Mellow Mushroom

March 23, 2012

Date # 24

I spent the week in Columbus Ohio for business and had to eat out for every meal. I like to try new places especially when I am in a new city, but I’m not that adventurous. I was driving down a street in Columbus on the way to a mall and saw a place called Mellow Mushroom, the name caught my eye, but it was in a strip mall so I was a little leery. While in the mall walking around, I saw a girl with a t-shirt from this restaurant, this was a sign to me, so I knew I had to go there for dinner. I looked it up online and saw they have a location in Portland; perfect, date night this week I thought.









The Mellow Mushroom is located in the Pearl District of Portland; it just opened in October. The place is decorated in 60’s - 70’s decor including orange and lime green chairs, lamps, lighting, and pictures; the music is also from this era.

We started with Tangerine beer and The Capri, a mixture of mozzarella, tomato, and basil, drizzled with a balsamic glaze, and a spring mixed salad. This was an amazing creation of sweet, sour, a refreshing start to our meal.

Next, we each had a half hoagie, I the Tempeh and Chuck Irv’s sausage. The Tempeh included grilled tempeh, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, feta, pesto mayo, tomato, lettuce, and sprouts on a toasted French bread hoagie. The bread definitely made the sandwich, but the ingredients completed it. The tempeh was marinated just right and the grilled veggies and pesto mayo combination tasted amazing. This was my first experience with tempeh, I like it so much I went out and purchased some to make at home.
Irv’s sausage hoagie included Italian grilled sausage, caramelized onions and green peppers, provolone, spicy mustard, tomato, lettuce and pepperoncini. The hoagie was savory and spicy, not usually something my husband enjoys but this concoction was so tasty, he would definitely have again.

Because we had half hoagies we saved room for dessert; I had the key lime pie, Chuck the brownie ala mode. The pie was made with a pecan and graham crust, and a lime not overly sweet filling. This pie was perfect because it focused on the lime and wasn’t too sweet. The brownie was warm with a soft inside and crispy outside, and topped with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry; chocolate-yummyness!

We enjoyed this date night so much, the atmosphere was amazing it brought us back to our childhood, the food was delicious, and the company second to none. I think the best part of the Mellow Mushroom was it included vegetarian/vegan options in a “normal” restaurant; this doesn’t usually happen. I am happy I came upon this place in Columbus and I could share with my hubby.