Mellow Mushroom Newport News — Restaurant in Virginia

Decided to check them out for lunch because of the commericals on TV during ACC football games. I arrived at 12:09, took a seat at the bar. Rob took my drink order and came back with my beverage. I then placed a dine-in order at 12:12 for the SausageFest Calzone and wanted to try some of the sweet thai chili and the Caribbean jerk sauces. Two other parties arrived after me, both being 2 people each. The party that sat at the bar order pepperoni garlic cheese bread and two small salads. The party that sat in the high top table area ordered a small pepperoni pizza and a medium cheese. Both parties received their orders before me. I asked Rob where my food was at 12:30. I only get an hour for lunch break and time was getting close (when factoring in commuting back). He checked with the kitchen and said "4 minutes". I told him at 12:40 to box the order to go because I didn't have time to eat and get back to work within my break window. The food finally arrived at 12:47, I politely paid my bill and barely made it back to work in time. The Calzone looked good, but I couldn't eat it due to my break being over. I was also charged $1/container of the sauces. A little shocking for such small portions of a sauce, 50¢ each would've been more reasonable. I get it, things happen in restaurants, but the place was not busy at all. The employees were taking turns eating at the bar opposite from me. I tried to engage the woman I assumed was the manager in conversation, but she was busily taking pictures of the beer tap for what I'm assuming it's a social media advertisement for the business. Don't think I'll be going back.

Update: Gray, the store manager, reached out to me via the Mellow Mushroom website. He apologized for the failure in service. He provided me with some Mellow Bucks in an effort to win back my business. My 2nd visit went much better. Natalie was my bartender. With the weather reaching the mid-90s, I decided to keep it light with a "small" Caesar salad and half other of wings (5). It's a great value at lunch for $8.99. The salad portion was massive. Natalie did an amazing job. She had several regulars that came just to sit at the bar and enjoy her company and the beer offerings. I'll definitely go back, and Natalie is a...

I totally forgot to take pictures of my food and drink while I was here. I was having such a good time that I forgot I was going to post a review. TLDR: it's was awesome. Good food. good drinks. A smidge pricy. Long version: Who knew getting a burger at a pizza place would be so good?! The tater tots that came with the burger weren't anything to write home about but the burger was tasty. I got the standard cheeseburger as is. I also got the RB margarita made wild which if\when I'm going back it's going to be for that. I may try the gone feral version of it next. They have a good size outdoor seating area. At the time I went only one or two tables outside had people at them. Not many want to brave dining outside in the fall but before they have all the patio heaters lit. It was still a good time. You do have the occasional passerby that may be smoking in the tech center common area but typically they pass quickly. Mellow mushroom does have it posted that there is no smoking, vaping, and the like in their outdoor area. Other than a couple of birds looking for scraps and a bee that was trying to go wild with my margarita the outside area was all kept and clean which is a huge plus! Despite only having a couple of people outside our server was attentive and polite. We were never neglected nor were we over attended. Our server has a great balance in service. It was all around a nice time. They have a wide variety of options for those with diet limitations. The upside about their gluten free pizza and their other specialty options is they taste good and you don't feel singled out or deprived. This is a great place to dine when you have a variety of dietary concerns. I did give 4 stars bc it will set you back a few $$ to eat here. Keep that in mind, the larger your group the more $$ to eat. But with planning ahead I think and knowing about what it's going to cost ahead of time you won't suffer sticker shock. Sorry for any typos and...

Take a look at my history of reviews and you’ll see that I don’t leave many at all. A few for exceptionally good service, a few for bad service, but nothing in the middle.

Today, Mellow Mushroom wins the distinction of getting my first review that is anything other than 1 or 5 stars.

Now, when leaving a bad review, my general rule is this: it has to be either exceptionally bad, or there must be a demonstrated pattern leading to me getting fed up.

The latter is true in this situation.

In my handful of times coming here, service is okay, but not great. Friendly enough, which is the sole reason why I give 2 stars. I have no reason to believe the staff here is malicious, instead simply incompetent. And since this issue has persisted over multiple experiences with a variety of different staff, the conclusion I arrive at is that management and training staff are to blame for this.

Before I get into my recent bad experience here, I should add that one of the main draws here is the variety of different craft beer on tap. Word to the wise: just order the most generic beer you can find, because anything new and interesting on the menu is almost guaranteed to be out.

As for my most recent experience, I came in and immediately my drink order was wrong. Bartender is nice enough and fixes it, but it took at least 10 minutes to pour the correct pint.

Next , I order food, and it comes out with no silverware. I let the bartender know, and he again says he’ll be right on it. A few minutes go by and this time I decide to start a timer. Another twelve minutes pass and nothing. He never checks on me again.

My food is getting cold at this point and I can’t seem to flag down the bartender so like a Neanderthal I go at my food with nothing more than my bare hands and the damp napkins sitting under my pint glass. Classy, I know.

Whoever owns this franchise, what are you doing? Train your staff.

Do...