The Mellow Mushroom is a pizza chain founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974. In its youth all of its restaurants were Grateful Dead themed, but at this remove from the end of the Grateful Dead, it has expanded and employed a creative team designed to make each one unique. I was told tonight by the bartender about her favorite, which was themed on Alice in Wonderland; this one is the one I think of as "the Hobbit" Mellow Mushroom, for reasons that should be obvious. In Gainesville, Georgia, they have occupied an old mansion with stained glass windows and turned it into a masterpiece.
Pizza is an American dish, not much like the Italian namesake, with several regional styles especially including New York and Chicago (and Philly's 'tomato pie'). The Mellow Mushroom deserves to be numbered among this elite as the Southern variation on pizza. The dough is made from spring water and excellent wheat, and is chewy and buttery. Ingredients are numerous and thickly cut, preserving their flavor and texture even after cooking. They prefer a rich tomato sauce, but also make a white pizza named after the Beetles' album, and a good pesto. I've never had a bad one. The one pictured is a small half-House Special, half-Pacific Rim (with both pineapple and jalapenos, as well as thick, applewood-smoked bacon).
They generally also have an ace beer selection, as if there wasn't enough to like about the place already. The wife tells me the salads are fantastic, but my appetite for research has not so far extended to them.
7 comments:
They are pretty good. But I can attest to the fact that service at the two in Augusta is spotty at best. Good selection of beers though.
Salads have lost most of their energy and life content.
In order to return back to the original Golden Age parameters, fruits and vegetables should be eaten right as they are picked, after dipping in essential and spicy oils.
Right before dusk, when the sun's energy ways have filled the plant, as well as creating a grounding for the human body through the legs and the ground, will have the best results.
These "salads" are mostly dead, equivalent to slightly better water.
There were 4 ages of mankind. The Age of Gold. The Age of Silver. The Age of Copper. And the Age of Iron.
The first one of these I ever ate at was in Asheville, NC. It was in an older building and the 60s/70s theme was prominent and charming (an odd description of anything Grateful Dead but there you are). Around here (Lower Alabama), the restaurants are in new buildings and are relatively soulless but the pizza is still great. Our local one offers a loaded baked potato pizza which is remarkably good.
The guys I know who eat there would really like it if the beer list was organized by type - and if it made clear which beers were included in Happy Hour and which weren't.
I'm enjoying the travel blogging. Thanks for doing it!
If the mushrooms are like anything the Dead endorsed, good chance ye be wanderin' in the wilderness...!
I am enjoying your travel log also!
Elise, I've been to the Asheville location several times. You're right: it's kind of fun. It's a great place to get a Mighty Meaty after a day (or more) of hiking in the nearby peaks.
I'll have to take your word for the hiking part but a Mighty Meaty pizza sounds great after any kind of day.
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