Mellow Mushroom

We sat at the bar and the service was great. I love the ship décor. The spinach artichoke dip was good. Beer cheese is free at happy hour and great for dipping. We had the calzone and the kosmic karma pizza and both were great. It is a different feel than the mellow mushroom in Richmond, but I will eat there again.

I love the crust and appreciate the fact that they make the pizza to order and so you have to wait a while. However, I have a cheese allergy and when I ask for no cheese they always make it no cheese while its baking and then throw on a pile of Parmesan before sending it out. Then I have to sit and wait while they bake me a whole new pizza from scratch. Even when I let the server know, «Please make sure they don’t put parm on at the end» it still happens! Every. Single. Time! I never get to actually eat with everyone I go with and it is hella annoying. Otherwise, it is a decent chain (I am a chain food hater) and it usually hits the spot for my pizza cravings… you know… when I finally get it.

My first visit to Mellow Mushroom was at the Carytown location and they seem to have their stuff together! Service was fast and we were in and out. However at the MM in Newport News, not so much. Waited an hour before we even got our food. When our food did finally come, it was delicious as expected. Will we come back to this location? Probably, but only when we have some time to waste.

Wow. There is a seriously a quality control issue. With the cook, staff, etc. I’ve been here 3x. The most recent time we ordered carry out. When we ordered carry out, they didn’t offer an ETA. So we waited 10 minutes, and then came for our food.
Well, they were entirely unprepared. They didn’t offer a coupon for making us wait 30 minutes at the bar. All they did was say «sorry, we had too many orders at once». Really?
Not only that but they screwed up our order too. Things were missing and not what we ordered.
What a bummer. Sometimes your food is amazing, others it’s garbage.
Its also the most expensive pizza place in the area. So I hope when I pay the extra money, I get what I pay for???

Decided to give another try on a busy Saturday night. Sat at the bar this time. Bartenders were great and a lot fun. Ordered my usual. Came out in 20 minutes and was cooked to perfection. Great experience, glad they are improving!!! Thanks!

MM gets a solid 2.5 star rating from me. I’ve been here twice, and this place is bipolar. I came with a group of friends about three weeks ago. We were able to sit outside since was unseasonably warm. The server busted her behind taking care of our table of 15, and of all the orders, they only messed up one. The server took it back and had them remake the food. She brought it out about 10min later but it was still wrong. The pizza was eaten anyway, but the server had the food comped. Hey… have to appreciate the effort the server made to get it right, and then comped a meal when it was still wrong.
If I had written a review three weeks ago, I would’ve given them 4 stars. The food is good… really good actually. Our service was pretty good considering the warm weather brought everyone out and our server was busy. So they would’ve deserved a 4 star rating.
HOWEVER…I decided to go back on Sunday night. The hostess was nice and seated us right away… and that’s where the fun ends. We sat at the table for 10−15min without so much as an acknowledgment. Not ONE person came by to even take a drink order. I couldn’t even flag down a server because they barely checked on the tables around us. So we decided to bounce. Apparently one server could tell we were pissed because she came outside after us and was very apologetic. I could tell she was sincere and I respected that, and she said she’d serve us even though we weren’t in her section. Apparently there was some miscommunication between the hostess and wait staff. I believed the server, particularly because when we told the hostess that we were leaving since no one had come by the table, she LITERALLY smiled and said, «OK!» No «I’m sorry» or sense of concern… just a smile on her face as if she had no idea of what to say. It was odd. I wasn’t even mad at her after. I could tell she was either clueless or simply just didn’t care that her employer was losing money… she was probably just ready to go home.
Because the server attempted to smooth things over, this visit gets 1 star instead of negative 2. I went back and read a lot of other reviews and one thing most of us agree on is that the food is really good. However, I’ve seen enough reviews where the service outweighs the food, which leads to 2 and 3 star ratings where this place could easily get 4 and 5. Add this 2 star review to the list. Eat at your own risk.

I’ll start by saying the food was tasty however, the service was horrible. You know it’s bad when your 7yr old doesn’t want to go back. When walking in there was one person ahead of us maybe a manager, however we waited minutes before anyone said a word. Prior to being seated I asked for a both, clearly I saw two or more available. The waitress said no we don’t have a both, I’ll seat you at a table for «two». We get to the table she places two menus down and walks away. My son and I pick them up to find a visible wet table. Gross! So I asked to sit outside… We had a new waitress at that point who said, you can find a seat available outside. Really, this is my first time here can you at least point me in the right direction. I’m also thinking, isn’t that your job! So we go outside to find a seat meet our new waitress and waited 40 minutes or more for food. Oh and I’m with a child and they brought my food out without his. What should he do, watch me eat? My first and last time eating at this location. Maybe I’ll order to go and that’s a big maybe.
Since my first post I have been here twice and I’m very happy I gave them a 2^nd chance. Things have really Improved. The pizza and salad was delicious as always the staff was very attentive. I’m a new fan.

We got VERY fortunate with parking and we were able to park right by the outdoor seating lot beside PF Changs/​Mellow Mushroom. Any other time we’ve been to the center we had to park football fields away and walk. Please take caution in this parking lot, it is no overreaction when people say the parking lot is horribly thought out
My mother absolutely LOVES this restaurant chain. She has visited the one around Myrtle Beach multiple times and raved raved raved about their food to me. She treated me to a lunch around 3pm and I was hyped to go.
The hype did not last very long, unfortunately. This is still a very busy restaurant despite being open for a few months.
We were sat outside with my 3 year old. The tables and chairs are metal. in the cold weather the metal also gets cold; it made for uncomfortable dining. They do have hanging heaters but because Mellow Mushroom has no wind breakers/​barriers the heaters are there in vain. We asked about indoor seating and were told it would be 40+ minutes. in preschooler time that is about 12 hours. We opted to stay outside and try to enjoy a meal as we drove the distance from Windsor to get it.
Our server was very nice but the service itself and food was slow due to the amount of people. Drink refills were sparse and our bread appetizer took near 25 minutes to receive. to put that into perspective we ordered both our pizzas, kids meal and appetizers at the same time. 15 minutes after the bread came out my son’s meal came out. It was mac/​cheese with broccoli. He enjoyed it… so much that my slow eater was done with his food for near 30 minutes before the two other pizzas came out. Ouch. We did ask midway through his meal if ours would be coming soon, we were assured it was coming right up.
By the time we received our food my bub was getting inpatient of sitting in the cold for over an hour. I got the Mighty Meaty pizza and it was not skimping on the meat. It was flavored nicely but the dough was still doughy and underdone. The sauce on the pizza was not well seasoned. very canned/​metallic tasting. I was able to eat a slice and a half before having to walk in for our server to get to go boxes and pay the bill. Serving the food of all the members of a table around the same time is a big deal to me as anyone with kids knows 2 – 3 year olds are not the most patient beings, even with patient parents.
I do plan on visiting again another time when we can sit indoors and fully enjoy our meal without turning into popsicles. I think if we hadn’t already been there for going on 90 minutes I would have pointed out the raw pizza dough and asked for a replacement. I did eat the left overs at home by rebaking it low in the oven and at that point the dough was better.

My friend and I came out here for our lunch break last week. Definitely would not recommend it if you only have an hour for lunch. It took FOREVER for us to get our pie.
We ordered one pie with half Maui Wowie and half Bayou something something. The half with the Bayou only had five shrimps on it, which was disappointing. I preferred the Maui Wowie.
People I know seem to really like Mellow Mushroom, so I’ll probably give this place another try in the future.

Decided to have pizza tonight with my sons. We ordered a large pizza half pepperoni/​sausage. (Did not want Parmesan cheese. came anyway!)ordered a second smaller pizza for my youngest son who is a «finicky» eater and only eats pepperoni pizza. That second pizza had feta cheese on it .WTH.the waitress was so embarrassed and super apologetic for the continued mishap. When we arrived I had to flag down a staff to assist with our table after waiting 10 min… I would give two stars but the waitress tried her best to assist me as I grew more and more irritated. The manager never came to the table to apologize or comp/​remove the 2^nd order of pizza…

This is a fairly new pizza joint in that area so I kind of did a drive by, saw a new name, and walked in. Immediately, the hostess was very welcoming and sincere about it. It didn’t seem forced at all. The service was also great. I guess it was a manager walking around and he noticed I placed my coat around my shoulders because it was chilly from me sitting right under the air. He asked if I was cold, asked if he could feel the breeze on me and ensured me that he would turn the temperature up. And what do know? 10 minutes later it was warm lol.
Now to the food…
I got the Bayou Bleu which has blue cheese, shrimp, andouille sausage, and some other cheeses, etc. It was like Jimbalaya on pizza… AMAZINGGGG…
The other half was Mighty Meaty with your typical bacon, ham, beef, etc. I wasn’t too impressed by that one. It was a little too greasy as well so I’ll pass on that next time.

The food was ok. If your looking for a place to have a drink and pizza this would be fun place. However I do no enjoy extra doughy pizza. The value was on the expensive side.
It seemed like a chain restaurant quality for expensive pizza. I prefer The Blaze.

This place is delightful. The food is fresh and well made. Pizza is certainly their claim to fame, but be sure to try their Carnie burger or veggie burger which are both tasty.
If you’re a calzone purist be advised: they sprinkle cornmeal on the calzone which I am told is sacrilegious.
They have an impressive beer and wine list along with a full bar. Service is prompt and friendly. Prices are moderate but well warranted for the quality of food you get.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Mellow Mushroom. I was super excited for a Mellow to open up in Newport News finally! I think I hyped it up too much, especially since the last time I’d been to one was almost 3 years, and it was all I could think about the week leading up to its opening.
I’ve been there a couple of times, and each time it’s been okay. Nothing too spectacular. The biggest problem I have with this Mellow Mushroom is the long waits. The first time I went was on a weekday to catch up with a girl friend. We waited about 30 minutes for pizza, and it was a little overdone. A slight disappointed since I had been looking forward to a Mellow Mushroom pizza for a long time. But I get it, they had literally just opened that week, so I didn’t hold it against them.
The second time I went was with a large group, probably a group of 10 or 11 of us. It was the first weekend they were open, so I knew it was going to be crowded and the waits would be long. I got there at 5:00 and surprisingly, they told us the wait would only be 30 minutes, I had my doubts, but I didn’t think it would be that much longer than 30 minutes. An hour went by, and I started to get annoyed. I checked with them again, and they kept giving excuses «oh your table will be ready in 10 minutes probably» «we had your table ready, but people have just been seating themselves outside on the patio, so they took your seats!». FINALLY after waiting for 1.5 hours, they seated us. Don’t tell us 30 minutes but then have us wait 3 times as long. That’s ridiculous. After we were finally seated, that’s when they decide to tell us that the pizza would take 1.5 hours to get to us after we ordered. Why would you not tell us that earlier? You’re really going to make people wait 1.5 hours for a table AND then tell us the pizza is going to be another 1.5 hours? We ended up waiting and getting pizzas. They did tell us the hoagies and salads would take a shorter amount of time, which also wasn’t true, because after all of us got our pizzas, the people who ordered their sandwiches got their’s probably 5 minutes afterwards.
Other times I’ve been there, I’ve notice that their pizza wait times still haven’t gotten to a reasonable time. One of my favorite lines was when one waitress got snappy at us and told us that they make all pizzas fresh and what not. So that takes an hour and 15 minutes? How is it that other Mellow’s, who also use fresh ingredients and make it fresh, take 30 minutes, tops? One of the main problems is that the kitchen still don’t really know what they’re doing. They’re constantly messing up pizza orders and having to make the same pizza again. So yeah, when you have to make a table’s order twice, that’s probably going to take longer. I went there on a Wednesday night where a bunch of tables around us kept getting the wrong pizzas. Or after they got their pizza, they would come out with the same exact pizza, look confused, and just gave them the pizza for free anyways. That night, the pizza only took a little more than 45 minutes to get to us. But when we started eating, it was lukewarm. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I figured they would try to get pizzas out as fast and as soon as they could when they’re ready. But nope, they rather just let the pizza sit around and let it get cold. Cool. Service is a hit and miss. The bartenders are super cool and attentive. Some of the waitresses, not so much.
The only reason I come back to Mellow is because I do enjoy their pizzas. The Kosmic Karma is my favorite. The Thai-​Dyed pizza isn’t as good as I remember it from the Charlottesville location They have a pretty awesome beer/​cider selection as well! The owner/​manager is very apologetic and listens to complaints pretty well. It’s nice to see him walking around and talking to customers, genuinely listening to whatever they have to say. I do hope the kitchen and wait staff get better and get their pizza wait times down.

We came in for a drink and some pie for the boyfriend. Ron and China served us, and they were both very friendly and helpful. They gave great recommendations and took the time to catch our names and chat a bit.
The Call me Pumpkin is a great drink if you’re feeling a seasonal drink.
The boyfriend enjoyed his IPAs and ordered a Hawaiian pizza. It was probably hands down one of the best Hawaiian pizzas I’ve ever tried. The pesto on it was DELISH!
The ambiance in here is great, very laid back, and there’s outdoor seating for warmer nights.
It took a bit for the pizza, but patience is a virtue! Yummmmmm!

We love mellow mushroom. We were extremely excited when we found out Newport News was getting one. Plus, they opened on my birthday ;) bonus point for them. We have tried most of the menu. My personal favorite is the holy shiitake pizza. They have kids meals and burgers as well, and the herb burger was yummy, the potatoes delicious. The service is always great and I love that the owner comes around and introduces himself and asks how things are. He knows his pizzas too, although we were able to stump him by putting a slice of my husbands pizza on my tray. ;)
The one downside, the drink we love was available the first visit and then wasn’t available the next. I know they rotate drinks, but it’s sad when a seasonal is gone before the season is up.

4 drinks, 2 small pizzas, and 2 appetizers= $ 90. A little pricey for date night, the wait was an hour for a table and another hour for pizza. One hiccup was they dropped half our pizza (Maui Wowie) while waking from kitchen to table –staff promptly prepared another pizza of the like which was good since the pizza was prepared incorrectly to begin with. We asked for no peppers and it came fully loaded.
Only saving grace to this place is the courteous and smiling staff and wicked awesome food. Was it worth the wait? Will have to come back a few months from opening day and update.

I was told by one of my coworkers that this spot had some pretty good pizza and that I should go check it out. I ork nights so I thought I’d go in before work and see what the fuss was all about.
The service was excellent. I sat at the bar because the place was packed. This was expected due to this location just opening. I asked the bar tender how long the wait was he said an hour. It took that long. After debating I decided to go for it. I ordered a personal pizza and had a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (on tap).
The pizza was good. The taste wasn’t what I was expecting. Surprisingly fresh ingredients. Usually with these pizza chains you can tell the ingredients were pre-​frozen. I didn’t get that from this place.
They have multiple tvs and the Sunday ticket for us football fans. I’ll return to the place is a few weeks after the crowd has died down to try other menu items.

Excellent as I have always come to expect eating at a mellow mushroom. Our server, Jamie is awesome and friendly. She made our inaugural visit here amazing.
Mighty meaty is awesome.

If I hadn’t been following this Mellow Mushroom on social media for a month now, I wouldn’t have known this was their first day open. They absolutely nailed it. I’ve been to a couple Mellow Mushrooms in other states over the years and my expectations were sky high. Against my better judgement, I set out with my luncheon companion to be one of their first guests.
Mellow Mushroom did not fall for any of the traps brand new restaurants often find themselves in. The servers and staff were knowledgeable of the menu. The front of the house staff didn’t let themselves get overwhelmed. Several managers and team leaders came over to check on us throughout the meal. Don’t be scared of the «Now Open» sign. Get yourself to this Mellow Mushroom immediately.
The beer menu is extensive. I ordered a AleWerks Chesapeake Pale Ale and a couple of Smartmouth Alter Egos. My companion ordered an O’Connor El Guapo. The beers were ice cold and so pleasantly refreshing I «accidentally» ordered a third. Oops; there went the rest of my afternoon. Note for my next visit: they have Larry’s Lemonade on tap. That just seems like the perfect pairing for delicious pizza.
We ordered a whole order of pretzels to kick things off. They’re made out of the Mellow pizza dough and not pretzel dough, just to warn you. I think they were perfect, but could understand someone expecting a traditional pretzel and not preferring the Mellow version. A whole order was too much for the two of us. A half order (3 pretzels) would’ve been just fine.
But why have I been stalking Mellow Mushroom on social media for months? To get pretzels and beer? No.
The Red Skin Potato Pie is a pizza so delicious, so beautifully concocted that eating a slice transfers you to a happier, calmer place. Nirvana. Pizzas like the Red Skin Potato Pie are what gives this joint the joyful vibes that allow it to boldly call themselves «Mellow Mushroom» without risking hoity-​toity jeers from the uptight crowd. Who would want to eat at a placed called Mellow Mushroom? Anyone with the will to live free and surrender themselves to a higher, universal power.
Toward the end of our meal, my friend and I started making up negative things to say about the place. The servers had too many tattoos and were too attentive. The mural painting of the ship on the wall wasn’t of a ship that would actually get built in Newport News. The port holes lining the walls were too small and not up to code. The nautical map decorating our table was a little too geographically correct. The free cookie and ice cream the manager brought me after she discovered it was my birthday was too sweet and too expensive.
My original review, before Unilocal told me I had to write more, was just two words: NAILED IT. Mellow Mushroom absolutely, 100% brought it today. I can’t wait to go back.