{"id":23381,"date":"2026-06-21T15:34:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=23381"},"modified":"2026-06-21T15:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:34:53","slug":"re-grillos-pickles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/21\/re-grillos-pickles\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-Grillo&#8217;s Pickles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s worked long and hard and it is nice to see his achieve the rewards and recognition he&#8217;s earned!!<br \/>\n&#8212;<br \/>\nKeith Spiro<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Howdy, Bob!<\/p>\n<p>Grillos Pickles are the best I\u2019ve been able to buy in a regular store.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve had them here at the Publix in Nashville for a good while and I\u2019ve been lucky to be able to have them for the last few years.<\/p>\n<p>Their \u201cItalian version\u201d are even worth eating (!)<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I\u2019ve been a \u201cGrillos evangelist\u201d for a good long while and consider their offerings top-flight; I\u2019m glad you\u2019ve found them and get to enjoy them as well!<\/p>\n<p>Cheers!<\/p>\n<p>King Williams<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Grillos has a marketing arrangement with the Boston Bruins. They\u2019ll display their fun logo on the boards and on the ice in the neutral zone.\u00a0 They also sponsor a segment of the Bruins pre-game show, called \u201cCool as a Cucumber\u201d.\u00a0 Griilos also sells a hockey jersey\u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/merch.grillos.com\/products\/grillos-hockey-jersey\">Grillo&#039;s Hockey Jersey<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Delicious pickles\u2026the best.\u00a0 And easy to come by here in the Boston area.\u00a0 Most grocery stories sell them.<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hansen<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Danny Cooper<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>My fave pickles are from Katz\u2019 in NYC. I have yet to find anything similar in Toronto \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n<p>Karen Bliss<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Good choice Bob. Been buying Grillo&#8217;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&#8217;ve ever had. Even the Goyim are hip to Grillo&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>-Rick Marino<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n<p>Jason Cienkus<br \/>\nChicago Suburbs<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I love Grillo\u2019s! My whole extended family was raised devouring mass quantities of pickles. My current favorite though is a Philly local, Dietz &amp; Watson. Amazing stuff<\/p>\n<p>Gary Ferenchak<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Those pickles are the best!! We\u2019ve been buying them for a few years now.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the few teams I\u00a0don\u2019t 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\u2019re usually stocked in the local Stop \u2018n Shop here on Long Island but it\u2019s weird &#8211; there are times when you just can\u2019t find them for a few weeks and we have to settle for the jarred crap haha. Great find!<\/p>\n<p>Rob DiFondi<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Stevie Rees \/ Arbo<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Bob &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Grillo&#8217;s also makes a great pickle based &#8220;Salsa&#8221;.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a great condiment to keep on hand!<\/p>\n<p>-Steve Duchardt<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Truly the best commercially available dill pickle spear available to purchase today.<\/p>\n<p>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. \u00a0Ask Jon Scher.<\/p>\n<p>Bert Holman<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t believe you love these too. We\u2019re obsessed with Grillos pickles. Respect.<\/p>\n<p>Mindi Abair<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>And if you\u2019re lucky they occasionally have the Grillo\u2019s Half Sours\u2026so damn good!<\/p>\n<p>Aloha<br \/>\nSteve London<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>They are unmatched.\u00a0100!<\/p>\n<p>Pink Needs<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>My wife is addicted to them. There is never a time when they are not in our fridge. I dig em but she&#8217;s on another planet.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Millen<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob,<\/p>\n<p>One LA pickle lover to another\u2026you gotta try The Crazy Cucumber. Artisan pickle monger often shows up at the Malibu Farmer\u2019s Market, Sundays 10am-3pm I believe. Also at others. Great quality, tons of interesting varieties\u2026and sauerkraut that\u2019s fantastic. Cool guy who loves talking about his products. Worth the journey up PCH.<\/p>\n<p>Best,<\/p>\n<p>Larry Laffer<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Half Sour? Can\u2019t find them in Cadillac, MI to save my life!!<\/p>\n<p>Paul Bizzigotti<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Okay, I\u2019ll reluctantly try Grillo\u2019s. A friend mentioned they\u2019re great too. But I\u2019m camp Bubbies which is essentially the pickle I grew up eating in Canada formerly known as Strub\u2019s pickles.<\/p>\n<p>Best,<br \/>\nEllie Shapiro<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>bob you gotta check out grillo\u2019s instagram. they have some of the best marketing going right now.<\/p>\n<p>also their pickle salsa is awesome<\/p>\n<p>Tom Gilbert<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>You have to try the grillo pickle de gallo. Put it on a bratwurst or anything else for that matter.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Nagle<br \/>\nCAA | Touring<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Keep an eye out for their &#8216;Pickle de Gallo&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s special<\/p>\n<p>-jl<\/p>\n<p>Best regards,<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Lerner<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Grillo&#8217;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.\u00a0But the containers need serious improvement; they&#8217;re guaranteed to spill pickle juice all over the place and need to be opened in the sink.<\/p>\n<p>Rich Madow<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I am a huge pickle fan and have two buckets of Grillo pickles in my refrigerator in Kerrville, Texas. The best\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Steven McClintock<br \/>\n37 Records<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Back in the late 70&#8217;s, my folks bought a bungalow colony in White Lake, NY, about two miles down the road from what was still Yasgur&#8217;s farm. \u00a0It 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&#8217;d flip it within five years. Of course gambling didn&#8217;t happen for another 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>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 &#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>I still prefer them as sour and garlicky as possible, not a fan of dills and half-sours.<\/p>\n<p>Every whole pickle I&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Arbiter<br \/>\nMargaritaville<br \/>\nDaytona Beach, FL<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>If you are also a fan of half sours, do yourself a favor and try Ba-Tampte\u2026look for a glass jar found in the refrigerated section. \u00a0(How these weren\u2019t included in the Wirecutter review is beyond me!)<\/p>\n<p>I first encountered these in college at Drexel in Philly, while working as a waiter at Ted\u2019s Montana Grill. \u00a0We would drop them on the table while customers looked over the menu\u2026the restaurant may have lost money on the days I worked a double!<\/p>\n<p>In PA, I\u2019m usually able to find them with relative ease at our local Wegmans or Acme. \u00a0However, periodically they are out of stock for whatever reason, which can really throw a wrench in your lunch sandwich plans!<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t taste right and are on the mushier side, sometimes due to the lid losing its seal.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p>Jon-Michael Marino<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Glad you found the pickles Bob. I live in SW France now and you can&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8230;. Bubbies. I loved those and might be worth trying if you can&#8217;t find Grillos. Enjoy your posts and a lot of times makes me glad to be living outside the US! All the best Bob<\/p>\n<p>Tom Ryall<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob. Pickles are definitely having a moment right now. The kids would say we are Picklemaxxing. But I\u2019m a big fan of Grillo\u2018s, as well. You should try to get your hands on some Grillo\u2018s Pickled Grapes. I know it sounds weird \u2013 but they are absolutely delicious\u2014 the perfect combo of sweet and sour. Meanwhile \u2013 I happen to think the best pickles in Los Angeles are from Kaylin &amp; Kaylin at the Original Farmers Market at 3rd &amp; Fairfax.<\/p>\n<p>Trey Callaway<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Less than two weeks ago my wife was in Whole Foods looking for my regular brand of dills.\u00a0 They were out so she picked up a jar of Grillo\u2019s, which she had read about in one of her many cooking magazines. \u00a0 \u00a0WOW!\u00a0 I\u2019m never going back to Vlasek.\u00a0Fermented foods are among the most ancient, so somebody knows something.\u00a0 Thanks!<\/p>\n<p>dennis brent<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Have you tried Batempte Half Sours in Refrigerator section of Gelsons?<br \/>\nThey&#8217;re my favorite.<br \/>\nUnfortunately, nothing resembling 5 cent ones from the barrel of Sol&#8217;s Deli on 20th street and 1st Avenue&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Bob Goodman<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I live in Iowa and get Grillos at Hy-Vee. \u00a0They are grossly under appreciated here. \u00a0Seeing Grillos and Paquito Mas referenced in the same email is the ultimate PSA! \u00a0Thank you for your service!!!<\/p>\n<p>David Bernstein<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Bob- I love you so I take great regret in bursting your bubble. Grillo\u2019s pickles aren\u2019t fermented. It says so on their own website under the FAQ:<\/p>\n<p>Do Grillo\u2019s pickles need to be refrigerated?<\/p>\n<p>Since Grillo\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>You found the clue about needing refrigeration, you just didn\u2019t put it together. There are 2 ways to make pickles, one using vinegar (which is what Grillo\u2019s does) and one using fermentation with a brand like Bubbies. (Not recommending them, they were just Wirecutter\u2019s pick further down the page for a \u201cTart &amp; Juicy\u201d option)<\/p>\n<p>You can tell if a pickle is fermented because it will be a cloudy jar and it won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t 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\u2019s main benefit) coupled with protein. Real yogurt like Nancy\u2019s or Stonyfield (skip Dannon &amp; 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\u2019s not for everyone)<\/p>\n<p>Skip the sugary flavors if you can, go for the original varieties and add your own fruit.<\/p>\n<p>Best of luck!<\/p>\n<p>Greg Lorenzo<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m taking a $10 risk on your taste (amazon fresh delivery). It&#8217;s impossible to find good pickles in the OC. We are losing another Gelson&#8217;s and they were the only ones left selling B&#8217;Tempte. (sp?). Luckily, father&#8217;s day means a trip to LA and Brents. Their new pickles are to die for but the half sour haven&#8217;t been the same since the pandemic. If you&#8217;re right, I owe you.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Greenberg<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>So Grillos ran a hugely successful marketing campaign last year on Instagram and it blew up. Almost all zoomers love Grillos.<\/p>\n<p>Now they have a whole new line of Grillos beets and onions and carrots and grapes.<\/p>\n<p>It literally became the brand seemingly overnight with youth.<\/p>\n<p>Johnny Lloyd Rollins<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Hi Bob \u2014 I have a tip.<\/p>\n<p>I order full sour pickles from Katz\u2019s in New York. \u00a0If the order is more than $100 shipping is free (it was last time I ordered).<\/p>\n<p>The full sour are the best. \u00a0Puts all others to shame.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Charne<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I love Grillo&#8217;s. \u00a0They are the best. (And I get mine at Ralph&#8217;s; they always have them). But&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;. they&#8217;re not fermented.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Mars<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Grillo\u2019s are not fermented so you are not maximizing the nutritional value. Bubbie\u2019s are fermented and widely available in different varieties.<\/p>\n<p>Geoffrey Cushing-Murray<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Grillo&#8217;s is delicious, but they are not technically fermented. They are just \u2018pickled\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Fermented pickles have active cultures\u2026 like the brand Bubbies &#8211; or more famously The Pickle Guys (the successor of \u201cGuss\u2019 Pickles\u201d from\u00a0Crossing Delancey) on Essex &amp; Grand in NYC. They sell a handful of fermented pickles (and some are simply pickled), but all are delicious.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Closter<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m generally a Bubbie&#8217;s guy, both the whole dill pickles and their sweet &amp; sour chips.\u00a0 I will check out Grillo&#8217;s.\u00a0 When I was a kid, there was nothing better than a pickle barrel in the store where you fished out your own pickle &#8211; Zabar&#8217;s of course, but also there was a shop in Rockport on one main drag.\u00a0 Paired with a tuna sandwich on rye, nothing better.<\/p>\n<p>Toby Mamis<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Grillo\u2019s is good! Bubbies is the best!!<\/p>\n<p>Burt Stein<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Bubbie\u2019s kosher dills or Bubbie\u2019s spicy kosher dills. The only choice!!!<\/p>\n<p>Rhonda Bedikan<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>This is my area of expertise, including going to Gus\u2019s back in the day (the inspiration for Crossing Del).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is the closest you can get from a store (online too).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>IPO and Peace are the best.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/brittsfermentedfoods.com\/collections\/all<\/p>\n<p>Dave Pell<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s ears. Hell no.<\/p>\n<p>Could you please pick up several pickles on Main Street? Here\u2019s my dealbreaker. They have to be old\/classic pickles, NOT the raw cucumber style. Who was the Impatient\u00a0person that couldn\u2019t 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\u2019s a staple in my refrigerator. I can only imagine your panic when you ran out. Are they classic\/old\/patient\/ or new cucumbers?<\/p>\n<p>Now I crave deli food, but it\u2019s too late in the evening. I\u2019ll go make some Matzo Brei. My go-to when I am too tired to cook! Tossed or pancake style? Eaten with sugar or salt?<\/p>\n<p>Maldon Flakes for me. Perhaps with a side of pickle.<\/p>\n<p>Jill Harris<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Ralph\u2019s impulse purchase day before yesterday\u2026perfect on a Hebrew National; \u00a0and then I read WSJ fermented article!<\/p>\n<p>We on the same page Bob.<\/p>\n<p>Tony Yoken<br \/>\nLos Angeles\/Memphis<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>ok just went to amazon and saw &#8217;em&#8230;<br \/>\none jar is in my cart!<\/p>\n<p>Hong Son<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Drink the brine. Trust me. I\u2019m Polish.<\/p>\n<p>Better hydration than Gatorade as it has the salt you actually need.<\/p>\n<p>Grillo\u2019s half sour are my go to as a thoroughbred Pole. Whole Foods always has them.<\/p>\n<p>Pickles for the win,<\/p>\n<p>Lee Guzofski<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>1,436 words about pickles and I read ever single one. And my mouth is also watering. Grillo\u2019s pickles are amazing.<\/p>\n<p>I love this. Thanks for sharing.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever actually shot off a reply to you, but I\u2019ve started writing many. I get a few paragraphs in, feel better about whatever riled me up, and said \u201ceh, nobody gives a sh*t about what I think. Delete.\u201d But here I am actually hitting send about pickles. Thanks for your newsletter. You\u2019re a bright light.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie O\u2019Donnell<br \/>\nFormer country record rep, now a realtor. Ha.<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob.<\/p>\n<p>Got a kick out of your Pickle Piece.<\/p>\n<p>I know that you\u2019re a Wirecutter fan (as am I), so you may have seen this article.<\/p>\n<p>Our next door neighbor is a NYT food writer and she wrote this piece on Sardines.<\/p>\n<p>I used to eat a lot of Sardines with my Dad and brother back in the 60s! \u00a0We&#8217;d eat \u2018em with saltine crackers and mustard while watching football games. \u00a0An acquired taste, no doubt!<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I mentioned this to Kathy (that\u2019s her byline below) after I\u2019d read her article. \u00a0So she left a tin of one of the top ranking Sardines at our door.<\/p>\n<p>It was the brand called Donostina. \u00a0Lord have mercy. \u00a0These things were amazing!!! \u00a0Only 4 in the can&#8230;like fillets.<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t seen them around here in NYC, but if I do, I\u2019ll snag more for sure.<\/p>\n<p>For some reason, you strike me as somebody who might like Sardines. \u00a0If so, keep your eyes peeled when you\u2019re cruising the high end stores out there (cruising high end grocery stores, btw, is something I LOVE to do).<\/p>\n<p>Killer!<\/p>\n<p>Hugh Surratt<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/reviews\/best-sardines\/<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Tom Russo<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob. Grillo\u2019s was just featured in the Costco Connection this month.:<\/p>\n<p>SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT<\/p>\n<p>Fresh favorite<\/p>\n<p>How Grillo\u2019s Pickles grew from a Boston food cart to a briny behemoth<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>by GEOFF NUDELMAN<\/p>\n<p>Grillo\u2019s Pickles CEO and Costco member Adam Kaufman is quick to point out that the pickle brand doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously, even as it has experienced serious growth over the last decade.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a groundswell of support from when we started with a cart in Boston Common,\u201d says Kaufman, who has been with the company since 2018. \u201cThe aspirational side of our brand is neat. We\u2019re a different pickle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Grillo\u2019s products available today are made with the same recipe co-founder Travis Grillo adapted from his grandfather\u2019s 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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The brand had customers buzzing. \u201cThere was pickle merch for sale, friends skateboarding around and the occasional pickle suit appearance while hustling pickles on the street,\u201d says Grillo\u2019s co-founder and vice president of brand Eddie Andre. \u201c(This all) created an energetic brand that was more than just a pickle out of a cart.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>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. \u201cAfter a few years of dedicated hustle, we were accepted in several of the store\u2019s regions, and nationally by 2016,\u201d says Andre.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>According to Andre, part of that growth has come from how Grillo\u2019s has maintained its roots in punk rock and skate culture, even as it arrived as a national brand.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s as much a pickle<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>fan account as it is brand promotion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel lucky to be around the brand,\u201d Kaufman says. \u201cOver the last three years, the whole pickle market has just exploded.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;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&#8217;s recipe that was simply amazing. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-657","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23381"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23383,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23381\/revisions\/23383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}