There is quite a bit of competition for the gluten-free pizza business in the Atlanta area. The only pizza we’ve had here that could compete with the incredible options we had in NYC were the ones our pizza joint owner, Phil, made with the Domata Living Flour. The only reason that those crusts were made in the first place was because of a supply issue on the Domata crusts and it seems that the problem is ongoing. After finding out that the Domata crusts were still out of stock at our normal pizza place (Pepperoni’s) for the third week in a row, I decided to risk trying the gluten-free pie at Mellow Mushroom again.
Even though I didn’t care for the gluten-free pizza at the Mellow Mushroom in Conyer’s, I think that everyone deserves a second (and maybe a third) chance when it comes to trying to get it right for the gluten-free crowd. Let’s face it – we are difficult customers to prepare meals for. If the staff is trained properly on gluten-free service, they know that one slip-up such as a misplaced pizza cutter could make their gluten-free guests incredibly ill. No one gets into the gluten-free menu game to make people sick and many places really do care about getting it right. The truth is that quite a few of them simply just don’t get it.
In the case of the Mellow Mushroom location we visited last week, the staff not only “gets it” when it comes to safe gluten-free service, the staff members don’t understand why they’d have gluten-free pizza, but not offer gluten-free beer. They aren’t thrilled that only about half their gluten-free customers report that they actually like the gluten-free crust either. This news shocked me because I thought the people that didn’t like the crust offered there were in the minority. The two employees we spoke to admitted that if their choice is to offer something that the majority of their gluten-free guests don’t love, they would rather not offer a gluten-free crust at all. To be fair, these people have only compared the gluten-free crust (which they’d both tried themselves) to their gluten crust. Neither person mentioned having better gluten-free crusts elsewhere.
At this particular Mellow Mushroom location, the gluten-free crust has brought in a lot of new business which actually surprised the staff there. The gluten-free option has only been available for about a month and the number of gluten-free people coming in to order it has been much higher than they’d anticipated. It’s certainly true that everyone has different tastes when it comes to food of any kind. However, for a company like Mellow Mushroom, serving a product that doesn’t live up to its own high standards in terms of customer satisfaction seems a bit odd, to say the least. There is no way that the company would serve a gluten crust that only 50% of their customers loved.
As for the taste of the pizza during this visit, it was much better than the one we had in Conyer’s. Based on tips from others, I ordered the crust “extra crispy” and while it was not crispy at all, it was also not soggy so that was a huge plus. Also, I ordered the Greek salad and which came with feta cheese and it was delicious. At Conyer’s Mellow Mushroom, I was told the feta cheese was not gluten-free. In any case, during our second visit at what will remain an undisclosed Mellow Mushroom location, the Greek salad was delicious and is something I’d go back for and the pizza isn’t something I’d get again – unless they changed the crust.
The biggest problem I experienced with MM’s pizza is the extreme cost. When I went to the location near my office here in Knoxville, the pizza and iced tea (and tax and tip) totaled more than $26.00. That’s the most expensive lunch I’ve ever had. And although I took half the pizza home for reheating for another meal, I still consider it way too expensive.
That’s interesting. MM gluten-free pizza is one of the lower priced options in Atlanta. I think our bill ran around $30, but we got a Greek salad and one glass of wine as well.
After stopping to get a GF pizza at MM last week after work and being told they were out of the crust, I stopped in today during lunch. At the counter I asked which toppings were gluten free. I was told by a person I assume to be the manager due to his different attire that he doesn’t know anything about gluten free except for the crust. When I asked again that he didn’t know if any of the toppings were gluten free, he replied that “you must know what you can eat”. If they don’t know about the toppings, I’m fairly certain they also don’t know about the preparation. I won’t be returning to that location in Lawrenceville.
Heather – Wow! That is ridiculous. The MM’s we’ve been to have gf menus onsite so the guy should have at least gotten that for you to refer to. Maybe he wasn’t a manager… However, treating customers that way is a good way to kill their gf business. My pizzas from there were gluten-free for sure and the company that sells MM the gf crusts has a protocol for handling it safely. Each location should have those sheets up in the back in the gf prep area. Of course, if you can’t get answers about what toppings are gluten-free at a location, you can’t order in the first place. I’m sorry you too had a bad experience at MM, like so many others have.