Mellow Mushroom: Restaurant Review

You might be thinking to yourself, "Dang, there doesn't seem to be a restaurant that Tim's reviewed that he hasn't liked!" Well, you would be correct in that assessment, but this review will be the first that is not a glowing recommendation. (which says a lot about the quality of eateries in Austin, or my ability to choose good restaurants)

First of all, Mellow Mushroom is another quirky-looking restaurant that focuses primarily on pizzas. It resides on "The Drag", which is a hotspot for all the restaurants on UT campus. Location-wise, this place is clutch. Unfortunately, that's pretty much it.

The menu looked pretty promising, with some unique-looking pizza combinations, and if anything, it seemed like the Austin version of California Pizza Kitchen. I ended up deciding to try The Philosopher (steak, portabello mushroom, artichoke, provolone, feta and mozzarella cheese, with an oil and garlic base).

First strike against this place: it took over 1 hour for us to get our food. Granted, we had roughly 10 people ordering 4-5 pies, but still... that's ridiculous. My stomach was in the process of digesting itself by the time the food had arrived. When our Philosopher was delivered to our table, it looked like it would be good, even though it was a thin crust pizza (and I'm not a fan).

First bite... the dough was tough to bite apart and the meat was overcooked and tough. Blegh. So disappointing. In theory, the ingredients sounded like it would go amazing together, but in reality, the oil just made things kinda messy and the pizza ended up being baked too long cuz the toppings were really dried out.

I got to try someone else's Mighty Meat, which is pretty standard at most pizza places, and it tasted OK, not anything special. Once again, the crust was just too chewy for my taste. Ambience and comfortability were OK, it was pretty trippy decor, but not overwhelmingly so.

Final Verdict: Don't come here.