Mellow Mushroom, the self-described “psychedelic pizza franchise” headquartered in Atlanta, spent 2025 investing heavily in technology and enhancing marketing systems. In 2026, the brand anticipates reaping the benefits of last year’s initiatives, with expansion in priority markets and tech rollouts planned for the new year.
Mellow Mushroom boasts more than 160 locations across 17 states, according to the brand’s website. Last year, about a third of its restaurants moved onto a digital kitchen platform.
That implementation, according to a press release from Dec. 23, 2025, occurred on a location-by-location basis to align with each unit’s layout and workflow. Already, the digital kitchen platform has showcased improved service speed, order accuracy and food quality, especially when dine-in and off-premise orders overlap during peak hours.
Ahsan Jiva, Mellow Mushroom’s executive vice president of strategy and transformation, reported the system averages more than $2.7 million in sales per location, with the top 25 percent of franchise units topping $3.8 million.
“It’s not new in restaurants, but it was new for Mellow,” Jiva said in a press release. “We have seen double-digit gains in our three most important metrics, which are food quality, accuracy and speed of service. In addition, we added on a guest messaging system that keeps guests with digital orders apprised of the status of their order as it moves through the kitchen.”
Last year, the brand completed a back-off system pilot aimed at reducing administrative friction for operators and improving consistency for reporting and daily processes.
In 2026, Mellow Mushroom will continue pursuing its fully counter-service, “fast-fine” model. The brand’s first location under that model opened in the Atlanta area in late 2024. Throughout its first full year of operation, the format outperformed expectations in sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation. A second such location is slated to open in Newnan, Georgia, this year.
Jiva reported an increase in positive same-store sales for the system in 2025. Daypart work throughout the year focused on building traffic beyond peak periods. The brand also saw a rise in ownership transitions, leading the company to acquire certain locations as part of its refranchising strategy.
“A lot of our franchisees have been with us for 20 to 30 years, and they were ready to exit,” Jiva said in a press release. “There was tremendous value in Mellow Mushroom acquiring those locations as corporate-run restaurants, so we can continue to serve those communities with the kind of experience our guests have come to expect.”
Regarding last year’s guest engagement efforts, Mellow Mushroom enhanced marketing systems and, later in the year, launched a customer data platform intended to centralize transaction data. The initiative sought to strengthen guest segmentation and customer outreach with raised levels of personalization. Additional testing is scheduled for 2026, as is the rollout of an app and formal loyalty program.
As priorities for the new year, Mellow Mushroom has its sights set on strategic growth in priority markets, reporting a “conservative goal” of 5-8 percent growth with new restaurant openings. Additionally, more than 20 renewals are reportedly in the pipeline, with a renewal rate of about 98 percent.
Priority markets for the brand span parts of the South and East Coast, including Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Early efforts are underway in Rust Belt markets.
“What we don’t want to do, like a lot of other brands, is growth for growth’s sake,” Jiva said in a press release. “We want to be able to grow with franchisees that are invested in their community, that care about quality and that care about running things the right way.”
