The Mellow Mushroom
 Durham, North Carolina   Date of Visit  07/22/11  http://www.mellowmushroom.com/

Yes, this is a chain restaurant. We went back since this is really the first place we ate in Durham on or first trip to catch a Bulls game. It’s a somewhat wacky place with a baseball/mushroom theme, I suppose it would be easier to imagine if you were on shrooms. I wonder if that was the original idea. The menu focuses on a variety of pizzas. The service is pretty standard but they managed well even though the place is hopping before the ball game.
 

Good Sauce, but Never the Same Baked
 

We ordered pretzels which I think are made out of their pizza dough. They offer three varieties, a butter and salt, a garlic butter and parmesan and a dessert variety with honey and cinnamon. We had the dessert version on our first visit so this time we started with the garlic parm. There is a lot of texture to the dough so they have a nice bite and chew. They shake a serious amount of cheese on the things and send them out with a little cup of chunky marinara. I’m still more a fan of the soft and salty varieties but they are pretty darn food nonetheless.

We also tried the wings with a mild sauce. The sauce is nice and the wings are big and meaty. It’s just impossible to match a fried wing with something that comes out of the oven. .
 

We ordered a red skin potato pie which consists of olive oil and garlic with red skin potato, applewood smoked bacon, carmelized onions, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, sprinkled with chives and drizzled with sour cream and spicy ranch dressing. This thing was pretty good as well as unique. What really struck me was how spicy the spicy ranch dressing was. It kept the pie from being just something I could pick up down the street anywhere. The Mellow Mushroom is an interesting location with some better than average fare