mellow mushroom open in sevier county

Seymour Herald/Joe Karl

Employees and management of the Mellow Mushroom include left to right back row: Tom Horne, Leslie Davis, Joel Sandlin, Pete Nehen. Front row: Jaisa Morizt, Noelle Braden, Hayde Sarmiento and Nicolette Rutledge with the restaurant's mascot.

published: May 11 2010 06:00 AM updated:: May 11 2010 03:39 PM

Known for its great pizza and cold beer the Mellow Mushroom opened for business Monday in Sevier County. The restaurant offers an array of great pizzas, salads and sandwiches from BLT's to Hoagies in a unique atmosphere.
The Mellow Mushroom began in 1974 when three college students decided to open a restaurant. They found a location near Georgia Tech knowing what college students liked, beer and pizza. The franchise now has over 100 locations in 15 states, each locally owned and operated. This gives the restaurants a chance to "have their own vibe" as their website would say.
The company boasts that it sells over 600 brands of beer across all of their stores with each location having a sampling from local breweries.
The staff of the Mellow Mushroom state what makes their restaurant so special, the answer is always the same, "It's all about the pizza. Great pizza and cold beer." The Gourmet White pizza was very tasty as was the Hawaiian variety. What makes the Mellow Mushroom so special is their variety of menu items. There is something for everyone's taste buds. One pizza that might catch your fancy is the Kosmic Karma. With sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and to die-for feta cheese this pick is a favorite with Mellow Mushroom fans.
If you are a vegetarian there is a pretty good selection of meatless pizzas as well. But if meat is your thing you may want to check out the House Special Pizza, loaded with ground beef, sausage, pepperoni, ham, bacon and more.
Their menu items are very affordable. Appetizers run from $3.99 to $6.99 for most items. Salads are priced in the $8 to $10 range with "LiL" salads available for around $5. Pizzas run about $11 for a small to $25 for a large and most of the sandwiches are $8 for a whole or $4.99 for a half. Desserts are only $1.99 for most of the choices and include cookies and brownies.
The restaurant also offers catering. They are open Monday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. For more information you can call 865-286-2229 or check them out online at www.mellowmushroom.com/pigeonforge. And when visiting the restaurant don't forget to check out the hand painted mural on the wall and see how many hidden things you can find. That's part of the fun of visiting the Mellow Mushroom.

The Mellow Mushroom is located at 2485 Parkway in Pigeon Forge.