Chapel Hill's Mellow Mushroom location will be closing down on Sunday, Nov. 3.
The restaurant's general manager, Kyle Long, said the rent on the property went up, and that the cost of doing business on Franklin Street doesn’t match.
“This is a pretty popular place for students and families,” Long said. “The overwhelming reaction is upset because they like this place and don’t want to see us go.”
Bailee Clemons, a first-year student at UNC, said she and her family ate at Mellow Mushroom the first time she visited UNC. She said she was surrounded by the nicest staff in the restaurant and the food was delicious. Clemons said Mellow Mushroom has always been one of her favorite restaurants and she is very upset that she will no longer be able to walk five minutes to her favorite pizza place.
“It’s so sad to think that the very first restaurant I ever went to when I visited the place that would soon to be my new home, is going to be gone in just a few days,” she said.
Rainey Dunham, first-year student at UNC, said she had no idea that Mellow Mushroom is closing down.
“Mellow Mushroom is the best pizza place on Franklin Street,” Dunham said. “I’m so mad that my friends and I won’t be able to go hang out in such an exciting environment while eating my favorite food.”
Long said he appreciated the support the restaurant has received from community members and students over the years.
“We want to thank everybody that has helped keep us in business for the last six years,” Long said. “We have developed a lot of regular guests and people that we have become friends with, so we appreciate all those folks and hate that we have to not be a part of their lives anymore.”
