Mellow In Mt Dora
Originally posted 01/04/2020
Hello again! It’s been a while since I have posted a review, but with the holidays and the new year, life has been crazy! Mostly work has been crazy, life has been about the same. Ha.
So, welcome back…I must say, I think you like me since we keep conveniently running into each other like this. Hopefully it’s not like a whole Joe Goldberg from “You” or anything…even though, he’s kinda cute…
Whoa, okay sorry, totally getting off topic here.
Back in December, I took a trip out to Mount Dora, Florida to check out the lovely Christmas light display. It was absolutely beautiful and I may have to add it to my yearly holiday festivities.
The City
The city of Mount Dora…yes, the same Mount Dora where PizzAmore is located, is quite a tucked away gem. The whole town being lit up is just absolutely amazing, I definitely recommend the trip out. Now, my only issue with the area is, everything seems to close pretty early, so when we were starting to get peckish, the few restaurants that were open were pretty packed.
But, have no fear, our Savior is here, there...a few miles away…
Mellow Mushroom is off the beaten path, I would say between 5 and 10 miles from the Downtown area. As we were driving, we actually passed the restaurant - it was in a pretty dark area, and didn’t really stand out too much, we wondered if it was even open.
*Spoiler Alert: It was, and I am super happy for that!
Now, I love history, do you love history? Let’s learn some Mellow History!
The Story
Founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974, the original pizza bakers of Mellow Mushroom began serving up fresh, stone-baked pizza in an eclectic, art filled, and family friendly environment. Each pizza starts with 5 simple ingredients
Appalachian spring water
Unbleached and unbromated flour
Hand-picked California tomatoes (simmered in a special stash of spices)
100% Angus beef from Harris Ranch
Antibiotic & hormone-free chicken from Spring Mountain Farms…together for the cult classic Mellow Mushroom Stone Baked Pizza.
Every location incorporates the original characters that were born with the company, including Mel O. Mushroom - he actually stood right outside this location, his neighbors - the Funguys, and Esperanza (you’ll hear this name again later). They have been printed on various merchandise and even have their own comic strip, which is super cool in my opinion, I have always wanted my own comic strip.
I do want to add that each uniquely themed restaurant is individually owned and operated, so I can only give my opinion on this specific location - in this review that is,
I have visited other locations in the past, and even opened one in 2005! Keep an eye out in the future for visits to other locations, where I will showcase the many different imaginings.
The Atmosphere
Located at 18221 US HWY 441 in Mount Dora, this location has been open for about 4 or 5 years, and was a fun one to visit.
Join them daily for lunch or dinner starting at 11:00 am - with the fun ending at 10 pm (Sun-Thurs) and 11 pm (Fri/Sat).
Lunch specials available Mon-Fri: 11 am - 2 pm.
Delivery service starts at 11:30 am. They also provide catering and online ordering.
Offering something for all walks of life, even the pickiest of eaters can find a meal from their wide variety of pizza, munchies, hoagies, sandwiches, salads, soups, sweets, calzones, and burgers!
They even have a Build Your Own Salad, at just $4.49, you can choose between Romaine, a Spring Mix, or Spinach, then add up to 3 ingredients (each additional ingredient is $1.79). I think that is super cool, and I recommend the Esperanza dressing - it is out of this world! - I would actually get a side of it to dip my pizza crust in when I worked for the Shroom.
We arrived later in the evening, being a Saturday, we were surprised that they weren’t busier…but, yay for us on not having to wait long. We were greeted and seated immediately. We didn’t find out until later, but I’ll add it here so the photos make sense, the theme of this particular location is Industrial, and is kind of a call out honoring the Nation’s hard-working farmers.
There is a jellyfish sculpture above you when you first walk in, made out of old license plates, which seem to be a big theme around the restaurant.
Also right as you walk in, an awesome metal mural collage made by the opening team.
The bar is a great size, bright and colorful - I love those lights!
Another area I’d like to touch on is the restrooms - you know me with theming - I love the signage, so very vintage, which I adore and a really cool mechanical look to it. They were also super clean and well kept!
The Food
Our server - Lisa - came to the table quickly, and was super friendly with a welcoming smile. She took our beverage order - Coca Cola for me, obviously - always A-OK in my book - and let us take a look over the menu. One of the things I like most about Mellow Mushroom is how creative and downright silly they can be with the names of their different options (i.e: Holy Shiitake Pie, Funky Q. Chicken, and Maui Wowie Pizza). The menu here is so colorful, with fun and quirky graphics, I actually ended up taking a To-Go menu home with me.
Another thing that I love is how pizza places (the Shroom included) are starting to offer smaller, more personal sized pizza for those who come in, but only one person may be eating it.
We didn’t start with any Munchies this time, but their Spinach Artichoke Dip sounds absolutely amazing, and is served with garlic toast instead of chips for just $6.99.
With other options starting at $4.99, they have a pretty intriguing line up including Cheese Bread, Pretzel Bites, Wings, and Magic Mushroom Soup, and more.
They have a Greens section, a Calzone section, Specialty Pizzas, Sandwiches, Hoagies, Burgers, and Local to your Mellow, like I said, something for everyone!
My dining partner decided on the Meatball Hoagie, offering Half or Whole, you can add Kettle chips for just .99 cents. It looked super delicious, and I should have stolen a bite so I could describe it, but I was just too excited for my pizza!
Once again, the creature of habit I am, I went with a Build Your Own. Now, when I say it was pretty difficult to choose my toppings, I really mean it…they offer *ahem* ten, yes I said TEN different cheeses (including a vegan option),
thirteen meats/proteins (including tofu), and
twenty-five veggies/other including apples, avocado, banana peppers, pepperoncini, and 3 types of olives!
You’ll never believe it, but I went with pepperoni…classic, but it seems to be a pretty good and easy way to get the taste and feel of a pizza without going overboard, I’ll definitely be back to try out some other options in the future.
The Build Your Own starts at $7.99 for a 10” cheese only, add $1.00 per added ingredient.
We waited a little longer than I felt was really - I hate to use the word “acceptable”, but it’s the only one coming to mind. There were only two other tables in the restaurant, and one was already eating when we sat down…now, I will say that Lisa was absolutely amazing at keeping us distracted from our wait, she was super friendly and she actually enjoyed chatting with us and giving us the history and little tidbits about the restaurant. I like when a server will take a little more time to go that extra step and actually have a conversation with you, stuffy and unfriendly servers who just want to get your order and walk away just don’t do it for me.
*During busy times, I do not keep them at my table just chatting, I totally get they have other responsibilities.*
When the food arrived, I was super impressed…I did have to wait a few minutes as it came out hot and I have learned my lesson when too excited in the past and have burned my very soul - although, it is such a good burn!
The sandwich is decently sized and smelled amazing…still bummed that I didn’t steal a bite.
The pizza was a thing of beauty, a true work of art. It was perfectly cooked, the crust was a nice golden brown, with just the right amount of shine…yes, I know this is from the grease, but, we all know you need a subtle hint of that.
The crust - a little thicker than I tend to prefer, but it was fluffy and airy, not dense, and the flavor was really good. They ship the Appalachian spring water in from out of state, which keeps it less dense, and the flour is unbleached and unbromated (Potassium Bromate is added to dough as it helps with the rise, but it has been linked to cancer and can cause not so fun health side effects if your intake is high).
The Sauce - evenly spread, not too overpowering, and that secret stash of special spices is a perfect blend of delicious goodness!
The Cheese - Always the main event for me, because I love cheese. It’s one of my favorite foods, and I feel like the sauce and cheese blend is what makes or breaks your pizza. Of course this is just my opinion and there is no science to back it up.
The pizza had an amazing amount of cheese, didn’t even ask for extra, but woo! I know it’s a basic mozzarella, but the flavor was more vivid than I have at other places, and once again, I feel the sauce helps with this. Also, it was super stringy!
All in all, I loved the atmosphere, I loved the food, I loved the server, I recommend stopping in if you are ever in the Mount Dora area!
Thanks for reading, until next time!
I give Mellow Mushroom 7/8 slices!
