Mellow Mushroom opens its doors in Blacksburg

Blacksburg welcomed a popular name in pizza to the downtown scene on Saturday evening.

Mellow Mushroom, a well-known, eclectic pizzeria franchise, opened its doors on Oct. 25 for their Friends and Family VIP event. Around 350 Shroomers were invited to attend the event, including Mayor Ron Rordam, who assisted Mellow Mushroom owners Leslie and Jeff Knapp in a ceremonial ribbon cutting signifying the official opening of the restaurant.

The money received from the event on Saturday was donated by Mellow Mushroom to the Giving Tree Food Pantry in Christiansburg.

Knapp, owner of the new Mellow Mushroom in downtown Blacksburg, introduced the famous pizzeria to Hickory, North Carolina four years ago after visiting the original location in Atlanta, Georgia.With the opening of her second Mellow Mushroom restaurant, Knappexpects to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth to manage the two locations.

We fell in love with the food and the concept. It became a family favorite of ours," Knapp said.

For times when Knapp is not in Blacksburg, a general manager will be hired to run day-to-day operations. Its unclear how many jobs the new location will create, but Knapp says that corporate, for opening, because it can get a little hectic, (will) look at anywhere between 100 to 125 (new employees).

Mellow Mushroom features pizza, hoagies and calzones and offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Prices range from $6.95 for lunch specials and up to$26.99 for a large specialty pizza.

In addition to the variety of pizza options, the restaurant will offer 60 different types of beer on tap, with an additional 40 types in bottles, with a fair amount in rotation, said Jeff Knapp, Leslies husband. They are also expecting to sell growlers of their craft beers.

Knapp, a Virginia Tech alumni, sought to plant a Mellow Mushroom in Blacksburg nearly three years ago, finally breaking ground for the location of the project last May.

We wanted (to introduce) a place that could serve students as well as young professionals, families and alumni returning to this area, Knapp said. (Blacksburg) is like our second home.

See the article here:
Mellow Mushroom opens its doors in Blacksburg