Restaurants

The news about the Atlanta-based pizza joint chain, Mellow Mushroom, possibly offering gluten-free pizza has floated around online for well over a year. When I was finally able to get some details about this new venture, I was thrilled to find out they were going to use a proprietary recipe made with the mix from Domata Living Flour. The ready-made gluten-free crusts from that company are quite tasty, but the crusts my own pizza joint made from flour (when he ran out of crusts) were extraordinarily exceptional tasting. Therefore, I figured Mellow Mushroom’s version would take the gluten-free pizza wars to a whole new level.

Skip to earlier this year, when Mellow Mushroom announced that they were now going to use a crust from Still Riding Pizza, of Pizza Fusion fame.  Taste is relative and people tend to love that crust or not like it at all. I’m in the latter group, but most people do like the crust. I had only that crust at the now-closed Atlanta location of Pizza Fusion. The good news is that the pizza crust we had in Conyers, GA was better than any we’d previously had at Pizza Fusion. The bad news was that the pizza wasn’t good enough for us to go back – to any location. It’s likely that most gluten-free diners will enjoy the Mellow Mushroom crust, especially those who like what Pizza Fusion serves. Zack over at gluten-free Raleigh has not had the gluten-free crust at Pizza Fusion yet but gave the gluten-free crust at his Mellow Mushroom location a rave review.

Many people have contacted me complaining about the locations chosen for the Mellow Mushroom gluten-free pizza test market. I certainly had nothing to do with the locations chosen, but think the locations chosen are understandable. Gluten-free service is something that some large national chains have not been able to get a handle on, including some that have offered gluten-free menus for over five years. Mellow Mushroom has no interest in having this project fail and likely chose locations where there might not be that many gluten-free patrons. This allows them some room for growing pains.

We arrived during a very busy time and could barely find a place to sit at the  Conyers, GA location of Mellow Mushroom. It was a quirky, fun place – just like all the locations we’ve been to before have been. There is a gluten-free menu of sorts. It’s actually a guide to what is gluten-free. You still have to look at a regular menu for menu choices and pricing. This is the same annoying situation we run into at almost every place we visit with a gluten-free menu so we don’t count that against them.

When we finally decided which salad and pizza to order, we were taken aback when our enthusiastic server told us that the feta cheese on both the salad and pizza we’d chosen was in fact, not gluten-free. That was certainly a new one for me. I assumed she was mistaken and asked her to double-check that. She went to speak to the manager and reported back that the feta cheese is not gluten-free. So we choose another salad but stuck with the gourmet white pizza – sans the feta cheese. There were to be many other kinds of cheese on it, after all.

Our small Chef Salad was a good value at $3.95 and was large enough to share.   I’d ordered no croutons or bread because this location had started gluten-free service only a week ago. I did not think to ask for no crackers so they came on the plate. Luckily, they were wrapped in cellophane so they did not have to throw out the salad and start over. The salad was fresh and the house dressing was very good – just like I remember from my gluten-eating days.

The pizza arrived quite a while after we’d finished our salad,  but Mellow  Mushroom is known for taking its sweet time to make its gluten pizzas. I’d rather them take the extra time that might be needed to make gluten-free pizza safely than have them mess it up. The crust looked like the crust we’d had at Pizza Fusion, but was definitely better tasting. Both my husband and I agreed on that. He thought the toppings were good, and I did not. I think we should have ordered a different pizza because the feta cheese really makes the gourmet white pizza there. So, I take responsibility for ordering the wrong pizza, but would not have been in love with the crust regardless.

Without question, the 14″ gluten-free pie Mellow Mushroom offers are the best value for gluten-free pizza in the Metro Atlanta area. We paid only $16.25 for the gourmet white pizza even though we added grilled chicken. We didn’t want onions (and could not have the feta cheese) so the server didn’t seem to upcharge us for the chicken. They were out of Redbridge but had Amber Woodchuck Cider on Tap. It was wonderful and only $2.95. When in stock, Redbridge is only $3.25 at the Conyers Mellow Mushroom location. There was not an upcharge for the gluten-free crust either, which was not an oversight.

The same amount of food and drinks at other places that serve gluten-free pizza here would run us $10-$15 more – easily. I hope the test market program is successful, even though I won’t be a regular customer unless they change the crust – again. The staff at the Conyers location of Mellow Mushroom knew more about gluten than 90% of the servers that work at national chains that offer gluten-free menus in this area.

Check out the Mellow Mushroom gluten-free menu.

All of our pizzas may be ordered on our 10” Signature Gluten-Free crust. Four of our Specialty Pies can be made using our Certified Gluten-Free Safe Procedures: Kosmic Karma, Veg Out, Mighty Meaty, and House Special.

Additional Certified GF ingredients vary by location. Ask your server for details.

Made with our signature 10″ gluten-free crust. Build your own by choosing from our curated selection of ingredients that can be prepared with allergy-safe procedures

Mellow takes veggies to the max. This pie starts Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce layered with mozzarella, spinach, green peppers, sliced mushrooms, sweet onions, black olives and Roma tomatoes.

A carnivorous mix, this pie starts with Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow Red Sauce covered with mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian sausage,
ground beef, honey ham and applewood-smoked bacon.

Filled with goodness, this pie starts with Gluten-free (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce covered with spinach, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes and authentic sheep’s milk feta cheese. A hypnotic pesto swirl adds the finishing touch.

The Ultimate Mellow: this pie starts with Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce, mozzarella, topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, honey ham, applewood-smoked bacon, black olives, sliced mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, green peppers, sweet onions and the finishing touch…more mozzarella.

Individually wrapped brownie, baked with cage-free eggs, a blend of gluten-free flour, sustainable chocolate and ingredients free of GMOs and artificial additives. (cal 360)

As always, when dining out gluten-free, do your due diligence and make sure the staff understands your needs. There are very few restaurants that are 100% gluten-free, so cross-contamination is always a risk. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the staff, perhaps it is best to dine elsewhere.

For information about other gluten-free restaurants menus, check out our gluten-free restaurants page.