The Pizza Locust

Several months ago we were at the northern frontiers of Phoenix – Happy Valley Rd. looking for something at Dicks Sporting Goods and I happened to notice, in the same general shopping plaza, a new pizza place – or at least a banner proclaiming a new pizza place: The Mellow Mushroom.

It had an open date proclaimed to be in November and I plugged the date into my iPhone along with a reminder to eat there when they opened.

I went home and searched for Mellow Mushroom and discovered that it is a long-standing pizza chain, largely centered on the southern states. It has a lot of loyal devotees but doesn’t get a lot of raves about it being a super pizza. It’s just a good, solid family pizza place that a lot of people grew up eating.

All the chains I grew up eating are long gone, or changed beyond recognition and I think there’s a place out there for a family pizza place, so I was very hopeful about Mellow Mushroom. It’s location at the back-of-beyond rules it out for ever being a frequent hang-out for me, but it’s a trend I’d like to see continue.

And so I waited. I followed them on Facebook, but there wasn’t much there – except people who remembered Mellow Mushroom from “back home” and couldn’t wait.

And then one day in December, out of the blue, they popped up and said, “We open today!”

I tried eating there that same week, but was turned away by the long wait for a table. I took that as a good sign. That area is a cluster of basically the only restaurants for miles, and none of them were very busy. All of Anthem it seemed was eating there.

We finally got in last night and to my delight they don’t insist on putting mushrooms on every pizza.

I had a 10″ salami pizza, but we also had a pepperoni pizza, a sausage and cheese pizza and a hawaiian.

My impression of the pizza was that it was a “nostalgia pizza.” It’s a pizza that is distinct enough that you could develop a taste for it and recognize it when you try it, even if years have gone by – although I don’t actually know if Mellow Mushroom Phoenix tastes anything like the others, so perhaps my impression was more aspirational than intuitive.

To the details:

The crust was puffy and looked light and airy; however, it was actually quite dense and was fully cooked. It had a noticeable dusting of garlic to it. It was also wholly or partially a whole-wheat crust, which added that distinctive sweetness that whole-wheat breads have and I think contributed to the dense, filling nature of the crust.

The cheese was unremarkable and could perhaps of used just a bit more browning.

The sauce had it’s own unique flavor, but it was very mild.

Also very mild was both the salami and the sausage. I didn’t try any of the pepperoni or hawaii pizzas.

The overall effect is that these are not the most flavorful pizzas. Pleasant, but nothing that will shake you up.

As expected, it’s a nice family-oriented restaurant and it was fairly loud, so I didn’t feel too badly when the kids were a bit noisy. It was also nearly fully, which may also have accounted for the sound level. It wasn’t a top order pizza, but I wouldn’t hesitate to eat there again, although I think Sauce, which is in the same shopping complex, makes a better pizza, but it certainly isn’t as family-friendly as the Mellow Mushroom.

10″ Salami pizza, $11.77 or $0.15 (0.1499) per square inch

Recommended

The Mellow Mushroom

2490 Happy Valley Road