Zack Poteet and Cody Chandler put a healthy dent in a pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

Kat Brown and Taylor Killian enjoy a round of Bingo at Mellow Mushroom on Cumberland Avenue.

Pizza and bingo are on the Sunday evening menu for, from left, Hannah Selvidge, Renee Selvidge, Lillie Lisenbee and Glenn Lisenbee.

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With summer drawing to a close and the massive UT student body returning for the fall semester, I decided to take a visit to one of my favorite campus nightlife hangouts, the Mellow Mushroom.

There are plenty of bars and clubs to visit near campus that appeal to a plethora of differing tastes, but none of them seem to offer the same variety of specials and activities as Mellow Mushroom.

With a location near the western end of the Cumberland Strip (Mellow Mushroom has another restaurant off Campbell Station Road), this spot is nearly impossible to miss. Mellow Mushroom is home to one of the more interesting decors in Knoxville. If Wonderland had a place to grab pizza and beer, this would be it.

Giant mushrooms loom over tables while a dragon takes flight on the back wall. The bar area, while small, has plenty of seating both at the bar and at a few tables crammed into the limited floor space. The rest of the building is devoted to the restaurant portion of the Mushroom, including a small patio facing the Strip.

Mellow Mushroom offers one of the larger draft beer selections in Knoxville, featuring brews from Yazoo, New Belgium, Rogue and Magic Hat, just to name a few. An initial look at its menu might lead you to believe that its beer is just a bit on the expensive side, with most specialty pitchers costing $14 or more.

Thankfully, the Mushroom offers some decent specials all week long. Monday features $1 off all bottles, $11 domestic buckets and $14 for premium buckets. Tuesday is home to $2 drafts. Wednesday discounts pitchers by $3, while Thursday is a repeat of Monday’s offerings. Friday allows for $2 off premium bottles. Sunday offers the best deal of the week with $1 domestic bottles and cans.

Beer isn’t the real main reason to head down to the Mellow Mushroom, however. It’s the weekly events that really make it stand out.

Sunday night is free Bingo night, giving you the chance to win a grabbag of different prizes. Monday night is live poker night with a $1,000 cash prize. Wednesday is my personal favorite with team trivia night. This is usually the most popular night of the week and it might be a good idea to get there early. Finally, Thursday offers live music from Mountain Soul. Most of the events begin at or around 8 p.m.

Of course the food is pretty delicious, too. All of the pizzas are interesting, my favorite being the Kosmic Karma with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, feta and pesto sauce.

If you are trying to keep the evening light, appetizers might be the best way to go. Their garlic pretzels are one of my favorite things to order. The garlic cheese bread is inexpensive at $3.50 and goes well with a few drinks. Mellow Mushroom also offers a wide selection of sandwiches.

We spent Sunday evening drowning our Bingo sorrows in $1 beers, with Bingo always being one step ahead of us. It was an enjoyable evening regardless, and we left looking forward to trying our knowledge, and luck, again Wednesday during trivia night. This Mellow Mushroom has plenty to offer the campus nightlife crowd.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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