Mellow Mushroom Cary — Restaurant in Cary

Let me start by saying, I never write reviews, but after this evening, I felt the need to do so. It’s a normal Friday night, my two kids are starving and there’s no wait and the restaurant is half empty - perfect. We wait 10 full minutes after being sat before the server comes over. I should have known right there to walk out, but my kids were starving. You can tell the servers didn’t want to be there. She was about as personable as a pizza box. We order our food and then we wait…20 mins, 25 mins, 30 mins, 35 mins, 40 mins, 45 minutes, and still no food. The server hasn’t come over once in all that time to update us. People who arrived after us are now eating. We finally have to flag down the host to check if our food is even in the oven. Apparently, according to the host, they “forgot” to make our food. Ok, but did the server ever wonder where our food was while we sat there all night before we had to ask? Did anyone bother to tell us once they found out? Maybe apologize? My son is crying at this point too because it’s been about an hour and he’s starving. Finally, after an hour, 1 of our 2 pizzas comes out. The pizza that is for my wife and I, not the kids. It’s been over an hour now. Server finally says, “the kitchen didn’t make them at the same time, the second one will br out soon.” What the heck kinda shoe are you running here? And this is a good time to add - there are 10 people back there cooking. We counted. And you can’t produce pizzas faster?!?! Still no “sorry” or explanation to this point and she’s avoiding us like the plague. Long story short, we call for a manager and she tells us some BS about “human error,” but there was zero service, zero communication, zero compassion and will never ever step foot in there again. When we left, the server said, “Have a good rest of the night.” I replied, “I don’t have a rest of the night left anymore because I spent the whole night here waiting for pizza.” What an awful experience at Mellow Mushroom in Cary. The other locations are so much better. The staff there are so lazy and don’t even care about the customers. So, if you want terrible service and to sit there for 2 hours, this is your place. Never again for us. I think I had a birthday I was in there for so long. AVOID...

April 2024 update: My son and I tried again this evening (Wednesday evening, maybe 1/3rd filled).

Very happy to report that the food was faster than ever. Less than 10 minutes for the appetizer and definitely under 15 for the pizzas. And the pizza quality was even better than usual. Amazing!!

Even my under-ten-year-old was commenting on how fast everything was :)

Our waitress, Adrienne, did an awesome job.

We will definitely try again during a busier window, but it seems like things may be back to normal (which for MM is WAY better than most)

Original Review This is a tough review for me to submit. My family loves this place and this location, in particular. We have been coming here frequently for 4 years. But something has changed in the last ~3 months. The food is still fantastic. The staff is still super nice. The place is still clean and family friendly. But the last 3 consecutive times we've been here (2 dine-in, 1 take-out), the kitchen has been way, WAY behind and massively backed up.

Recently, anticipating the issue, I arrived 15 minutes before my family to get a table and order pizza ahead of time. It still took an hour to get the food... And the restaurant wasn't even crowded.

More recently I ordered a simple take out order 3 hours ahead of time and requested a 6pm pick up (challenging time, I know, but I gave a lot of heads up!). I received a call at 5:50 letting me know the kitchen was 15-20 minutes behind. Totally fine. I don't mind, honestly. I really appreciated the call, actually. But when I tried to pick up the pizza at 6:25, it wasn't close to ready. It appeared that the dine-in customers were being served first.

I did eventually get my order, at 6:53.

We aren't ready to give up on this Mellow Mushroom yet... But we are starting to get a...

Today I had the pleasure of having lunch at Mellow Mushroom, and boy will I be going back SOON. 😊

A friend of mine had been trying to sell me on this place for a few months now. He knows that I have a lot of food sensitivities, dairy being a major one. He also knows I L.O.V.E pizza! 😋 He ensured me that this place had vegan options aka dairy-free for me, and good quality pizza and calzones. So today I said, what the hell and went for it. My friend and I ordered a customized calzone, with no ingredients that contained lactose, and opted for vegan cheese and a few other ingredients to jazz it up! The calzone was huge, and delicious! Perfect for sharing. Well, depending on how big your appetite is. The only complaint I had about the calzone was I felt as though they should have put more of the pineapple, spinach and chicken inside. I felt there was more bread that stuffing, it was still really good though.

The staff is super friendly warm and welcoming. Rob, who was our waiter, was The Best! He was super Friendly, attentive, patient and kind. He went above and beyond. Even volunteered to take some pics of my friend and I. 😁 I definitely give him a 10/10 for service.

The atmosphere was so MELLOW, hence the name “Mellow Mushroom”. I’d go back to experience just that alone. I felt like I was in a burger joint in the 70’s. They played classics by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, & Louis Armstrong. I couldn’t help but sing-a-long. There was really beautiful artwork with a spin, which I really enjoyed looking at.

All in all, I had a great experience here and will definitely be coming back.

Thanks for the great service Rob and friends.

SN: Rob is the one in the picture holding up the peace sign. Def try to get him as...