According to the lovely Joshilyn Jackson, Friday was “Take your Dog to Work” day. As the Bisc often sleeps at my feet as I work, or chews on my feet if he’s feeling frisky, TYDTW day didn’t seem to apply to me. I did decide, however, to take our dog out to dinner with us Friday night.
Asheville touts itself as a dog friendly town, and in my ignorance, I assumed the large outside patio at Mellow Mushroom would be particularly canine receptive. But no. No dogs are allowed, and, according to the apologetic hostess, if you tie your dog on the outside rail, on the sidewalk, next to the table where you are eating, he’s considered an “unattended animal” and both you and the restaurant will be ticketed by the big, bad police.
So we walked over to Asheville Brewing Company, who have a “we love pooches on our patio policy.” There we got fabulous za (the Sheer Delight is, well, a delight), excellent beer brewed on the premises, and our pup, who happily chewed on pizza crusts at my feet.
I remember when there was only one Mellow Mushroom–the first, in Midtown Atlanta, which was a bit of a dicey area in the late 70s and early 80s. But they had good hippie za and served pitchers of beer to underaged kids. Like me. All the servers were perpetually stoned.
The possibly apocryphal story behind the restaurant was that it was started by a couple of dropouts from nearby Georgia Tech who were soon joined by a University of Georgia dropout who came up with the now prescient “all natural” angle.
Now, the restaurant has something like 28 locations in five states. I guess it’s a grand success story. I was thrilled when it came to Ashvegas. They still have the psychedelic menus, funky decor, and happy mushroom mascot. But they’ve lost something. They’re practically mainstream now. The servers are still funky, but clean. In every way. I’m sure they card folks relentlessly. And they prohibit pups from their perky patio.