Mellow Mushroom

I don't know... would hippies pay $13 for a four-slice pizza? Maybe trust fund hippies. Mellow Mushroom is themed to attract just such a subgroup. Paisley on the walls, psychedelic lights, bulbous lamps, a neon bar, and a VW van customized into a lounging area. The appropriate 60s playlist pipes in to complete the polished 60's atmosphere. Even the dessert menu contains several suspicious "brownie" selections. I'm just playing. I'm sure I'm reading too much into it.
      I'm not a pizza aficionado, but I've had a few that have earned my respect, mostly deep-dish versions, but not always. I had a thin-slice pizza in Venice that could inspire an epic poem, but in general, pizza is not my first choice for a meal. The Mellow Mushroom we visited was in the preppy South Miami area and was the first in my neighborhood, so the buzz was positive. It's sad when buzz turns out to be just inflated hype.

(Since the original writing of this post, this location has closed permanently.)

        I was impressed to see a cocktail menu and happy to sample their raspberry vodka cocktail, but it was watered down and ordinary. I kept stirring it absentmindedly hoping to generate some flavor from it, I suppose, but there was none to find.
     My companion on this 'magical mystery tour' was Jackie, and we shared a small pizza whimsically named Kosmic Karma made with a red sauce base, feta and mozzarella cheeses, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and Roma tomatoes with a pesto swirl. I ordered a Mighty Meat to go for John, also in a red sauce base with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham and Applewood smoked bacon. I found ours comparable to a Domino's or Little Caesar's pie, but that could be that I don't really have a discerning palate for pizza. John liked the Parmesan-dusted cornmeal crust, which apparently is their specialty.
     In honoring my new rule of 'dull eats means no sweets', we skipped dessert, but the varied menu compels me to give this 'groovy' place a second chance.

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