Mellow Mushroom (Winston-Salem)

August 7, 2008
Very cool place with a good selection of drafts. I was very surprised to find such a selection of good beers, both regional and national, in such a hip little restaurant. I really loved their pricing structure: $3.50 a pint, for beers under 7% abv. $5 per pint for beers over 7%. Very attractive prices. The pizza was different than what I’m use to, but completely enjoyable as well. The decor was nice and the service was pleasant. I certainly recommend hitting this place up before making your way down the street to Foothills.

December 18, 2006
so I’ve been frequenting mellow mushroom for some time now. its a good place to go after work during the summer and its a good place to start your evening on a weekend. its not the liveliest place in the world nor is it my scene but its definetely a place to get a good beer on tap. of the 30+ beers there is a favorite brewer or style for everybody to enjoy. though at first they weren’t circulating new beers in often enough or at all really, now it seems every couple of weeks a few beers have gone and you are still wanting more of them b/c they were sooo good and a few new beers have popped up to try. right now they have unibroue maudite on tap. I’m newly obsessed with the unibroue brewers after meeting them at a NYC festival. they also have brooklyn monster ale which is awesome. along with flying dog, magic hat, chimel, old dominion, avery, foothills, natty green’s and many other good brewers. it does have a hippie feel - the decor includes psychodelic mushrooms painted on the walls above bar and the bathrooms which are splash painted. the outdoor sidewalk seating is great for dining on a beautiful night. the service is SO SLOW. I can’t stress that enough. so come knowing you are going to relax and have incredible pizza and good beers and it’ll be worth the wait. you may be tempted by a calzone, but trust genny - just pizza and beer will do the trick.

September 16, 2006
Well, it’s got the typical Mellow Mushroom feel. This location, like most in downtown areas, can get very, very crowded and loud. The beer selection is thorough and the hustling waitress in the bar area took good care of us, the business considered. I finally at a Shroom again here, dining on a very tasty and reasonably priced toasted BLT club. This is a definite stop on a downtown trip to W-S.

June 28, 2006
Chain pizza joint in downtown Winston-Salem. Draught beer selection is pretty good, but several of them are from Foothills Brewing, which is just down the street. There are several other North Carolina micros and some others that are worth noting, like Old Dominion New River Pale Ale. Pizza and sandwiches are decent.

May 19, 2006 [ Updated October 6, 2006 ]
I went in there twice without ever ordering anything because there were outrageous waits. One time the half filled restaurant had over an hour wait for food. third time back we got food and it was quite good. strange atmosphere but i like it. Hippy fucks working there had a huge attitude problem. food was excellent. Tap selection hands down the best in W-S. The likes of Great Divide Old Yeti, dfh aprihop and 90 minute, lots of victory, just excellent beers i can’t find on tap even in chicago. I got the foothills seeing double ipa and it was almost flat. the bartender offered to get me a 90 minute but i wanted something i hadn’t had before. it was still pretty good. another new fun place in the shit-hole of W-S. A most stop. about 1/3 mile from city beverage.

April 3, 2006
Being a Mellow Mushroom the decor is awful. Broken bits of hot neon colored pottery cover the walls. Obviously not known for their decor. Food is excellent best pizza in town in my book. Beer selection is really good for Winston-Salem...I mean excellent. Victory golden Monkey, hop devil, v lager Fullers london porter, Flying Dog Gonzo on tap, brooklyn black chocolate, And Brookklyn lager, local fav’s like Foothills seeing double IPA (in a pint glass unlike foothills itselff serves in a little pilzen glass) HOWEVER - BE WARNED. They do an AWFUL job of upkeep with their beers. Frequently spoiled (Spoiled hop devil wasn’t all that bad actually) or flat they do a terrible job of rotating kegs...some of this I know is because we are in BMC wasteland out here and buying an expensive keg of beer and no one drinking it because they’d rather drink BudLight is...understandable, so it isn’t all their fault (unless you’re a republican pragmatist) But they try somewhat. Service is usually slow. Food ROX and when the beer is good this is the best beer and pizza place within a hundred miles.

January 27, 2006
Best pizza and beer selection in town. Great decor- check out the mural by local artist Millicent Greason of Urbanartware! Awesome sound system when cranked up.. Could not disagree more with Scubatrip; the whole restaurant can turn into a bar, as it does later in the evening. Nothing but a house party!`

January 21, 2006
It’s a branch of the national chain. I was excited that it was coming to town, but after going there, I’m less enthusiastic. Yes, they have over 30 beers on tap, but I can’t say it lived up to its hype. The atmosphere is very hippie-ish, which would be expected from the chain. The bar area is rather small, which will undoubtedly detract from its appeal to the bar-crowds in Winston-Salem. There’s really no place to congregate in the bar area, which means I’ll most likely frequent this establishment on weekdays when it’s not too crowded. The only reason this Mellow Mushroom got a 13 overall from me is because it has the largest on-tap selection in the city. The food is great, but I’d call this place more of a restaurant with good beers than a good bar with good food.