The Bottom Line
Pros
- Convenient to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park
- Their pizzas and calzones are fresh-baked, and have deliciously chewy crusts.
- Mellow Mushroom has a fairly extensive drink menu, which includes beer, wine, and various margaritas
- Open for lunch on Saturdays
- Lots of vegetarian selections
Cons
- Pizzas and calzones are mostly crust, with just a bit of cheese, sauce, and toppings.
- It's difficult to spend less than $10-12 per person if you want a taste of 'za
- Large pies from this location can cost over $20 each, and small personal pizzas start at around $10
- At peak times (before/after Bulls games), parking can be difficult and wait times can be lengthy
Description
- Mellow Mushroom is a chain restaurant with locations nationwide.
- It has several locations in central North Carolina, including it's Durham location, which is the subject of this review.
- Mellow Mushroom also has a location in Raleigh (601 W. Peace St.) and another in Wake Forest.
- Durham's Mellow Mushroom is located in the American Tobacco Campus, right across from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
- There is plenty of nearby parking in the American Tobacco Campus parking garage.
- Some outdoor seating is available at the restaurant.
Guide Review - Mellow Mushroom Restaurant Durham - Review of Mellow Mushroom Restaurant Durham
Mellow Mushroom has the feel of college town pizza dive that went corporate. And, just like a hole-in-the-wall pizza place, it's a great place to grab a few (or quite a few) drinks, and gorge on pizza.So, Mellow Mushroom is a good place to get together with friends, but it's probably not a restaurant that will impress a date, unless they're really into psychedelic-themed décor and unlimited refills on fountain drinks.
I visited Mellow Mushroom at around 2:00 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, and my party of eight people was seated immediately. The restaurant was almost empty, and our server was relatively polite and efficient.
The menu choices at Mellow Mushroom consist mostly of pizza, calzones and hoagie sandwiches. There is a "soup of the day", which, in our case, was tortilla soup. A dieting member of our party ordered it and found it edible, but not memorable. Another dieter in our group ordered a Greek salad and was amazed to discover that the "salad" was made up mostly of feta cheese and olives. Yummy, but not good diet food.
I ordered a "House Calzone", which the menu promised was "big as a house" and loaded with vegetables. When the calzone arrived (by the way, it was fairly medium-sized) and I cut it open, I was disappointed to find out that my calzone was almost all crust. Inside the mass of crust, there was a teeny smattering of veggies and some freakishly gooey, stretchy cheese. An unremarkable, canned-tasting tomato sauce was served on the side.
As I looked around the table, I noticed that the pizzas were about 80% crust as well. Way to cut ingredient costs, Mellow Mushroom! On the bright side, since dough is very filling, our party left with full bellies and had plenty of "doggie bags" in tow. I actually did feed my leftovers to my dog.