Mellow Mushroom

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

How can you miss at M.M.? A wide glass front opened onto the m.d.s. to the immediate right with round restaurant tables and chairs in each of the bowed-out windows. Booths lined both exposed back walls with some trippy paintings on the right wall and a Lite-Brite construct and a snaking mural in the overhead on the left wall. The exposed, equally snaking kitchen ran down the back of the left wall with the stairwell up to the second floor across from the kitchen on the right side. Vintage-looking tables and chairs lined the centerline. Upstairs at the top of the stairs was a Mushroom and a bas-relief rendition of mushrooms and palmettos. Continuing aft, there were two bas-reliefs: one of a surfing mushroom and another of tqll sailing ships. A series of windows all of the way forward overlooked King Street. The draw? The aluminum-topped bar on the right side wall and 7 taps and a two-doored cooler chock full of good beer. "Brewland" was their bas-relief version of Candyland above their aquarium. Wildly mellow!

I really dug watching them hand throw the dough. Their pizzas are bangin', yo! A small is plenty for one; a medium for two; and the large must be as big as the National Debt. We split the Caesar!, Caesar! pizza which came with a Caesar salad as part of its topping. No kidding. Mellow out.

12-16-2009 09:56:24 | More by woodychandler

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.78/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in here for a bite to eat on my way through town. I always try to make it a point to stop in at a friendly place and this was about as friendly as you can get. Nice two story place with the Pizza part downstairs, since the family was with me this is where we ended up. Huge selection of bottles rivaled anything I have seen in SC, I mean just a huge number. Must have been around 20 taps and all were pretty much quality. No BMC to be seen. Some nice Rogues and lots of locals. Food was excellent and the service was fast and efficient. Very cool atmosphere and a nice place to bring the family. Traffic getting there is a bit rough, but the trip was worth it. I will definitely be stopping back in here again.

10-12-2007 00:31:51 | More by mikesgroove

Gavage

New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

I followed some recommendations to visit the MM, and I can say both me and my wife are glad we went. The bar is upstairs while the kitchen is downstairs, so we trodded up to the bar. We were pleasantly surprised that no one was seated at the bar, as every table on both floors were filled with patrons eating pizzas and hoagies (it was lunch time). There are colorful "Mushroom people" 3D paintings on the walls for decoration, and a Brewland game board over the bar. I didn't ask what that was about.

There were 12 beers on tap, mostly micros which was a nice surprise. My wife enjoyed the Rogue offering while I had a SNPA (one of my favorites with pizza). There were also about 100 other beers offered in bottles. There was a 100 Beer Club plaque containing patrons who sample 100 beers and in how many days they did it (one was 17 days while others were 200 days). The pizzas we had were very good, and the other food people were eating also looked great.

Service was very good at the bar, spotty at the tables but the place was packed. The bartender was very knowledgeable of the beers. Definitely a young crowd hangout.This was a great stop as most establishments we visited throughout our 10 day South Carolina trip did not offer this huge selection of beer with the good food.

09-01-2003 20:08:37 | More by Gavage

SaCkErZ9

Florida

4/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped by last night to watch Ohio State get blown out of the water by Florida in the BCS Championship game. I left at half time but had a good time while at MM.

Same setup as most other ones: Booths and tables downstairs with the kitchen, bar and more booths and tables up stairs with the teles. I was upstairs. Lots of The Citadel cadets were there since school was back in session. I actually had the best service at this MM than I have had at any other. The bartender paid attention and refilled my water and beer glass whenever needed.

They had about 20 beers on draft and maybe 50 bottles. I had draft beers: $4 Rogue Santas Private Reserve, $3.50 Terrapin Rye, $4 Imperial pint of Guinness, $4 Highland St Terese, and finished the night off with some $1 PBR cans.

This is a nice MM with tons of stuff to do around town as well. SInce it is right in downtown, there are about four or five more decent bars within walking distance.

Monday night is Metal Monday Karaoke right next door. WOW!!

01-09-2007 20:33:27 | More by SaCkErZ9

morebeergood

Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Stop number five on our tour was for dinner here and to watch the Sox win the ALDS (which they did this night). Downstairs is more restaurant like, so I sat upstairs at the bar where there are a few tvs. The place has a cool restaurant/hippie vibe to it, which gave it a fun, young atmosphere. The bartender here was top notch. A young guy, very friendly. Went out of his way to make sure that a tv with the Sox game on was facing my end of the bar. Was also very helpful with aiding me in my search to drink local beers. His recommendations of three different Highland (NC) beers and one from New Holland (MI) were excellent. This place had the best selection in the city, in my opinion. Lots of great craft taps, and a great selection of bottles beers. Plus, the pizza here kicked butt. I recommend the house pizza, which had a crazy amount of toppings on it. Prices I thought were very good here considering the high quality of the product and service. We had a small pizza, and 5-6 beers, and it was about $45 before tip. Not bad. This was my favorite place in Charleston. And the Sox beat the Angels. A good night was had by all.

10-10-2008 01:30:45 | More by morebeergood

francisweizen

Australia

3.88/5  rDev -7.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $

This is a nice southern hippie/yuppie pizza chain with some good draught and bottled beers to peddle. Atmosphere is nuevo hippie with nice sculptured letters, exposed warehouse style firehouse brick, etc, etc. Free local papers compliment the food and beer nicely. The pizza here is amazingly killer and pretty cheap. Try the fresh garlic, basil, tomato, and pesto combo...scrumptous. The beers are fresh and good as well, the draught selection was lacking but a few palmetoo bottles went with my beer just grand. A good place in Charleston (and all points deep south) check them out when you get a chance...

06-22-2006 19:45:22 | More by francisweizen

GJ40

North Carolina

4.15/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

This location seems to have been toned down quite a bit as compared to other MMs to fit into the Charleston atmosphere. But they have the same commitment to good pizza and craft beer. I especially like the second floor with its exposed brick walls, molded tin ceiling and worn wood floors.

They had 16 on tap including Coast IPA which I took advantage of. The only real down side for me was the use of chilled glasses. The staff was helpful and the pizza was pretty solid.

Another reliable MM location.

06-06-2011 10:50:47 | More by GJ40

glid02

Georgia

4.1/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Went here as part of my beer foray into Charleston.

Atmosphere is good. The upstairs bar is a good size with a lot of TV's to keep me entertained. Not quite a sports bar, but pretty close. I saw a lot of families eating there.

Quality is good. Every pint glass I was served with was a Sweetwater 420 and you have to ask specifically for unchilled glasses, but nothing too terrible. I did notice they did have different glassware for Belgians.

Service was very good. I never had to wait long for a beer, and the staff actually knew a good bit about what they were serving.

Selection is the best I saw in Charleston. They had about 12 beers on-tap, including one COAST, three Rogue, a couple New Holland, and a few other microbreweries that I can't recall. Their bottle selection was also solid. I went there for Bear Republic, Palmetto and New Holland and they had plenty of that for me. They also had a lot of Georgia and North Carolina micros as well - I'd probably say there were about 100 bottle selections total.

Food was good, I got a steak 'n cheese as a snack to hold me over until dinner. Of course their pizza is the way to go.

I agree with some previous posters in that it's a little more expensive than the norm, but it's worth paying the extra dollar to get the selection available there.

Definitely stop by here if you're in Charleston and looking for local beer, or any good beer for that matter.

09-01-2008 22:10:50 | More by glid02

gixxerman

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I gave this place a shot after checking out the MM in Spartanburg. I stopped in on Monday night and the downstairs was basically empty, all the action was upstairs. I grabbed on of the few seats available at the bar.

The beer selection was very good, and seems to be the case at MM. I had a few Coast offerings and a Young Chocolate Stout on draft as well. For grub I scarfed down a hot sausage sandwich, it was delicious!

They have a patio available for the smoking crowd, weather permitting of course.

A great beer stop, the food is good to. You are in Charleston, and there are countless other options, but I will stop back here next time I am in town.

03-21-2010 04:06:16 | More by gixxerman

JISurfer

South Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

This is a very trendy place for the college folks. Though I try to stay away from trendy things, this is veryaddictive and is worth it. The bartenders are really nice and know their patrons very well. They had me down like white on rice after only 2 visits. Started out with a Woodchuck off tap, then John Courage off tap, then Guiness off tap, and finally a Anchor Steam off tap. They have a nice top notch selection of beer, liquor, wine and food. Definately need to stop by, even if it's to look at the phalic styled mushroom doorhandles!

12-11-2002 19:08:39 | More by JISurfer