NYC's 9 Best Fried Pickles
Stand4
24 E 12th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 488-5900
standburger.com
Stand4 offers quite a lovely burger, and has a milkshake menu to make you quake...but one of the real standouts on the menu are the fried pickles. They start with bread & butter pickles, fry them super crisp after battering, and the result is a rather crunchy exterior with a slightly sweet pickle interior. Served with a mixture of a sharp mustard and homemade mayo, Stand4's fried pickles are an excellent place to start any frickle newbie.
Neely's Barbecue Parlor
1125 1st Ave
New York, NY 10065
(212) 832-1551
neelysbbqparlor.com
Rather new to the scene, Neely's menu runs the gamut with a mish-mash of barbecue and Southern cuisine staples. Deep frying is one of the basics of Southern cuisine, so of course fried pickles are also available at Neely's Barbecue Parlor. They offer a fair version, thick cut and crumb-coated, served with a tangy sauce, though they can be hit or miss - occasionally perfectly fried and served crunchy, happily, but other days slightly soggy, as though they'd been sitting a bit too long.
Brother Jimmy's
Multiple locations, check website for details
brotherjimmys.com
Brother Jimmy's, which may get flak for the type of clientele it attracts, owns the bragging rights to best fried pickles in all of New York, without a doubt. The exterior is breaded, fried perfectly to golden brown and crunchy, while inside is a wonderfully sour pickle slice the perfect thickness. This is the epitome of what a fried pickle should be, and places the city-round would do well to take a lesson from Brother Jimmy's. Bonus: for Yankees fans, these are available at the Brother Jimmy's stand in the stadium for barely any markup.
Southern Hospitality
1460 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10021
(212) 249-1001
645 9th Ave
New York, NY 10036
(212) 265-1000
southernhospitalitybbq.com
Southern Hospitality, Justin Timberlake's relatively successful foray into the restaurant business, knows how to fry food. Evidence of this is their lovely tater tots and even better fried chicken, but let's talk about the fried pickles. Deep frying pickles is not the safest thing in the world to attempt - hot oil and moisture are not the best combination - and understandably so, the person frying at Southern Hospitality made the decision to remove as much moisture from the pickles before frying as possible. The resulting "chip" is very crisp, crunchy, with only the slightest hint of pickle taste; fried properly, but lacking what makes a fried pickle awesome: the pickle taste. If you're near the UES location, you'd do well to just cross the street to visit Brother Jimmy's (home of the best fried pickle in NYC), though rumor has it that the fried pickles are improved at the Hell's Kitchen location.
Bravest
700 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10016
(212) 683-3766
Local firemen favor Bravest for their watering hole with its casual, laidback atmosphere, and lovely bar snack menu, and a really good burger. One such bar snack they offer is, surprisingly, fried pickles - cut into chips, lightly battered, and fried quickly. Be careful - these come to the table piping hot. Crunchy with plenty of pickle taste, these are a win with blue cheese on the side for dipping.
SoHo Park
62 Prince St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 219-2129
sohoparknyc.com
SoHo Park has a fantastically well-priced menu, along with eclectic cocktails, a small but adequate beer list, and fried pickles. Freshly fried, though these pickles are kept in spear form, which can be a good thing - or a bad thing, depending who you ask. A few times, the thin batter has struggled to stay on the very hot spears, and slid right off, and the pickle spears tend to retain their heat for a long time - a bit of a problem when you're trying to bite into one well after its arrival - but the batter is seasoned very well, and the pickles are tasty, tasty bites. Bonus: they come with your choice of two house made dipping sauces; basil aioli has been a past favorite, but try them all until you find yours!
Rare Bar & Grill
152 W 26th St
New York, NY 10001
(212) 807-7273
303 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10016
(212) 481-1999
rarebarandgrill.com
Over multiple visits, there were inconsistencies between the fried pickles at each location. While the Lexington Avenue location had thick batter that tasted cake-like- almost like a donut, which is lovely but not wrapped around a pickle - the Chelsea location fared much better, going light on the batter and retaining a crunch. Both places serve the fried pickles with a lightly herbaceous green sauce that adds a nice "healthy" feel to the dish - which will satisfy a fried pickle craving, but will not wow you. So while Rare Bar will serve you a rare burger, the fried pickles are more pass than go.
Corner Burger
381 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 360-4622
cornerburger.com
While Corner Burger's appeal lays in the burgers and the endless poutine options, they do offer a varied selection of fried goods - among them fried pickles. Served very hot, the breading is thin - leading to a little sliding off when overzealously grabbing them from the basket - but there's a great crunch to each one, and the ranch dressing that comes on the side adds a pleasant cooling touch to the hot bites. Not the best fried pickles, but by no means the worst; these are a great accompaniment to your customized burger.
Hog Pit
37 W 26th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 213-4871
hogpit.com
Hog Pit looks like a dive biker bar from the outside... probably because that's what it is. However, the food is extremely reasonably priced, and what it lacks in 'ambiance' it makes up for with huge, overflowing platters of food. The fried pickles are actually cut slightly on the bias at Hog Pit, resulting in a larger chip with more surface area for maximum crunch! The breadcrumb coating adds a ton of crunch, though the dipping sauce doesn't do much for or against it - no matter, these are easy enough to munch while waiting for the rest of your food, or enjoying a beer.
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Yvo Sin is the founder and head writer of The Feisty Foodie.
