Pickle, pickle, who's got the pickle?

Anyone know of any restaurants or food stores that make their own kosher- or Polish-style dill pickles? I can think of a few delis with pickle barrels, but I'm not aware of any who make them in-house.

I gather that a number of restaurants make house-made pickles for their burgers, but I guess those are sweet pickles. I'm looking for the kind you cut in spears and put on a hot dog.

It's a shame we don't have any pickle stores like New York's here.

Wait, you're serious? They have stores in NY that sell only pickles? Wow, that sounds like a bad SNL skit.

And yes, I realize bad SNL skit is redundant.

midas wrote:Wait, you're serious? They have stores in NY that sell only pickles? Wow, that sounds like a bad SNL skit.

Wow, Midas I completely disagree with you.

“The Scotch Boutique” was a classic SNL routine that has since achieved meme status .

One of my daughters, who lives in Brooklyn, raves about “the pickle store” near her. New York is always years ahead of our little town, so I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before we get our own “Pickle Boutique.”

And shortly thereafter they will multiply like rutting cupcake shops until we have one in every neighborhood

LAZ, I don't know for sure but the pickles I have had on corned beef sandwiches at Moon's Sandwich Shop sure seemed house-made as mentioned in the GNR thread.

David Hammond wrote:

midas wrote:Wait, you're serious? They have stores in NY that sell only pickles? Wow, that sounds like a bad SNL skit.

Wow, Midas I completely disagree with you.

“The Scotch Boutique” was a classic SNL routine that has since achieved meme status .

OK, let's talk this century

midas wrote:Wait, you're serious? They have stores in NY that sell only pickles? Wow, that sounds like a bad SNL skit.

And yes, I realize bad SNL skit is redundant.

Yes. She's referring to this place.

And I'm not aware of anyplace here that makes their own, for sure. I suspect that Kaufman's might since they have two barrels: one for "new" and one for "old", which lends itself to the possibility that they are house made, but I'd bet not.

Similarly, Marketplace on Oakton has the "new" and "old" option, and they have fresh pickles in a jar on the deli, but it's hard to say if they make them or not.

Fresh Farms carries a pickle in their refrigerated section across from the yogurts that might come from somewhere local; they also make fresh Russian-style salads. Maybe they have a store - sorry I can't be more specific than that; I don't like them as well as the Marketplace or Kaufman pickles, so I no longer have the container in my fridge.

Not to be confused with NY's "The Pickle Guy" we have "That Pickle Guy" - locally-made, fresh-packed pickles. They show up at the farmer's markets (and Costco) with their muffalata mix:

http://www.thatpickleguy.com/

eatchicago wrote:

midas wrote:Wait, you're serious? They have stores in NY that sell only pickles? Wow, that sounds like a bad SNL skit.

Yes. She's referring to this place.

Also: Guss' Pickles, Just Pickles, Picklelicious and probably others.

spinynorman99 wrote:Not to be confused with NY's "The Pickle Guy" we have "That Pickle Guy" - locally-made, fresh-packed pickles. They show up at the farmer's markets (and Costco) with their muffalata mix:

http://www.thatpickleguy.com/

Based on their website, the fresh-packed dill pickles are only available at farmer's markets.

David Hammond wrote: One of my daughters, who lives in Brooklyn, raves about “the pickle store” near her. New York is always years ahead of our little town, so I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before we get our own “Pickle Boutique.”

They're about 100 years ahead of us on this one. Pickle stores in New York are no new trend. They date back to the early 20th century. My guess is that if Chicago ever had any, they disappeared with the delis. Somehow, I can't see a retail store selling only dill pickles, pickled tomatoes, relishes and sauerkraut surviving in Chicago today, either, unless they were able to develop a wholesale business competing with Chipico for the hot-dog stands.

I was hoping that some slow-food type restaurant was doing pickles, or perhaps one of the Polish delis. I know that Lalich, the Serbian delis, do pickled cabbage heads, but I don't think they do cucumbers.

Chipico aka Chicago Pickle Company, a Vienna Beef Company, has been producing kosher pickles since 1925.

chicagostyledog wrote:Chipico aka Chicago Pickle Company, a Vienna Beef Company, has been producing kosher pickles since 1925.

Yes, but they don't manufacture them in Chicago, anymore, do they? I thought the pickling plants were in Florida and California.

LAZ wrote:

chicagostyledog wrote:Chipico aka Chicago Pickle Company, a Vienna Beef Company, has been producing kosher pickles since 1925.

Yes, but they don't manufacture them in Chicago, anymore, do they? I thought the pickling plants were in Florida and California.

The company that was to become Chicago Pickle Company in 1925 was founded in 1914 in St Louis. It operated independently at several locations in Chicago until it was acquired by Hawthorn-Mellody in 1964. I believe Vienna Beef purchased the company in the 1990s. I don't think any of Chipico's pickles are made in Chicago these days (they have plants in Florida and California).

I had always just assumed the pickles that come in the pickle barrels were house-made. They sure as hell taste like homemade naturally fermented pickles to me. If they're not, does anyone know the source?

Binko wrote:I had always just assumed the pickles that come in the pickle barrels were house-made. They sure as hell taste like homemade naturally fermented pickles to me. If they're not, does anyone know the source?

Which pickles and barrels are you referring to?

Evil Ronnie wrote:

Binko wrote:I had always just assumed the pickles that come in the pickle barrels were house-made. They sure as hell taste like homemade naturally fermented pickles to me. If they're not, does anyone know the source?

Whose pickles and barrels are you referring to?

Evil Ronnie wrote:

Binko wrote:I had always just assumed the pickles that come in the pickle barrels were house-made. They sure as hell taste like homemade naturally fermented pickles to me. If they're not, does anyone know the source?

Which pickles and barrels are you referring to?

Like the pickles you get at Gilmart, Joe & Franks, or any of a number of Polish delis/grocery stores in the city.

I think they get them in 5-gallon buckets and dump them into the barrels.

LAZ wrote:I think they get them in 5-gallon buckets and dump them into the barrels.

LAZ, I was getting ready to say the same thing. For example, both the full sour and half sours at Kauffman's seem to me to be identical to the ones at Andy's on Milwaukee Ave.

Interesting. I wonder who supplies them. They do all taste similar, but I've never tried them side-by-side.

LAZ wrote:Anyone know of any restaurants or food stores that make their own kosher- or Polish-style dill pickles?

No brick and mortar shop but That Pickle Guy produces pickles, giardiniera, muffaletta mix and more in Chicagoland.

Skokie Farmers Market

7.25.10

I must find That Pickle Guy...

The GP wrote:I must find That Pickle Guy...

There is a list of retail and farmers market locations on the web site

G Wiv wrote:

The GP wrote:I must find That Pickle Guy...

There is a list of retail and farmers market locations on the web site

Thanks G Wiv. Google search was my next stop.

Gramp's Gourmet has a stand at the French Market with a pretty wide selection of pickles. I haven't tried any of them yet though.

LAZ wrote:
Anyone know of any restaurants or food stores that make their own kosher- or Polish-style dill pickles?

No brick and mortar shop but That Pickle Guy produces pickles, giardiniera, muffaletta mix and more in Chicagoland.

Nice shots, GWiv. I love that friendly shaggy-haired kid working for That Pickle Guy - he really knows his products. Turns out that he's one of the pickle-packers during the week, too. He sold me some of that hot muffaletta olive salad a couple of weeks ago, which I'm very happy with; I sampled the fresh garlic pickles this week. Absolutely delicious - crisp, not flabby, with an assertive garlicky twang, but not overly sour. He told me that the batch he had was packed the previous Tuesday, and they tasted like it. Highly recommended!

PS They also sell their products at Binny's, according to their website. Not sure what range of the products are available - they make a lot of items. Worth a side trip to a good-sized Binny's with a food department to check it out.

The Pickle Guy is at the Park Ridge Farmers market every Saturday from 7am till 1pm. I love the garlic crunch pickles.

G Wiv wrote:

The GP wrote:I must find That Pickle Guy...

There is a list of retail and farmers market locations on the web site

As noted way upthread, The Pickle Guy's dills appear only to be sold at the farmer's markets. His muffaletta mix and giardiniera are what make it into stores.

As long as we're talking about local picklers that don't have retail stores, don't forget The Puckered Pickle and Claussen ... The Picasso put Chicago in a pickle.

Answering my own question:

The Bagel makes their own pickles or, more precisely, has a fresh batch made weekly to their specifications, supposedly a historic family recipe.