Mellow Mushroom - Newport News

Whenever I visit pizza, I always make mellow mushroom. many vegan option and toppings include tofu and tempo.

The first time I came here they gave me a to go menu and I didn’t see any of the vegan options that they had online so I didn’t really have any choices. I got a plain sandwich but it was still good. The next time I came they gave me the full menu and their teriyaki tempeh on vegan cheese pizza was delicious! I will be going back for more.

Staff was knowledgeable and understanding of my celiac disease other issues. Had good vegan options.

Mellow Mushroom used to be our go-to local restaurant for meals when we were out running errands or too lazy to cook. We would go at least once a week for pizza or occasionally calzones. Then they swapped out the Daiya cheese for Follow Your Heart and we stopped going completely. Out of three members of our family, not one of us found the change to be positive and even after going back just in case we needed another try we are all completely disinterested in returning while they serve the new cheese. Honestly, the Vegan Gourmet cheese is foul. I guess some people complained that Daiya wasn 't real cheese enough, but what vegan really cares about that when the flavor is repulsive? The new cheese is atrocious to look at (it looks like clumpy, semi-liquefied yogurt) and tastes horrible. On a pizza with a lot of strong flavors (like a Thai Dye) it 's tolerable, but on a simple pie with just cheese or minimal toppings, it 's basically inedible. Also, this is not a place to go if you have any time constraints. A simple order taken immediately can still take over an hour to get to the table, even in a practically empty restaurant. On a busy night, you might as well just get comfortable because you 'll be there for hours. They also, unfathomably, do not carry anything like apple juice for kids. When asked what kinds of juice they had we were told they might be able to get some pineapple or cranberry from the bar. What sit-down restaurant doesn 't have apple juice? Not every family wants their kid drinking soda or HFCS-laden lemonade or tea . To be fair, their crust is usually excellent, the pretzels are amazing, and if you 're not in a hurry the atmosphere is usually pleasant. But the new cheese takes a 7-8/10 experience and drops it to a 3/10 at best.

This place was amazing! My friend Lauren and I traveled about an hour and a half to get to this place, and it was totally worth it. I order the small 'Veg Out ' pizza but substituted the mozzarella cheese for the vegan cheese.