Owensboro’s Mellow Mushroom has been getting creative since closing their dine-in services due to COVID-19 restrictions. By offering do-it-yourself pizza kits and mix-and-match six-packs of beer via curbside pickup and delivery, the city’s unique pizza eatery has continued to change things up to keep customers as happy as possible.
Mellow Mushroom’s DIY pizzas include thorough baking and handling instructions — including tossing the dough — and according to General Manager Derek Stone it has been very successful since rolling out this week.
“So far, we’ve sold 75 of them in two days,” he said. “We thought it was a brilliant idea. We hope the DIY gives customers something to do together. Of course, the kids have jumped all over this.”
Customers are given dough, red sauce and can choose from what Stone described as an extensive list of ingredients to top their pizzas with.
Additionally, in partnering with local delivery service Big O Takeout, the company is now offering six-packs and growlers of craft and domestic beer, as well as bottles of wine.
Mellow Mushroom is one of many restaurants in the downtown area taking an economic hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, Stone said.
The day Gov. Andy Beshear announced restaurants would have to close dine-in services by 5 p.m., Stone still had employees scheduled to work the dinner shift that night. After hearing the news, the restaurant was forced to lay off 40 of its employees.
“The ability to adapt has been crucial. At this point, it’s down to a real skeleton crew,” he said. “I hope that we get enough business back that we can bring some of our employees back to work.”
The reality is, nobody knows exactly when dine-in services will be available again and — especially important for Mellow Mushroom — when downtown Owensboro will reopen and see an increase in foot traffic.
“It’s harder for us because one of the huge things that’s [kept us so successful] has been downtown events,” Stone said. “All the events at the convention center, the RiverPark Center, the (Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum) are just gone now. Even Smother’s Park is closed. It’s turned downtown Owensboro into a ghost town.”
Saturdays used to be one of Mellow’s busiest days of the week. Now, Stone and his staff see more customers — most of them who continue to work in the downtown area — picking up food throughout the week. The weekends are now the restaurant’s slowest times.
Stone said he has hope for the future, though it likely means less people at a time in restaurants, servers and bartenders wearing face masks, and tables being spaced out to comply with social distancing.
In the meantime, Stone and his team plan to do everything they can to move forward, keeping their workers and customers as safe and healthy as possible while doing so.
“We’re here, we’re open, and we’re going to stay open,” Stone said.
Mellow Mushroom, located at 101 W. 2nd St., has changed its hours of operation but is still open every day of the week from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Customers can order online via the company’s website and through Big O Takeout.
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