I Get Mellow

As we work to bring Mellow Mushroom in Avondale it is very important that we demonstrate the enormous amount of public goodwill and support there is for the restaurant.

We know that some local residents have legitimate concerns about the impact of our proposed restaurant on parking in Avondale. We want to assure the entire neighborhood that we are one hundred percent committed to both offsetting our future parking impact and working with the community to seek solutions for the challenges that already exist.

Today we feel that the time has come to balance opposing voices with supporting voices so our elected officials have the full picture of public opinion.

To that end, we are asking Mellow Mushroom supporters to email our Councilman, Jim Love,  or write him at Jacksonville City Council, 117 West Duval St., Suite 425, Jacksonville, FL 32202.

Tell Councilman Love why you think Mellow Mushroom Avondale will be a place we can all be proud of.

You can also “Like” Mellow Mushroom Avondale on Facebook.

Thanks, everyone!

We managed to finish off our visits to the retailers in Avondale last week and wanted to say an enormous thank you for all the expressions of support and encouragement we received. Nearly everyone we spoke to supported us and even those who did not gave us valuable input and advice. We now have a much better understanding of the concerns of local retailers and that can only help us as we look for ways to capture all of our own parking impacts and work with the community to address wider challenges. Thanks, everyone!

We hosted our first kid’s fest last weekend at our Fleming Island location and it was a huge success! The kids were very excited to get their face painted by Pinky the clown and they couldn’t wait to spin our prize wheel! We had over 100 prizes and gave them all out, no one left empty handed!

They seemed to love our finger painting sign-in sheet and our make your own pizza station. We had such a good time we can’t wait to host another one. Please check out our pictures of this event here.

If you attended the event or just have a suggestion for our next one please email Brooke at Mellowbrooke@gmail.com

The Mellow team has been doing a little walking around the Avondale neighborhood, lately. Last week, we walked around with the City’s parking consultants — the people likely to be entrusted with a study to see how the pressure of parking might be alleviated, particularly in the streets  around the Shoppes of Avondale. We think we got a better understanding of the situation and were very interested in what the consultants had to say. We’ve been looking for options to minimize the impact our new restaurant will have on parking, so this was certainly helpful.

This week, we were walking again, this time to speak to retailers in the neighborhood to tell them about this blog as a source of information and encourage them to give us feedback on our  proposals  for the restaurant. We got some great feedback, strong expressions of support and a good chance to put names to faces. We did not have time to visit all of the retailers, but  will be back next week to finish off our introductions. We are also making special efforts to engage with our colleagues  from the restaurants in the area.

As always, we are doing our very best to be good neighbors and seek out solutions to  shared challenges.

Mellow Mushroom Fleming Island is a proud partner in this important initiative that recognizes a fallen hero. For more information visit www.claychamber.com

I wanted to take the time to say a heartfelt thank you for the massive amount of support you have expressed for our Mellow Mushroom Avondale project. It is humbling that so many of you have called, emailed  or stopped me in the street to applaud what we are doing and offer your encouragement .

Two weeks ago we called a public meeting to  gather input from local residents and businesses. Some of the issues raised at that meeting we must work out ourselves, and we will do so as quickly and efficiently as possible. Some issues will need a more coordinated, neighborhood approach and we commit to working with other restaurants and retailers in the area to  look for sensible solutions that suit everyone.

The encouragement we are getting from our friends and neighbors has surpassed my wildest expectations. It’s made me more determined than ever to bring what one supporter described as our “family friendly  but cool” restaurant to Avondale. I genuinely hope that, when all is said and done, we will have played our part in making Avondale and even more livable, exciting and attractive neighborhood for residents and visitors alike.

We’ll keep you updated here on igetmellow.com. Thank you all very much.

 John Valentino

The family owned local Mellow Mushroom group (us!) thought it would be a good idea to meet with our new neighbors to discuss the issues, improvements and solutions that our new endeavor can create. So we asked Riverside Avondale Preservation for some help setting up a meeting last night at Grace Church Avondale. Turnout was impressive and the interest just drives home the commitment to quality of life in the neighborhood we call home. 

We realize that there are neighbors that are already being effected by the successful retail environment of the Shoppes of Avondale. Many concerns and anecdotes were shared and questions answered at this early stage in our process.

It will take commitment and creativity to address many of the issues discussed, and we have a great deal of experience with many of them. We are committed to presenting new features like huge bike racks that are sorely missing in the Shoppes. We are also spending time and resources trying to find ways to create valet parking, designated offsite employee parking and expanding new nearby alternative parking with human or electric powered shuttles (to name a few). We look forward to seeking out transportation opportunities as well with the RAP transportation committee. Frankly, everything is on the table. And we’re here to help. 

As the meeting illustrated last night, we have an open door. We want to hear ideas as well as concerns. As we journey through the process of revitalizing buildings, creating public green space, adding public parking and building bike racks, please know we are always available to discuss our project and will move in transparent and deliberate ways. 

We hope our efforts to work with the community to actively solve the growth pains in the surrounding areas sets a precedent for current and future retailers to get involved. Just pop us an email at jacksonville@mellowmushroominfo.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

MetroJacksonville has done a great job looking at our plans for our Avondale restaurant in a recent article by Mike Field. 

The article highlights examples of great conversion projects involving disused gas stations. The Mellow revitalization of what can currently be considered an eye sore, long-abandoned gas station is one that we think will become an architectural feature the whole community can be proud of. 

The article also features some information on the families involved with the renovations including DCOOP, parking and transportation opportunities, public space, and what may end up being the biggest bike racks in Jax! 

One of our favorite stories included in the article is that of the station’s most famous attendant (hint: its a lawyer).

As members of the neighborhood family for years, we look forward to creating more stories and continuing to make Avondale and the Shoppes a great place to be!

Jax Beer Week is a gathering of local breweries and better beer businesses to celebrate the growth of craft beer in Jacksonville. It takes place April 2-7th 2012 with an amazing Grand Tasting Party at Mellow Mushroom Southside on Saturday, April 7th.

We know you are so excited that the Grant Tasting Party TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE. The proceeds will benefit the Daniel Foundation, which is such a great local charity here in Jacksonville. There will be awesome beers from Intuition Ale Works, Green Room Brewing, Mile Marker Brewing, Bold City Brewery, Swamp Head Brewery, and Cowford Ale Sharing Klub will be available at the Grand Tasting Party.

All tickets include unlimited beer samples and a Jax Beer Week t-shirt, koozie and half pint glass as well as snacks provided by us, Mellow Mushroom. Keep an ear open for Grandpa’s Cough Medicine who will be rocking the house with their talent all day long.

Are you a very important person? Well VIP tickets are also available and include early access to the event at 2pm plus access to special release beers and a brewers’ roundtable featuring the brewers from Intuition Ale Works, Green Room Brewing and Mile Marker Brewing.

Jax Brew Bus will be operating a shuttle between the Grand Tasting and Intuition Ale Works in Riverside. Space is limited so click here to see the shuttle schedule and reserve your spot today!

Do you live at the beach? Mellow Mushroom will provide transportation from Jax Beach to Southside and back. You will be picked up at 3pm from Mellow Mushroom Jax Beach and the bus will leave Mellow Mushroom Southside at 7pm. Do you live across the river? There is also transportation being provided by the Jax Beer Bus.

For more information or press inquiries please email Cari at jaxbeerweek@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook at Jax Beer Week for up-to-the-minute updates on the events and other happenings.