Green Room Brewing

Is it wrong to deny a man his freedom for the sake of your own happiness? Of course it is, but I must admit I was still a bit disappointed when I heard the news that Eric Luman was leaving his position as head brewer at Seven Bridges to open his own microbrewery in Jax Beach. Seven Bridges had long been my go-to pub, due in large part to the expert craft of its head brewer. I've enjoyed some of my favorite beers of all time there. Standards such as the pilsner and the stout were unparalleled. A couple of the one-time, small batch brews, like the Rosemary Grapefruit IPA and the Coffee Stout were absolutely amazing and outclassed most of what you'd find throughout the US craft beer scene. But, despite our protestations, all things must end. This end, however, is merely a beginning of something that could be so much greater.

Though the chaos of Jax Beach only lies a few yards away on the other side of 3rd Street, Green Room's tap room feels a lot more relaxed and low key than what's typical in the neighborhood. It also turns out to be a bit bigger on the inside than it appears to be when looking in at the small, strip-mall store front.

At my last visit, Green Room had five of their own beers on tap: Head High IPA, Helles Yeah Munich Helles, Shaka Oatmeal Stout, Clean Ocean Surfboards Brown Ale, and Cheer (a Belgian White made in collaboration with Bold City Brewery). Not being constrained by corporate overseers, these did depart a little from what I was used to at Seven Bridges but were all pretty good in their own right. The helles stood out for me as a particularly well balanced lager. I imagine that they're all going to go through some changes as the esteemed brewer acclimates himself with the new equipment and environment.

Green Room also showcases beer from the other local Jacksonville and greater Florida microbreweries. Bold City and Intuition both occupy quite a few taps, as does Tampa's Cigar City (makers of the outstanding Jai Alai IPA) and Saint Somewhere (crafters of some very respectable saisons). It's good to see microbreweries supporting their regional contemporaries and establishing a community not really found in other similar areas of business. And really, that's what this place seems to be all about, camaraderie. My memories of the pleasant afternoon I spent here with some good friends and coworkers will, for many reasons, be with me for years to come. Here's to the blossoming Jacksonville beer scene; may it flourish and prosper.

Green Room Brewing
228 3rd Street North,
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
(904) 201-WAVE

Engine 15

It's been about a year since Engine 15 first opened its doors, bringing its signature high-brow craft and import beer paired with delectably high calorie pub food to Jacksonville Beach. While we've been by a handful of times, I didn't want to write a post until I got the full Engine 15 experience. See, Engine 15 isn't your typical bar. Ignoring the 35 high-quality beers on tap and food with the right balance of proteins, fats, and carbs to complement an evening of alcohol fueled merriment, there is one thing that sets Engine 15 apart from all of the other gastropubs, brewpubs, and beer bars for hundreds of miles: you can become a brewer for a day and make your own beer on the premises.

Earlier this year I suggested to my boss that we should have a team brewing session at Engine 15 to celebrate a few recent milestones. Having a number of beer snobs on the team, the suggestion was well received and we made an appointment a couple months out. Due to demand, a lead time of a month or more is to be expected but, for anyone who's ever toyed with the idea of brewing their own beer, it's worth the wait.

Before I start rambling about our experiences making beer, let's make a quick detour for those not particularly interested in the brew-on-premises offerings from Engine 15. If you're just looking for a good drink or bar food then there's plenty at Engine 15 to be excited about. The beers are all top notch, spanning favorites from our local Jacksonville and Florida microbreweries through a myriad of craft brews from the Left Coast and all the way to ales made by Trappist Monks in Belgium. To help fend of any of the ill effects associated with the consumption of such beverages, Engine 15 offers a variety of appetizers, soups, and sandwiches. I'd suggest going with the beer brats or chili brats. Very few things complement a second beer better than a big juicy sausage. And trust me, you're going to want a second beer.

The consumption of beer is not required during the brewing process but is highly advised. Not only does it serve as a great motivator, it also helps take the edge of some of the drudgery. The first thing to keep in mind is cleanliness. The second thing to keep in mind is cleanliness. Everything is sanitized. After all, when your recipe involves encouraging a colony of microorganisms to multiply and consume the concoction you've prepared for them, you better be sure you haven't introduced any unfriendly competition.

Disclaimer: everything that follows is merely a brief recantation of our experience brewing beer at Engine 15 with some very simplistic explanations of the process. There are many good resources online detailing the history and process of brewing. To any experienced brewers reading this, please forgive me.

For the sake of time and convenience, many amateur home brewers use malt extract to make their beer. Malt is dried germinated grains. Malt extract is a thick syrup consisting of the sugars extracted from malted grains. At Engine 15 they employ a hybrid approach. First we ground up some malt, wrapped it in cheesecloth, and stuck it in the boiling waters of the brew kettle.

This part of the process is called mashing. The starches in the grain are broken down into sugars by the heat and the enzymes created during the malting process. What you end up with is a liquid called wort which is later filtered out of the mash. Since we didn't use a particularly large amount of actual malt, we supplemented our wort with the malt extract. To put it in crude terms, the wort is to beer what grape juice is to wine. It is the fermentable fuel upon which your carefully chosen strand of yeast is going to feast; converting sugars into ethanol.

The next part of the process calls for the addition of hops to the mix. Hops are the flower cones from the female Common hop (Humulus lupus) plant. Hops are used as a buttering agent to balance out the sweetness of the wort (which can still be a bit sweet even after fermentation) and for its antibiotic properties. There are many varieties of hops and they can be added to the wort at different times throughout the boiling process in order to impart different aromas and flavors.

Once the boiling process is complete, the wort is filtered, cooled, and transferred to a fermentation vessel. If I remember correctly, the yeast is added at this point and the vessel is sealed, not to be opened for three weeks or more as the yeast works on converting as many of the sugars in the wort into ethanol before dying of acute alcohol intoxication.

When the the fermentation process is complete, you must return to Engine 15 to bottle your brew. Again, cleanliness is key and everything is sanitized. Drinking beer while bottling is not required but is strongly recommended. Now I understand why some microbreweries don't bottle their beer. It's incredibly repetitive work but can be an enjoyable experience when armed with a pint and the knowledge that you're not going to be doing it very often (if ever again).

So here they are, the finished products: Ping Pong Pale Ale and Mess You Up Wheat. Both brews were pretty good and their character changed over the weeks they aged in the bottles.

Conclusion: do it. Overall it was a great experience, ideal for small teams if you have a group of interested friends or an employer who doesn't object to such activities. But even if you can't be bothered, you can always just head to Engine 15 for a good sausage and a great beer.




Engine 15 Brewing Company
1500 Beach Blvd. #217
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

(904) 249-2337

Brewer's Pizza

Orange Park doesn't get any love. At times it can be the very pinnacle of suburban nightmare; impossible traffic, big box stores, and boring chain restaurants ad nauseum. But there is hope. One small pizzeria with big goals arrived late last year to challenge the entrenched chain restaurants and capture the hearts of the local patrons. And from the looks of it, they just might pull it off.

Blanding is usually the last place I'd want to be on a Friday night but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. Beyond the delight in taking my allowed one-day-a-week break from a diet to indulge in food and drink that was denied me during the other six, all that I had been reading about Brewer's Pizza led me to believe that a real treat was in store. Even when not following a food regimen, pizza is seldom a food I choose to consume except in extraordinary cases involving super thin crusts. But Brewer's Pizza, with its flagship "Florida Smacker" deep dish pizza, was rumored to be qutie an extraordinary case itself. How the pizza fared was yet to be determined but there was one thing that was absolutely certain: the quality of the beer was going to be amazing.

While their on-premises brewing operation has yet to start, Brewer's Pizza offers more than 20 outstanding American craft brews on tap; a decent number of which come from Florida's best microbrews which, of course, includes Jacksonville's very own Bold City Brewery and Intuition Ale Works. We were very fortunate to visit while they still had some Hopslam, a highly regarded and widely coveted Double India Pale Ale brewed with six different varieties of hops and a bit of honey by Bell's Brewery in Michigan. This beer currently sits at #7 on Beer Advocate's list of the "Top Beers On Planet Earth" and wholly deserves that honor. This is one legendary beer and one of the few such masterpieces available in our region. The rest of the beer menu may not be quite as epic but they're all quality choices, making Brewer's Pizza the only place to go in the Westside/Orange Park area for a good pint.

Alas, not everyone is so blown away by the prospect of occasionally indulging in a good fermented beverage. Fortunately, Brewer's Pizza brings as much attention to quality and detail to their pizza craft as they do their beer. Their signature pie, The Florida Smacker, is a deep dish, pan pizza made with beer dough and baked until the corners are crispy to the point of being lightly charred. Even for those of us who outright dismiss deep dish pizzas as a rule, giving this one a try is a definite must. The dough is exemplary, without parallel among local pizzerias.

But perhaps its unfair to make such comparisons when, as far as I know, there really aren't any other pizzerias in town doing deep dish pizzas. However, for regular thick crust pizza there are many competitors with whom to draw comparisons. Again, Brewer's Pizza are the unequivocal champions of this craft. It's primarily the dough which earns them such honors but the generous slathering of savory sauce and fresh topping certainly help tip the scales in their favor.

Just a block down from the Orange Park Mall, the location may be less than ideal and the converted strip mall store interior may be a touch awkward but Brewer's Pizza has a lot to offer. Much to my delight, the place was quite busy so, I'd say the local patrons appreciate all they're doing. Even though they might not single-handedly change the Orange Park dining landscape, there's a good chance that their success will result in the appearance of some more quality places to eat and drink. Above all, they've given those of us scattered around the other parts of town a great reason to visit Orange Park.




Brewer's Pizza
14B Blanding Blvd
Orange Park, FL 32073
(904) 276-5159

Intuition Ale Works

The initial whisperings that Jacksonville was going to get its second microbrewery started over a year and a half ago. From their first blog posts in July 2009 to the tapping of the People's Pale Ale on November 1 of this year and then the grand opening of the tap room on November 20, local beer aficionados have been waiting impatiently for their chance to put the eagerly anticipated and much hyped Intuition Ale Works to the test. And now that the wait is finally over, much to the delight of all, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, giving us a solid two for two on local microbrewery excellence.

Conveniently situated halfway between Bold City Brewery and Kickbacks Gastropub, the addition of Intuition Ale Works has established the area near the intersection of Rosselle Street and King Street as Jacksonville's brewing district and created one amazing pub crawl. The IAW compound consists of a small tap room and an immense brewing area that has a lot room for expansion and, given the latest reports of beer shortages, it looks like they're going to need it.

If there's one thing Jacksonville's microbreweries do better than many others, particularly those in Florida, it's the tap rooms / bar areas. Bare brick walls, concrete floors, muted lights, and unstained wood tables and bar make the tap room a cozy and welcoming place to enjoy a few beers. The brewing area also serves as overflow area for larger events and is the place to get growler fills.

But onto the most important factor: the beer. Just as when Bold City initially opened, there were only four varieties of beer being made: People's Pale Ale, King Street Stout, Imperial Red Ale, and Willow Branch Wheat. With the recent addition of the I-10 IPA, they're up to five and are working to rapidly expand the selection. The beers themselves betray the nascency of the business; mature in flavor and body, they're more akin to what you'd expect from a well-established craft brewery. The People's Pale Ale is one of the best pale ale's I've had the pleasure of consuming. It's characterized by a full body with a fragrant, citrusy hoppiness that isn't at all overbearing and rivals well-known brands such as Sierra Nevada. The I-10 IPA is also a shining example of that particular style. The India Pale Ale is a favorite among beer connoisseurs and every self-respecting craft brewery makes their own attempt but they can be hit-or-miss. Though an almost overwhelming hop character is the signature of the style, some brands are a little too extreme in this measure. Others sweeten the mixture too much in order to mask some of the bitter notes or then often elevated alcohol content. The I-10 IPA is hoppy enough to please the fanatics but balanced enough that most people can appreciate a pint.

The wheat, a favorite style of mine, is also pretty stellar yet, like the exemplary Fritz's Hefeweizen at Bold City, deviates a bit from the typical wheat beer. The King Street Stout is quite a hefty beast. Most stouts hover around the 3-5% ABV mark. I'd have to speculate that this one is more like 7-10% ABV. With its pitch black color, thick mouthfeel, and sweet flavor, this is a beer that should be carefully enjoyed as or with a dessert.

The wait is finally over and the hype was well warranted. Intuition has arrived to contribute to a rapidly expanding local beer scene, making Jacksonville the craft brew capitol of Florida and giving all of us around town something to be proud of.




Intuition Ale Works
720 King Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204
(904) 683-7720

Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille

The gastropub is one of the biggest and most welcome trends in the modern culinary landscape. What could be better than paring responsible quantities of quality beer with quality food?

Jacksonville's newest gastropub is The Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille and it's already generating quite a buzz despite being open for only a matter of weeks. Situated just north of the movie theaters at the Avenues on US 1 in a spot previously inhabited by a Beef O'Brady's, it's clear that The Speckled Hen intends to rely on much more than location to bring in business. While it may seem like an odd choice of venue, that part of town is sorely lacking in the dinner and drinks department, making this ambitious newcomer the logical choice when either of those are in your plans and you happen to be in the neighborhood.

The draft beer options are a little slim at the moment but they do have some good brews available, including Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale by Jacksonville's very own Bold City Brewery. I think there were about eight taps up and running when we visited and I can only assume that they plan to expand their collection as the restaurant gains some momentum.

But although this place is a self-proclaimed "Gastropub" (and rightly so), the food really is the centerpiece of the experience. Rather than dabbling in clever variations on typical bar food, the creative minds behind The Speckled Hen have instead taken their influence from the cuisine of the surrounding landscape with an incredible variety of Southern themed dishes. Reading through the menu, it's hard not to order one of everything just to try it all. Among the many appetizers (which we regrettably did not get to try) there are gems like Duck Fries, Wood-grilled Datil Pepper Glazed Chicken Drumettes, King Crab Mac N' Cheese, Beer Braised Short Rib Spring Rolls, and Pickled Shrimp. Out of these items and the rest of the appetizers, there's not a single one I wouldn't love to try.

Moving onto the entrees reveals even more oddly delicious sounding meals like the Root Beer Glazed Bone-In Pork Chop and the Crispy Fried Cornmeal Crusted Catfish. It was a tough decision but I ended up settling on the Wood-grilled Sweet Tea Brined Chicken Breast which was covered in melted goat cheese and sweet red pepper "chow chow" and served over some pieces of their chipotle cornbread. I've had some pretty amazing meals over the past few months, both locally and in distant cities, but this one may just top them all. While one may be tempted to write off some of the quirkier menu items as gimmicks, there's no denying their brilliance after a few glorious mouthfuls.

Be excited, fellow Northeast Floridians. Things are getting interesting around here and The Speckled Hen just upped the game. This is one place I won't have a hard time revisiting in lieu of trying something new.




Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille
9475-16 Phillips Highway
Jacksonville, FL 32256

J P Henley's

Bars, bars, bars… they're everywhere. A good pub, on the other hand, is a bit harder to find around these parts. I am, of course, eternally grateful for the existence of Kickbacks but sometimes a person needs a change of venue without having to sacrifice quality.

Just down the road in St. Augustine, the pub scene is far more bountiful. There are some great little haunts in the Nation's Oldest City but none captures my heart quite like J P Henley's does. First off, I must admit a slight bit of impartiality as they do have my favorite beer on tap there: the unparalleled Franziskaner Dunkelweizen. Please, if you enjoy a good beer and have never tried a dunkelweizen, do yourself a favor and run out to Total Wine and pick one of these glorious beverages up. Or, better yet, stop by J P Henley's, because if you're not as impressed by the dunkelweizen as I am, there are around fifty other beers on tap and a couple hundred different bottles, almost all of which are good quality craft brews or imports. There's also over a hundred different wines from around the world for all of you oenophiles out there.

But even if you're not in the mood for a drink, Henley's is still great for a bite to eat. Appetizers that exude culture (baked brie: delicious, decadent and dignified), a great selection of fresh salads, and some gourmet sandwiches. To top it all off, Henley's has one of the most relaxing atmospheres around; even when there's a crowd it's still relatively low key. Enjoy, just don't blame me if it turns you off your local sport's bar… ok, blame me, just don't expect any reparations.



J P Henley's
10 Marine Street
St Augustine, FL 32084-4407
(904) 829-3337

TSI

I am not a club person. There's typically very little beyond the noise, the smoke, the plastic cups, and the chest thumping that would actually make me want to go, particularly at such a late hour. However, as with all things in life, there are bound to be some exceptions to your general rules.

TSI is not your typical club. First and foremost, for an aspiring snob like myself, they have an impeccable draft beer selection. While not as great in quantity as you would find in a good pub (I think they number in the teens), those that get valuable tap space are top notch. There's a handful of great wheats too, a favorite style of mine, which definitely earns them bonus points on my imaginary scoreboard.

Not only are the beers good, they're also served in actual glasses, not plastic cups. Anybody who appreciates the quality of a good fermented beverage; anybody who values the flavor, feel, and overall craftsmanship far more than the buzz, will tell you that glassware matters. As part of my aspiring snobbery, I've decided to refuse to drink at places when they're serving out of plastic cups. A man needs to have principles.

Another of TSI's pleasant qualities is the abundance of music that doesn't turn my stomach and make my ears bleed. My beer snobbery may be a relatively recent phenomenon but my music elitism goes back years. You don't come to this place to drink Bud Light and listen to Top 40 hits, you come for Erdinger Weissbier and indie dance mixes. Before you call me biased for having my tastes pandered to, they definitely don't play "my kind" of music. However, they do at least play music that I can respect and enjoy.

Overall, in terms of the night club scene, TSI is just a unique and fairly classy place. Does it get smoky, is it loud? Sure, but that just goes with the territory. If you're looking for a late night with drinks and perhaps some dancing, consider it a welcome deviation from the standard bro-fests. Did I mention they have an excellent beer selection?



Club TSI
333 East Bay St
Jacksonville, FL 32202
(904) 424-3531

Kickbacks Gastro Pub

A favorite haunt of local scenesters, bloggers, and beer enthusiasts, Kickbacks is a self-described gastro-pub boasting 60 beers on tap, almost 300 bottled varieties, and an amazing array of food items.

Kickbacks has been on my radar for a while but, as always, my unrelenting cynicism led me to suspect the good press was all hype. First off, I don't particularly like bars. There's the smoke, the noise, the smelly people spilling beer on you, etc. Kickbacks eradicated concern number one because the significant amount of food-based revenue means no smoking inside. You do have the noise and the crowds but you can't really fault a place for being popular, especially when it delivers on its promises: good food and excellent beer.

There's a great selection of beers on draft so I didn't even bother with the bottle list. I'm a beer snob and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of good-quality, lesser known imported beers and craft brews on tap but they even have a few of the "regulars" for the less sophisticated among us. The ambiance lends itself quite nicely to sipping a pint or two. Dimly lit with beer tap handles, glasses, and empty bottles adorning the ceiling; it somehow draws a fine line between dive and distinguished.

I haven't been particularly hungry the times I've visited but didn't want to pass up an opportunity to try the food (the menu is just as extensive as the beer list) so the first time I ordered a basket of the jalapeno shrimp poppers. Good, tasty, filling. Very filling. Too filling. I could definitely see them coming in handy were I have been doing more drinking. I've also tried the southern spring rolls and those were tasty but quite decadent as well.

Kickbacks is a place I'd love to go back to regularly. Good beer, good food, just perhaps not the best place to try hold a conversation unless you like shouting at your friends.

Their web page isn't functional at the moment (The default Apache "It works!" message is the only content) but hopefully they'll get it up and running some time this year.


Kickbacks
910 King St
Jacksonville, FL 32204
(904) 388-9551

O'Brothers Irish Pub

Ethnically, I'm an anglo mutt. British, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh with some mainland European thrown in for good measure. My wife's descendants were all full blooded Irish and she's even got the stereotypical red hair to prove it. Perhaps then it's our genetics that account for our attraction to the pub scene. Or I could dispense with that line of utter bollocks and instead attribute our fondness to living and traveling in places where such establishments are far more prevalent. But while our city is still pretty slim in the traditional pub department, we now have one more location to add to the collection.

O'Brothers Irish Pub was formed from the ashes of Avondale's Preservation Tap & Chophouse and Dona Maria's Mexican Restaurant in ownership and location respectively. The $35,000 needed to renovate the space was raised through unconventional means. Prior to opening, the owners offered 100 "patron packages" at $350 a piece which included an O'Brother's T-shirt and $100 in food gift certificates per month for six months. Sounds like a pretty good investment deal for rabid pub patrons.

And while there are some deviations from the traditional pub setup (you don't order at the bar and I can't seem to remember seeing a dart board) this is about the closest you can get to a pub around here. Looks like a pub, tastes like a pub, I think it's a pub. The large menu combines traditional stodgy pub food, like the Bangers and Mash and Irish Breakfast we ordered, along with some creative twists, like the Shrimp and Chicken Curry, in addition to standard American restaurant fare. What we tasted was deliciously authentic and the prices were reasonable.

Another great feature of O'Brothers is the availability of beers not typically seen in these parts. I had the London Pride and quite enjoyed it. I'd be forced to make my visits more frequent if they began offering my favorite British beer, Tetley's English Ale, but I'm still impressed with the refreshing variety they have on tap.

Hours are Monday - Saturday from 11am until all of the drunks leave but they're closed on Sundays so you're going to need to find an alternative location for your Sunday Shepherd's Pie fix. Oh, and one word of caution: some of the staff might try to fool you with an affected brogue when they're really no more Irish than a box of Lucky Charms cereal, but don't blame them for trying.

O'Brothers Irish Pub
1521 Margaret Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204
904-854-9300

Bold City Brewery

Here's some exciting news for any locals who enjoy the occasional, the frequent, or the excessive consumption of man's favorite alcoholic discovery, the most sacred of brews: beer.

The Bold City Brewery, Jacksonville's newest and most ambitious microbrewery, recently opened its doors and kegs to both public visitors and local restaurants looking to add a much needed variety to their beer experience whilst simultaneously supporting the community.

Sure, we have the Anheuser Busch Brewery, which I'm not going to take too many potshots at because I actually commend their success despite not really enjoying much of their offerings (chalk it up to personal preference) but they're the "norm" and I think we're all a bit starved for novelty and variety around these parts. There's also Seven Bridges, the Ragtime Tavern, and the River City Brewery (which I haven't tried yet) but these are places where the beer stays on the premises and, being primarily restaurants, you don't have that friendly-local-bar vibe. This is what makes Bold City different. Not only are they providing small batch beer but they're serving it up with an engaging and welcoming attitude all the while working their way into your home and other local establishments, giving Jacksonville a local product that they can be proud to support.

So you get excited and head over to the brewery during the times when the tap room (bar) is open. First you will be greeted by some friendly folk who want to know whether you've been in before. If you haven't then you'll be invited to try a free sampler in order to find the beer that most suits your tastes. But be forewarned, this is no ordinary free beer sampler. Instead of a sip in the bottom of a tiny plastic medicine cup you'll get a series of four or five small glasses with more than a couple mouthfuls.

There are currently four beers being produced on the premises: white, rye, old english, and red, with plans to experiment with various ideas in limited runs. By the time I was half done with my samples I was already doubting my abilities to handle a glass of even the weakest offering. We each decided on a pint of the rye which was very similar in body and taste to the spiced wheat ales we both enjoy. Very nice indeed and, despite the prominent flavor of the hops, the bitterness was nowhere near overbearing which is a common complaint I've heard uttered about the beer at other microbrews.

Not only was the beer nice, the staff couldn't have been any more pleasant. I enjoyed a lengthy conversation with the brewmaster and look forward to my return when I can sample some of the interesting concoctions he plans to create in the near future. I don't know what the schedule is but he also gives tours of the brew area which we were fortunate enough to be present for. They have some serious equipment on the premises and plenty of room for more so, given enough patronage and support, this could turn into a fairly large scale operation.

Whether you go for a beer in the tap room, a gallon jug (aka a growler) to go, or request a pint at your favorite local bar, Bold City Brewery is sure to please. It's not enough just to be a local establishment, if it weren't for the quality then I wouldn't be extolling the virtues of the place. But because they deliver the goods, I'm more than happy to give money and due praise in return. Cheers.

Bold City Brewery
2670-7 Rosselle Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204
904-379-6551

Tap Room Hours:
Thursday 3pm - 8pm
Friday 3pm - 9pm
Saturday 11am - 9pm

Mellow Mushroom

My first experience with Mellow Mushroom was up in Atlanta during my university years. There's no denying the psychedelically tinged atmosphere was attractive to the average dazed and confused college aged kid but that wasn't our only reason for going as they certainly had the best pizza around and not all too expensive for an impoverished student.

The restaurant was actually started in Atlanta in the '70s by two students from my school, Georgia Tech, and now has franchises all throughout the Southeast and beyond. The Jacksonville location, in the Tinseltown plaza, is a relatively recent addition to the growing mushroom empire and has some of the most involved decorations I've seen. The pizza doesn't disappoint and the beer selection, for which Mellow Mushroom is famous, is rather extensive.

There are some good pizza places around Jacksonville and Mellow Mushroom is definitely among the top contenders. There's also a large selection of hoagies and salads if pizza doesn't do it for you. So, whether it's for a bite to eat or an afterwork bar run, Mellow Mushroom is a solid choice if you're in the Tinseltown area.

Mellow Mushroom
9734 Deer Lake Court, Suite 1
Jacksonville, FL 32246
904-997-1955