About seventeen years after the announcement (followed by the construction, followed by the signage) of some sort of pickle-themed offshoot of the Pickle Guys at Essex & Grand, Diller finally debuted today. I went over to check it out because 1) pickles and 2) free stuff for the first 50 customers. I was not alone! When I arrived, about an hour into opening day, there were about 20 people on line ahead of me. It calmed down once the free stuff ran out (I got a t-shirt! Whoo hoo).
Everything is vegetarian and kosher, most things are fried, some things (queso sauce) were not available, alas.
I tried the fried pickles, which were cornmeal-coated, greaseless and crispy, and the pastrami eggroll, which was stuffed with “pastrami-spiced lentils” and supposedly swiss cheese and sauerkraut, although there wasn’t much evidence of either. This was less successful, but it wasn’t bad. Just odd.
I got two sauces, one of which was a horseradish/yogurt thing (very nice). The other was something called “comeback sauce,” which was orange. This is how you make it, in case you want to, which I would not advise, as it is not very good. Maybe you’ll find yourself with a turkey sandwich in need of reinvention, though, who knows.
There’s nothing not to like about fried pickles. Oh, and comp disclosure - a free watermelon lemonade, as I am a friend of the house. Or I just looked thirsty.
