Mellow Mushroom: Downtown Greenville, SC

Alright. I know Mellow Mushroom is more of a chain than a stand-alone joint. But, for us folk from the North (I don't consider us Yanks because we are from MN and not the NE), Mellow Mushroom is a foreign concept. We've seen it plenty of times but had never been in the need for pizza any time we were near one. We had always wanted to try it and finally a good opportunity came along.

Everything about this place screams 60s/70s. From the name of the restaurant itself, to the decor, to the names of the pizzas and even in some ways, the staff. It is just a fun, laid back, relaxed kind of place. If I could be so bold, I would liken it to being the "Ben and Jerry's" of pizza.

They have lots of beer to choose from (over 600!)...and its very cold. Which is important when you've been wandering downtown Greenville for hours in the July summer heat. They have some unique pizza topping combos (Thai Dye, anyone?) or you can create your own which is what we did. Full pepperoni, add sausage to half.

The pizza itself was good. The crust was nice and fluffy with a crispy shell. Not too thick, not too thin. Something as simple as the Parmesan sprinkles around the crust gave it a nice twist. The toppings were good, the cheese was good...it had some grease but not too much. All in all I'd say it was some darn good pie. We happened to be with our 3 kids that day so we kept the toppings simple, but I'd like to head back and try out some of their specialty pizzas sometime.

Their calzones and hoagies are a bit more mainstream as far as ingredients and titles, but they looked amazing too. If you're really hungry...you can add an appetizer or some Magic Mushroom Soup to your meal. Or if you just got done at the gym...they have salads for you too.
Mellow Mushroom is a great place for singles, couples, families, groups...you name it. It's fun, they have cold beer and excellent pizza. We will be back...I think you should go too!

Book Blitz - Public Education Partners of Greenville County

Book Blitz - Become a Bookworm today!

You may have noticed that little worm that appeared at the top of this blog in the past few days. Well here is what its all about so please CLICK on him to find out more. 

 In honor of school starting this week in Greenville County, and being a father of three kids, I understand the importance of reading with your children and your children reading to you. We spend a lot of time reading in our house and even have a closet full of $1 store prizes for every 20 books read by each child. Please take a peek to see how you may be able to help out a local nonprofit called Public Education Partners. They are the only organization in Greenville solely dedicated to raising money to help expand programs in our local public school. Right now, in honor of back-to-school, they are running a campaign called Book Blitz.  Their main focus this year is Early Grades Reading, because those numbers are such a strong indicator of future success, dropout rates, even incarceration later in life.  A major component of the Early Grades Reading Initiative is free books for students to build at-home libraries, which is the focus of Book Blitz.  They are working on collecting a lot of smaller donations of $50, which fully funds a student's library for an entire year. Research shows that if children have easy access to books on their level and in areas that interest them that they will read a lot more, but books are a huge expense. With a simple goal of getting 200 donations by next Friday, if only 1 in 18 readers from now till next Friday were to make a small contribution, they could meet their goal.

$50/student = better readers in Greenville County

Imagine trying to learn to read (and read well) without books in your own home. Thousands of Greenville County students don’t have access to books at home.

A donation of just $50 will buy 20 new books that will go directly to an elementary student who needs them the most.

Research shows that children who have books at home, at their level and in subjects they like are more likely to be good readers.

Become a Bookworm Buddy today!!
To donate, go to www.pepgc.org/bookblitz

THANK YOU!
In lieu of online donations, checks with Book Blitz in the memo may be made out to Public Education Partners and sent to
225 S Pleasantburg Drive, Suite B1,
Greenville SC 29607