Re-Grillo's Pickles

I'm amazed but not surprised to see you talking about Grillos pickles! I met Travis Grillo back in 2008 when he first started selling pickle spears (two spears for $1) in downtown Boston. Working first from his car, and then setting up a pickle cart, he used his family's recipe that was simply amazing. I worked for a company that did printing and we printed some of his earliest labels. Great Guy. I cheered every time his pickles were picked up by a new grocery store chain and I was surprised the first time I found his west of the Mississippi. He's worked long and hard and it is nice to see his achieve the rewards and recognition he's earned!! --  Keith Spiro _____________________________________ Howdy, Bob! Grillos Pickles are the best I’ve been able to buy in a regular store. They’ve had them here at the Publix in Nashville for a good while and I’ve been lucky to be able to have them for the last few years. Their “Italian version” are even worth eating (!) Admittedly, the stock level is sporadic, and they are in chip form for the most part, but every once in a while, I can get the spears (I grew up in Chicago, so a pickle spear with a sandwich, pretty much any sandwich, felt like law, and I obeyed!), which really makes me happy. Anyway, I’ve been a “Grillos evangelist” for a good long while and consider their offerings top-flight; I’m glad you’ve found them and get to enjoy them as well! Cheers! King Williams _____________________________________ Grillos has a marketing arrangement with the Boston Bruins. They’ll display their fun logo on the boards and on the ice in the neutral zone.  They also sponsor a segment of the Bruins pre-game show, called “Cool as a Cucumber”.  Griilos also sells a hockey jersey… https://merch.grillos.com/products/grillos-hockey-jersey Delicious pickles…the best.  And easy to come by here in the Boston area.  Most grocery stories sell them. Jeff Hansen _____________________________________ Happy you discovered them! They really are the best! Found them a few years ago at BeachLife Festival in Redondo where they had an activation complete with a dude in a pickle mascot outfit waving people over. Figured it was a little cheesy, but it worked! My wife insisted on going over and taking a picture with him and I tasted the pickles and was blown away by the flavor! Costco out in Westlake seems to always have them, by the way. Danny Cooper _____________________________________ My fave pickles are from Katz’ in NYC. I have yet to find anything similar in Toronto :-( Karen Bliss _____________________________________ Good choice Bob. Been buying Grillo's Pickles by the bucketful @ Costco for quite some time. Actually was running low on my last bucket, and have a new one ready to open in the fridge when those are done. Best store bought pickles I've ever had. Even the Goyim are hip to Grillo's. -Rick Marino _____________________________________ I’m a sucker for packaging. They have great merch. I got turned on to them here in Chicago while watching a baseball game on TV. They had the advertising behind home plate. A pickle in a lawn chair wearing flip flops, I had to try them. They are now they are my go-to store bought pickle. Kudos to whoever handles the marketing aesthetic.  Jason Cienkus Chicago Suburbs _____________________________________ I love Grillo’s! My whole extended family was raised devouring mass quantities of pickles. My current favorite though is a Philly local, Dietz & Watson. Amazing stuff Gary Ferenchak _____________________________________ Those pickles are the best!! We’ve been buying them for a few years now.  It’s one of the few teams I don’t get annoyed at regarding price at the grocery store. The first time my wife bought them and I saw they were like $9 for the small container I got so mad but then I tried them and was hooked. They’re usually stocked in the local Stop ‘n Shop here on Long Island but it’s weird - there are times when you just can’t find them for a few weeks and we have to settle for the jarred crap haha. Great find! Rob DiFondi _____________________________________ I love when you write this kinda sh*t. Amazing how many words you wrote about grillos. That being said they are incredible. You can a big pail at Costco. We get em all the time. Stevie Rees / Arbo _____________________________________ Bob -  Grillo's also makes a great pickle based "Salsa".  It's a great condiment to keep on hand! -Steve Duchardt  _____________________________________ Truly the best commercially available dill pickle spear available to purchase today. Will never match the long gone and lamented Clairmont Diner (Verona,NJ) complimentary assorted pickle bowl ( with pickled tomatoes) sitting on every table as you sat down or the one of kind Clairmont Salad (Kind of vinegar based Cole Slaw with a hint of sweetness) that all whoever tasted still pines for.  Ask Jon Scher. Bert Holman _____________________________________ I can’t believe you love these too. We’re obsessed with Grillos pickles. Respect.  Mindi Abair _____________________________________ And if you’re lucky they occasionally have the Grillo’s Half Sours…so damn good! Aloha Steve London _____________________________________ They are unmatched. 100! Pink Needs _____________________________________ My wife is addicted to them. There is never a time when they are not in our fridge. I dig em but she's on another planet.  Dan Millen _____________________________________ Hey Bob, One LA pickle lover to another…you gotta try The Crazy Cucumber. Artisan pickle monger often shows up at the Malibu Farmer’s Market, Sundays 10am-3pm I believe. Also at others. Great quality, tons of interesting varieties…and sauerkraut that’s fantastic. Cool guy who loves talking about his products. Worth the journey up PCH.  Best, Larry Laffer _____________________________________ Half Sour? Can’t find them in Cadillac, MI to save my life!! Paul Bizzigotti _____________________________________ Okay, I’ll reluctantly try Grillo’s. A friend mentioned they’re great too. But I’m camp Bubbies which is essentially the pickle I grew up eating in Canada formerly known as Strub’s pickles.  Best, Ellie Shapiro _____________________________________ bob you gotta check out grillo’s instagram. they have some of the best marketing going right now.  also their pickle salsa is awesome  Tom Gilbert _____________________________________ You have to try the grillo pickle de gallo. Put it on a bratwurst or anything else for that matter. Ryan Nagle CAA | Touring _____________________________________ Keep an eye out for their 'Pickle de Gallo' It's special -jl Best regards, Jonathan Lerner _____________________________________ Grillo's Pickles are awesome, and readily available here on the East Coast. I really like all the dill, or whatever that vegetation is that comes with them. But the containers need serious improvement; they're guaranteed to spill pickle juice all over the place and need to be opened in the sink.  Rich Madow _____________________________________ I am a huge pickle fan and have two buckets of Grillo pickles in my refrigerator in Kerrville, Texas. The best… Steven McClintock  37 Records _____________________________________ Back in the late 70's, my folks bought a bungalow colony in White Lake, NY, about two miles down the road from what was still Yasgur's farm.  It was the waning days of the Borscht Belt Catskills and gambling was rumored to be imminent, after Atlantic City had approved it recently. They got a great deal on the place, 90 acres, 60 cottages rented by NYC Jewish families for the summer. They thought it would be fun, and they'd flip it within five years. Of course gambling didn't happen for another 30 years.  I met a girl from Brooklyn there. Her parents were teachers, and in the summer they were hustlers. All sorts of side businesses, primarily running flea market booths at the Kiamesha Lanes bowling alley parking lot on Sundays. They had a pickles and dried fruits and nuts stand, and I manned the both with my girlfriend in the summer of '80. We had barrels of pickles made by Shimmy the Pickle King. Grillo is probably a more palatable pickle-maker for the gentiles than Shimmy, but they were great pickles.  I still prefer them as sour and garlicky as possible, not a fan of dills and half-sours.  Every whole pickle I'll ever bite into will bring me back to the 18-year-old kid spending his last summer before college slinging pickles to the summering Jews of Sullivan County.  Dave Arbiter Margaritaville Daytona Beach, FL _____________________________________ If you are also a fan of half sours, do yourself a favor and try Ba-Tampte…look for a glass jar found in the refrigerated section.  (How these weren’t included in the Wirecutter review is beyond me!) I first encountered these in college at Drexel in Philly, while working as a waiter at Ted’s Montana Grill.  We would drop them on the table while customers looked over the menu…the restaurant may have lost money on the days I worked a double!  In PA, I’m usually able to find them with relative ease at our local Wegmans or Acme.  However, periodically they are out of stock for whatever reason, which can really throw a wrench in your lunch sandwich plans! These are hands down my favorite pickles, you just have to make sure they are bright green in the jar, occasionally they will look a darker green and/or yellow, with cloudier brine, which means they won’t taste right and are on the mushier side, sometimes due to the lid losing its seal. Enjoy! Jon-Michael Marino _____________________________________ Glad you found the pickles Bob. I live in SW France now and you can't find dill pickles anywhere here only cornichons which the French eat with pate, etc. They are more like bread and butter pickles than dill. When I lived in Ireland I could get very good dills at the Polish stores which were everywhere because of the large population of Polish immigrants. Your email brought back a few memories also. I used to live in Grand Junction in western Colorado and shopped at City Market!! Hadn't thought about them for a long time. Also, took a look at the Wirecutter link and the dill pickles that I bought in the states were also recommended.... Bubbies. I loved those and might be worth trying if you can't find Grillos. Enjoy your posts and a lot of times makes me glad to be living outside the US! All the best Bob Tom Ryall _____________________________________ Hey Bob. Pickles are definitely having a moment right now. The kids would say we are Picklemaxxing. But I’m a big fan of Grillo‘s, as well. You should try to get your hands on some Grillo‘s Pickled Grapes. I know it sounds weird – but they are absolutely delicious— the perfect combo of sweet and sour. Meanwhile – I happen to think the best pickles in Los Angeles are from Kaylin & Kaylin at the Original Farmers Market at 3rd & Fairfax. Trey Callaway _____________________________________ Less than two weeks ago my wife was in Whole Foods looking for my regular brand of dills.  They were out so she picked up a jar of Grillo’s, which she had read about in one of her many cooking magazines.    WOW!  I’m never going back to Vlasek. Fermented foods are among the most ancient, so somebody knows something.  Thanks! dennis brent  _____________________________________ Have you tried Batempte Half Sours in Refrigerator section of Gelsons? They're my favorite. Unfortunately, nothing resembling 5 cent ones from the barrel of Sol's Deli on 20th street and 1st Avenue... Bob Goodman     _____________________________________ I live in Iowa and get Grillos at Hy-Vee.  They are grossly under appreciated here.  Seeing Grillos and Paquito Mas referenced in the same email is the ultimate PSA!  Thank you for your service!!! David Bernstein _____________________________________ Bob- I love you so I take great regret in bursting your bubble. Grillo’s pickles aren’t fermented. It says so on their own website under the FAQ: Do Grillo’s pickles need to be refrigerated? Since Grillo’s products are a completely fresh pickle made without chemicals or preservatives, they are not fermented. This means they need to be kept at refrigerated temperatures to ensure both quality and freshness are maintained. You found the clue about needing refrigeration, you just didn’t put it together. There are 2 ways to make pickles, one using vinegar (which is what Grillo’s does) and one using fermentation with a brand like Bubbies. (Not recommending them, they were just Wirecutter’s pick further down the page for a “Tart & Juicy” option) You can tell if a pickle is fermented because it will be a cloudy jar and it won’t have vinegar in its ingredients. I learned all this from a trip to the Pickle Guys on Grand Street on the Lower East Side, which you should definitely visit the next time you are in New York because they have dozens of jars of fermenting foods.  I don’t have an affiliation with any of the above brands, but I do have access to grocery sales data as a food exec and can tell you the yogurt category has been absolutely exploding (up 18% Year over Year, which is insane growth for a mature category) because of consumer interest in high probiotics (fermentation’s main benefit) coupled with protein. Real yogurt like Nancy’s or Stonyfield (skip Dannon & Yoplait) have decent probiotic counts in the low billions. If you want high probiotics in the tens of billions (the main reward of fermented foods) go for Kefir. (which is drinkable) For a new breed of super-high probiotic spoonable options in the hundreds of billions like Coconut Cult or Kefirkult, head to Whole Foods. (Both use coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat, so it’s not for everyone)  Skip the sugary flavors if you can, go for the original varieties and add your own fruit.  Best of luck! Greg Lorenzo _____________________________________ I'm taking a $10 risk on your taste (amazon fresh delivery). It's impossible to find good pickles in the OC. We are losing another Gelson's and they were the only ones left selling B'Tempte. (sp?). Luckily, father's day means a trip to LA and Brents. Their new pickles are to die for but the half sour haven't been the same since the pandemic. If you're right, I owe you.  Bruce Greenberg _____________________________________ So Grillos ran a hugely successful marketing campaign last year on Instagram and it blew up. Almost all zoomers love Grillos.  Now they have a whole new line of Grillos beets and onions and carrots and grapes.  It literally became the brand seemingly overnight with youth.  Johnny Lloyd Rollins _____________________________________ Hi Bob — I have a tip. I order full sour pickles from Katz’s in New York.  If the order is more than $100 shipping is free (it was last time I ordered). The full sour are the best.  Puts all others to shame. Jim Charne _____________________________________ I love Grillo's.  They are the best. (And I get mine at Ralph's; they always have them). But... .... they're not fermented.  Matthew Mars _____________________________________ Grillo’s are not fermented so you are not maximizing the nutritional value. Bubbie’s are fermented and widely available in different varieties. Geoffrey Cushing-Murray _____________________________________ Grillo's is delicious, but they are not technically fermented. They are just ‘pickled’.   Fermented pickles have active cultures… like the brand Bubbies - or more famously The Pickle Guys (the successor of “Guss’ Pickles” from Crossing Delancey) on Essex & Grand in NYC. They sell a handful of fermented pickles (and some are simply pickled), but all are delicious.  Michael Closter  _____________________________________ I'm generally a Bubbie's guy, both the whole dill pickles and their sweet & sour chips.  I will check out Grillo's.  When I was a kid, there was nothing better than a pickle barrel in the store where you fished out your own pickle - Zabar's of course, but also there was a shop in Rockport on one main drag.  Paired with a tuna sandwich on rye, nothing better. Toby Mamis _____________________________________ Grillo’s is good! Bubbies is the best!! Burt Stein _____________________________________ Bubbie’s kosher dills or Bubbie’s spicy kosher dills. The only choice!!! Rhonda Bedikan _____________________________________ This is my area of expertise, including going to Gus’s back in the day (the inspiration for Crossing Del).   This is the closest you can get from a store (online too).   IPO and Peace are the best.   https://brittsfermentedfoods.com/collections/all Dave Pell _____________________________________ I LOVE your quest for the perfect pickle. I have been there and done that. I would go to Disneyland, which is not my favorite place in the whole wide world, just to go to Main Street to buy a couple of pickles from the huge jar. If people are going to Disneyland, they ask if I want a pair of Mickey’s ears. Hell no. Could you please pick up several pickles on Main Street? Here’s my dealbreaker. They have to be old/classic pickles, NOT the raw cucumber style. Who was the Impatient person that couldn’t wait? You have to learn to pace your pickles. I keep the empty jars with the brine. If you get into a pickle and run out, you should always buy some picking cucumbers, cut them into spears, and make your own. PLUS pickle juice takes the pain away from a sore throat. It’s a staple in my refrigerator. I can only imagine your panic when you ran out. Are they classic/old/patient/ or new cucumbers?  Now I crave deli food, but it’s too late in the evening. I’ll go make some Matzo Brei. My go-to when I am too tired to cook! Tossed or pancake style? Eaten with sugar or salt? Maldon Flakes for me. Perhaps with a side of pickle. Jill Harris _____________________________________ Ralph’s impulse purchase day before yesterday…perfect on a Hebrew National;  and then I read WSJ fermented article! We on the same page Bob. Tony Yoken Los Angeles/Memphis _____________________________________ ok just went to amazon and saw 'em... one jar is in my cart! Hong Son _____________________________________ Drink the brine. Trust me. I’m Polish.  Better hydration than Gatorade as it has the salt you actually need.  Grillo’s half sour are my go to as a thoroughbred Pole. Whole Foods always has them.  Pickles for the win, Lee Guzofski _____________________________________ 1,436 words about pickles and I read ever single one. And my mouth is also watering. Grillo’s pickles are amazing.  I love this. Thanks for sharing.  I don’t think I’ve ever actually shot off a reply to you, but I’ve started writing many. I get a few paragraphs in, feel better about whatever riled me up, and said “eh, nobody gives a sh*t about what I think. Delete.” But here I am actually hitting send about pickles. Thanks for your newsletter. You’re a bright light.  Stephanie O’Donnell Former country record rep, now a realtor. Ha. _____________________________________ Hey Bob. Got a kick out of your Pickle Piece. I know that you’re a Wirecutter fan (as am I), so you may have seen this article. Our next door neighbor is a NYT food writer and she wrote this piece on Sardines. I used to eat a lot of Sardines with my Dad and brother back in the 60s!  We'd eat ‘em with saltine crackers and mustard while watching football games.  An acquired taste, no doubt! Anyway, I mentioned this to Kathy (that’s her byline below) after I’d read her article.  So she left a tin of one of the top ranking Sardines at our door. It was the brand called Donostina.  Lord have mercy.  These things were amazing!!!  Only 4 in the can...like fillets. I haven’t seen them around here in NYC, but if I do, I’ll snag more for sure. For some reason, you strike me as somebody who might like Sardines.  If so, keep your eyes peeled when you’re cruising the high end stores out there (cruising high end grocery stores, btw, is something I LOVE to do). Killer! Hugh Surratt https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-sardines/ _____________________________________ From: Tom Russo Hey Bob. Grillo’s was just featured in the Costco Connection this month.: SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT Fresh favorite How Grillo’s Pickles grew from a Boston food cart to a briny behemoth by GEOFF NUDELMAN Grillo’s Pickles CEO and Costco member Adam Kaufman is quick to point out that the pickle brand doesn’t take itself too seriously, even as it has experienced serious growth over the last decade.   “We had a groundswell of support from when we started with a cart in Boston Common,” says Kaufman, who has been with the company since 2018. “The aspirational side of our brand is neat. We’re a different pickle.” The Grillo’s products available today are made with the same recipe co-founder Travis Grillo adapted from his grandfather’s pickles and began selling out of his car in 2008. The pickles were a hit and he moved to a wooden pickle cart in 2009.   The brand had customers buzzing. “There was pickle merch for sale, friends skateboarding around and the occasional pickle suit appearance while hustling pickles on the street,” says Grillo’s co-founder and vice president of brand Eddie Andre. “(This all) created an energetic brand that was more than just a pickle out of a cart.” Later, two employees of a large national grocer came down to the cart and tried the pickles for themselves, which led to a larger audience. “After a few years of dedicated hustle, we were accepted in several of the store’s regions, and nationally by 2016,” says Andre.   According to Andre, part of that growth has come from how Grillo’s has maintained its roots in punk rock and skate culture, even as it arrived as a national brand. The company does a pop-up each year in New York City where it sells limited-edition items, such as pickled grapes, and maintains an irreverent and quirky social media presence that’s as much a pickle fan account as it is brand promotion.   “I feel lucky to be around the brand,” Kaufman says. “Over the last three years, the whole pickle market has just exploded.” -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25