Alex Kapesis
Ms. Lei Lani Michel
English 1001
15 October 2007
Mellow Mushroom
Mellow Mushroom, located off of Burbank in Baton Rouge, is a schizophrenic place. Mellow is on the corner, across the street from Circle K. It is mostly purple with huge yellow writing that spells Mellow Mushroom. The building itself has a lot of glass and an outside porch filled with tables for eaters and smokers. Even though Mellow Mushroom is a decorative and unique place, the looks are not what defines the place and attracts such a large crowd of customers. During the day, Mellow Mushroom is a simple pizza bakery, but at night, it is an overcrowded nightclub. When asked, “What is the best day to go to Mellow Mushroom?” most people will say to go on a Wednesday night because it is karaoke night and there are tons of LSU students and other people there partying and having a good time. Some people will disagree because they think it is overcrowded and extremely hot, but they still go there. Why? Usually it’s for a couple reasons that people go on Wednesdays. These reasons include: to party, to drink, to sing and to watch karaoke, to meet new people, hang out with friends, and because that’s where a lot of people go out.
After talking to a guy, Luke, who works at Mellow Mushroom cooking pizza’s during the weekdays, I discovered what the place was like during the day. Luke mentioned how plenty of students come in to study and to eat one of America’s favorite foods, pizza. Mellow Mushroom usually has family’s coming by to get some pizzas and sometimes sandwiches for lunch or for a quick and easy dinner. Although I have not yet tasted the famous pizza, Luke stated “many people enjoy the hot, messy, delicious taste of Mellow’s large pizzas, that’s why so many students eat here”. Luke lived in Lakeview, which is an outside city of New Orleans, before attending Baton Rouge Community College and after asked how hurricane Katrina has affected him, he said, “Hurricane Katrina was a disaster. Every street, neighborhood, and building was completely devastated. Our houses had over seven feet of water and are still not rebuilt yet.” After hearing that news, that subject about the hurricane was over and Mellow Mushroom as brought back up.
Luke began saying how the nightlife at Mellow Mushroom was crazy. He told how there are hundreds of people there and he said, “On some nights usually more then half the crowd is either half drunk or completely wasted.” When Mellow Mushroom does its transformation into the party bar, it is a completely different place. There are only two or three tables on the floor and four small booths on the side of bar. They open up a stage for the karaoke singers to sing their favorite songs and behind the singer there are the sober and drunk dancers. In the middle of the bar, there is a large white screen that displays a sign that reads, “Get Drunk, Sing Karaoke”. The few booths are smothered by people standing on them and drinking and the tables outside are completely filled like ants on a dead mosquito hawk. There is barely enough room for the walking traffic to flow inside or outside of Mellow Mushroom due to the amount of people there on Karaoke night.
Another person I interviewed, Chris Trahan, was a student at Southeastern University that lives in Baton Rouge with plans on transferring to LSU. Chris was leaving Mellow Mushroom last Wednesday night when I stopped him and said, “Excuse man, can I ask you a quick question for my English class?” Chris said, without hesitation, “Yeah what’s up?” I didn’t have plans on talking long, but in his drunken state he could’ve talked forever it seems. I asked, “What makes you come to Mellow Mushroom tonight?” Chris responded, “Um, well to chill with my friends mostly. I mean, we usually come every Wednesday night, it’s almost like a reunion, like a chance to hang out together and see what’s going on.” So for the most part, besides a chance to meet some girls or guys, Mellow Mushroom can be a place for groups of friends to get together and get drunk and all have a good time hanging out with each other again.
Although I still have been unsuccessful in going to Mellow Mushroom during the day to eat, I have been every Wednesday night and discovered how different each week can get. Sometimes there are drunken arguments that evolve into fights and sometimes new friends are found. Besides that fact, Mellow Mushroom has different advantages to it for all people for any age, which is a major factor that contributes to their reputation of being a good hangout in the Baton Rouge area. If one is hungry, needs a place to study, or needs a place to party then he or she can always count Mellow Mushroom as being the place to help solve those problems.
Ms. Lei Lani Michel
English 1001
15 October 2007
Mellow Mushroom
Mellow Mushroom, located off of Burbank in Baton Rouge, is a schizophrenic place. Mellow is on the corner, across the street from Circle K. It is mostly purple with huge yellow writing that spells Mellow Mushroom. The building itself has a lot of glass and an outside porch filled with tables for eaters and smokers. Even though Mellow Mushroom is a decorative and unique place, the looks are not what defines the place and attracts such a large crowd of customers. During the day, Mellow Mushroom is a simple pizza bakery, but at night, it is an overcrowded nightclub. When asked, “What is the best day to go to Mellow Mushroom?” most people will say to go on a Wednesday night because it is karaoke night and there are tons of LSU students and other people there partying and having a good time. Some people will disagree because they think it is overcrowded and extremely hot, but they still go there. Why? Usually it’s for a couple reasons that people go on Wednesdays. These reasons include: to party, to drink, to sing and to watch karaoke, to meet new people, hang out with friends, and because that’s where a lot of people go out.
After talking to a guy, Luke, who works at Mellow Mushroom cooking pizza’s during the weekdays, I discovered what the place was like during the day. Luke mentioned how plenty of students come in to study and to eat one of America’s favorite foods, pizza. Mellow Mushroom usually has family’s coming by to get some pizzas and sometimes sandwiches for lunch or for a quick and easy dinner. Although I have not yet tasted the famous pizza, Luke stated “many people enjoy the hot, messy, delicious taste of Mellow’s large pizzas, that’s why so many students eat here”. Luke lived in Lakeview, which is an outside city of New Orleans, before attending Baton Rouge Community College and after asked how hurricane Katrina has affected him, he said, “Hurricane Katrina was a disaster. Every street, neighborhood, and building was completely devastated. Our houses had over seven feet of water and are still not rebuilt yet.” After hearing that news, that subject about the hurricane was over and Mellow Mushroom as brought back up.
Luke began saying how the nightlife at Mellow Mushroom was crazy. He told how there are hundreds of people there and he said, “On some nights usually more then half the crowd is either half drunk or completely wasted.” When Mellow Mushroom does its transformation into the party bar, it is a completely different place. There are only two or three tables on the floor and four small booths on the side of bar. They open up a stage for the karaoke singers to sing their favorite songs and behind the singer there are the sober and drunk dancers. In the middle of the bar, there is a large white screen that displays a sign that reads, “Get Drunk, Sing Karaoke”. The few booths are smothered by people standing on them and drinking and the tables outside are completely filled like ants on a dead mosquito hawk. There is barely enough room for the walking traffic to flow inside or outside of Mellow Mushroom due to the amount of people there on Karaoke night.
Another person I interviewed, Chris Trahan, was a student at Southeastern University that lives in Baton Rouge with plans on transferring to LSU. Chris was leaving Mellow Mushroom last Wednesday night when I stopped him and said, “Excuse man, can I ask you a quick question for my English class?” Chris said, without hesitation, “Yeah what’s up?” I didn’t have plans on talking long, but in his drunken state he could’ve talked forever it seems. I asked, “What makes you come to Mellow Mushroom tonight?” Chris responded, “Um, well to chill with my friends mostly. I mean, we usually come every Wednesday night, it’s almost like a reunion, like a chance to hang out together and see what’s going on.” So for the most part, besides a chance to meet some girls or guys, Mellow Mushroom can be a place for groups of friends to get together and get drunk and all have a good time hanging out with each other again.
Although I still have been unsuccessful in going to Mellow Mushroom during the day to eat, I have been every Wednesday night and discovered how different each week can get. Sometimes there are drunken arguments that evolve into fights and sometimes new friends are found. Besides that fact, Mellow Mushroom has different advantages to it for all people for any age, which is a major factor that contributes to their reputation of being a good hangout in the Baton Rouge area. If one is hungry, needs a place to study, or needs a place to party then he or she can always count Mellow Mushroom as being the place to help solve those problems.
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