage, asked them to address a longtime rumor that Mark Wahlberg — who, with his newfound love of Iowa —  was buying a mansion in Ankeny owned by Dennis Albaugh.

“I’d buy the house and the golf course with it,” Mark Wahlberg jested. “Tell him I’ll put in an offer.”

The brothers good-naturedly teased each about who their mother’s favorite child was and that Paul was going to create and sell “Wahl sauce.”

The Wahlbergs grew up in what they called humble beginnings in a blue-collar suburb of Boston.

Mealtime was important for the struggling family with nine children. The kids were “kicked out of the house in the morning but always had to be home for” dinner, Mark Wahlberg said.

“We had one table, but we probably couldn’t afford nine chairs,” Donnie Wahlberg said, referring to the number of siblings in the family. “But even in the worst of times, meal time was the best of times.”

Devout Catholics, Mark and Paul Wahlberg flew into Des Moines on Saturday afternoon and attended a private Mass at St. Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines. Donnie Wahlberg flew in separately. The brothers visited the Waukee Hy-Vee to see how the regional chain has integrated the Wahlburgers brand into the store’s Market Grille restaurant. They also wandered store aisles, taking pictures with customers.

After the West Des Moines appearance, the Wahlbergs took pictures with fans and visited the restaurant.

Hy-Vee forged a relationship with Mark Wahlberg when it agreed to sell Wahlberg’s Performance Inspired nutritional supplements sold exclusively by Hy-Vee in eight Midwest states. Wahlberg then convinced Edeker to take a look at opening Wahlburger restaurants. Hy-Vee’s franchisee agreement calls for 26 stores over the next five years. It will open its third Wahlburgers in Olathe, Kansas, next week.

Edeker said Saturday’s event mirrored Hy-Vee’s first Wahlburgers opening at the Mall of American in Bloomington, Minnesota, earlier this year. “We won’t be doing these big events at every opening,” he said.