NYC Guide: Jacob's Pickles
Address | 509 Amsterdam Ave New York, NY 10024
Now and again we find ourselves on the Upper West Side and in need of low key, tasty, and with a cool vibe sit down spot for lunch. Over the weekend after an outing to the Museum of Natural History, we looked for a spot that would fit the aforementioned bill, have fried chicken (at my son and his buddy’s request) and be easy to get a table at, and we decided to visit an old favorite, Jacob’s Pickles.
As New York City is in the aftermath/still battle against the global pandemic, I always recommend making a reservation when possible. Since ours was a last minute decision we decided around 2:30 p.m. on a Saturday to see if we could walk-in and it was no problem. A great playlist was going amid the lively chatter of a fully seated bar and tables filled with locals and some tourists alike. One look at the menu and you can see why these deep fried dishes would appeal to a ‘recovering from the night before, in need of a hangover cure’ crowd.
The menu is really based on southern style comfort food cooking with an array of pickles, biscuit based sandwiches, cheesy grits, and deep fried everything. The portions are huge so young and old alike should consider ordering to share. In short, this is not a spot for the health conscious diners but every once in a blue moon it’s nice to indulge.
So here’s a little run down of what we ordered…
What else would you start with at Jacob’s Pickles, other than…pickles?! We always have leftovers to bring home but it’s fun to order the 4 or 8 types of pickles to start with. The options include:
Special Sours | Hot Sour Cukes| Big Dill Kosher Cukes | Dilly Green Beans | Candy Red Beets | Sweet & Spicy Carrots | Horseradish Cukes | Thyme Jalapenos | Pickled Eggs
Deep fried so not the healthiest option but, incredibly tasty. The fried pickles with spicy red mayo are a nice starter to share (you’ve gotta save some room for your main dishes)
All sandwiches are served with Grain Miller organic cheese grits. My son loves fried chicken, and fried chicken sandwiches so we had to try the honey chicken and pickles (buttermilk fried chicken, hot sours, clover honey)
When you’re dining with a couple of 12 year old boys, you’ve got to try every fried and cheesy dish! The buffalo chicken mac & cheese (we did the blue cheese drizzle on the side) is incredibly creamy and filling so learn from our eyes bigger than stomach mistake and order the small instead of large.
Finally, the whole wild shrimp and organic cheese grits is the ultimate southern comfort food dish.
