Mellow Mushroom Roanoke — Restaurant in Roanoke

Usually we love Mellow pizza! We went a few months ago and had poor service but pizza was still good. We attributed it to the lack of staff everywhere. Then we decided to go again a couple nights ago as a special treat for my son. We walked in and were seated in no time. They were not busy at all and had plenty of help including 3+ people at the host stand alone. Then we waited for over 15 min for anyone to even say hello. We had multiple waiters/waitresses look at us as they slowly walked by to pick up a glass off of another table to clean. Then they would walk away. After considering leaving, we decided to stay anyway bc we really love the pizza. We had to ask the host if we had a waitress and he walked off in the middle of me asking to a waitress that had been looking at us. She was sweet but also said she didn't see us sitting there... We went ahead and ordered everything including BBQ pizza. When we received our pizza, we were given a BBQ pizza with bell peppers all over it... I said 'oh! It comes with peppers now?' She just said yea and went on. I didn't know they even had the 'backyard' BBQ pizza..I wish she would have asked which BBQ we wanted if there were more than one option. This one is definitely not as good in my opinion but others would like. Overall, the night was very disappointing. Especially because we took our son there as a special treat. The service used to be on point and everyone used to be much kinder than they have been recently. Not sure...

A few tips for this Rke location MM: If you don't like your toppings raw, order the pizza "crispy". Otherwise it seems barely cooked. The toppings are a little sparse. It isn't the best pizza you've ever had, but is a step up from other chains in Roanoke.

Importantly, the water here has the most disgusting smell and taste. It is worse than if they walked across the street and dipped your glass directly into the Roanoke River and they would seriously benefit from an investment in a water filtration system. Very gross, inedible, and makes me think twice about even eating the food since the water smells contaminated and is used in preparing the food, rinsing the veggies, etc. Adding insult to injury - there are no bottled alternatives to their tap water. The servers I have had have said things like "yeah, we have bad water" so it isn't just me, isn't new, is definitely known by the staff!

When picking up a to-go pizza, the employees insist on opening the box lid to show you the pizza which tells me there are lots of people complaining that they did not walk away with the pizza they ordered. No one really wants their fresh hot pizza being exposed to another person's face, hands, breath (employee) and then losing heat by being opened. It is so unnecessary. Also...if you order curbside they hand you the pizza box and do NOT open it so what is the actual "policy"...?

These points make it a last resort pizza...

Excellent restaurant space that needs a good restaurant in it. The mellow mushroom in Blacksburg is pretty good, this one is nothing to write home about. I have many fond memories of the Boone and Blowing Rock locations and of their food. The brand has largely genericized and cheapened the quality of their food. I'm not sure how long this restaurant will last in Roanoke with so many better pizza options.

The so-called pretzels are just pizza dough tied into giant pretzel knots and served with mustard, so not actually pretzels at all. The pizza is too greasy for how thick the dough is. I remember the dough being thick but light from my college days. This dough is chewy, salty, undercooked, and way too filling. A small slice of cosmic karma is enough for one person to leave uncomfortably full.

If you're coming for the first time it'll probably be great. If you're coming for the nostalgia of previous mellow mushroom experiences, don't muddle your good memories with this experience that will leave you with a mediocre taste...