The Pickle Stand Delicatessen & Tavern

First off, the service was terrible. The girl working was incredibly rude to multiple customers. They were out of rye bread and she was very rude describing to customers was the substitute of a hoagie roll was. The service was also very slow as it was not busy and we only ordered two sandwiches. When the guy from the back said the hoagies were ready she responded by saying «that’s cool», very disrespectful! When the food came out it was good but nothing that blew me away. It took the waitress a long time to realize we we needed out check as she was hanging out in the back. Overall, very disappointed.

First time in to The Pickle Stand, service was extremely slow. Waited 20 minutes for food, waited 20 minutes for the check, over heard from the kitchen, «hoagies are done.» Then the waitress replies, «that’s cool.»
Still waited for 5 minutes after that conversation.
Although the service was unbearable the food brought up their review. I would recommend the «The Knuckle Sandwich» to anyone, it was delicious.
Would return for take out but would never dine in again.

Pastrami sandwiches were very good. Would come back again for them. Same for the potato salad. Not a huge beer selection but found a couple we enjoyed. All in all we will go back.

the-​pickle-​stand-​delicatessen-​tavern–
Whoa! was a little apprehensive with the scratchy music but while standing at the bar skimming thru the menu the bar tender looked up, smiled and said, «all our corned beef is processed in-​house»
SOLD! everyone has to have something great and I’m thinking it’s their corned beef. Well I was right! I ordered the corned beef on rye that was pressed on the grill to a medium… i was still able to experience the chewy Rye which I love but enjoy the subtle crispy that marriages with the soft and salty beef. thank you! You’re going to be successful.

I have eaten here twice… both times I ordered The Beast but the second time I opted for the extra meat option. While the service is painfully slow even with an empty establishment the sandwich is absolutely delicious. Then again how can you go wrong with corned beef, pastrami and bacon on toasted rye bread.
You might want to order ahead if possible but even if you don’t the wait is ultimately worth it.

For $ 10.10 for a corned-​beef sandwich, they need to learn how to slice corned-​beef correctly!

Will never return. I had ordered a corned beef Reuben sandwich because they actually prepare and cook their corned beef. Instead of getting enough meat, I got more fat than anything. It was gross. The price was not reasonable at all for just a sandwich and a pickle, price close to $ 11.00. I’d rather go to Katz of New Haven or Rein’s Deli in Vernon even if I have to travel a bit.

Good place for a big lunch. Their sandwiches are huge and are pretty good, it is mostly a bar but that’s okay. If you go ask for their pickle of the day or see if they have the horseradish pickles. It sounds kinda weird but the pickles and sweet yet have a bite and are to die for. Also the beast is a beast. Nuff said

This is a fun local eatery. It is small and quiet. Check out the ceiling and other special décor. The food is simple but delicious and the portions are huge. The small staff, just one waitress and the chef/​owner, are very personable and willing to talk. They have a nice bar selection including several beers and a few IPAs. A nice place to enjoy a quick lunch with coworkers, or to bring the kids on the weekend.

Went to the pickle stand as I was in a hurry on a Friday night and it seemed to be the only place not very busy. Can’t understand why. The food rocks. As I sat down in the booth by the window (4 of us) someone walking out says, «I recommend «the Beast». So I ordered the beast and it was great. pastrami, corned beef, bacon, cheese, mustard on a hoagie. One of if not the best sandwich I’ve tasted. Cole slaw is great. Kids had a Buffalo chicken Sandwich and wrap, thumbs up. Wife had a Cobb salad and said it was «the bomb». No one disappointed and you won’t be either. Looks can be deceiving but I’m all about the food and they deliver on that.
Check it out, you won’t be disappointed

What’s not to like? Half a dozen beers on tap and I may be short changing them. IPAs lagers etc. Roomy pint glasses. Corned beef sandwich is a killer. Great rye bread choice of cheese or not choice of mustard or not. Since we were there for the corned beef I didn’t try anything else on the menu. And then there’s the music through Pandora. IMHO the list was great. Very comfortable place with friendly staff at a Friday lunch. Have been back and will continue going back.

had a pretty good lunch here on a recent monday afternoon. i came with my mom, and we chose this place totally on a whim. (okay– on a whim after we had difficulty finding krust. we’ll try krust some other time.)
this place is pretty no-​frills. they only serve beer & wine, and the menu is fairly simple and straight-​forward. there’s a selection of sandwich choices, with an option to build your own. prices are a little steep in my opinion ($ 7 — $ 9ish) for sandwiches that only come with a pickle, and no other side.
my mom went with the #8 which is a chicken cutlet topped with baked eggplant, roasted peppers, provolone, and sauce served on a hoagie (grinder) roll. the sandwich was a good size, and she only ate half. the chicken looked fresh and hand-​breaded, but the sauce seemed to be absent.
i opted for the pastrami reuben with 1000 island on the side. the sandwich was expertly grilled (i could see a panini press in the kitchen), and there was a good amount of pastrami. the pickle is described as a half sour and, while that’s not my favorite variety, this one was very well executed.
we also got 2 small sides of potato salad and cole slaw. these were the stars of the day, to be honest. the potato salad was to die for. there was red onion, egg, and a good amount of mustard in the dressing. the cole slaw had excellent crunch, and the dressing was somewhere between creamy and vinegary.
we had a good lunch, but i wouldn’t say it was worth the $ 42.50 we spent (including tip). also (and this is a pet peeve of mine), i had ordered my 1000 island on the side– not because i don’t like it, but because i like to portion it myself. of course, when i asked for the second half of my sandwich be wrapped to go, the 1000 island didn’t make it… womp womp.
i might go back, but with so many choices in middletown, this would not be my first.

Had the knuckle sandwich tonight and lots and lots of pickles and beer. Beef, mayo, peppers, toasted on a wrap since I’m low carb. So good! Lots of yummy sandwiches to choose from including vegetarian options. Definitely want to come back again and try something new, although what I ate tonight was great! We always have fun at the pickle stand.

Definitely cool inside, friendly waitstaff that’s the positive. I ordered a Reuben that took over 15 minutes to come out. I always thought corn beef was cut in strips not chunks that look like cat food. The meat had no flavor, the bread was lightly grilled and soggy. I paid $ 14 for the sandwich a bag of chips and a Diet Coke. To their credit or their guilt they put a half pint of coleslaw in the bag, now that was delicious!

Unfortunately my experience here was a flub,
The prices were disappointing and I didn’t like my sub.
The manager was pleasant, so what can I say?
Maybe I’ll try a happy hour here someday.
I was pretty excited when this place opened up. Good, central location on Main Street right near where I work. However, I wish I picked somewhere else to take my large group of friends from out-​of-​state out to lunch.
I got the Pastrami lunch special. For $ 7 I got a rather small sandwich and a flavorless pickle. The sandwich was hot, but didn’t have much going on in terms of flavor. Really not a great price for what you get.
The beer taps were broken and they only had bottles. OK, that type of thing happens. However, the female bartender knew nothing about the beers she was serving and had to keep asking a manager. When my friend decided on a Rastafa-​Rye, he was brought a 22 oz. bomber and charged $ 10. He was pretty upset that he had to spend that much since he only wanted a normal-​sized bottle of beer. When we wanted to leave, he still had a third of his bottle left (what a wimp, tee-​hee).
The only saving grace of this place was the bar manager. Very, very nice guy. Told us he was a retired police officer and shared a few stories from his time on the force.
A few things to note: they do a «Half-​Off all beers» special for Happy Hours. My coworker also told me her split pea soup was delicious, so maybe try the soup? You could do worse, but you could do better for lunch.

high point of the beer list is cheap PBR.
they have some crafty beers, but most of them are pretty common and nothing i would order. oh well. they had that founders neon in the window, so i had hope but there was no founders on tap.
ordered a few wraps and they were all wrong. asked about the pickles — they don’t make them there. they used to make one kind (the hot pickle slices), but stopped. they only have flat bread pizzas after 5. someone asked about the soup — is it vegetarian? guy didn’t know and had nobody to ask, so he offered them a sample — if i don’t eat meat why would i put your soup of questionable contents in my mouth?
nice space. decent divey sandwich bar ambience. if the food gets better maybe it has a chance.
cheers!

My husband and I tried the Pickle Stand for lunch today and we were not disappointed. It is a relatively small restaurant/​bar but cozy and nicely decorated. We grabbed seats at the bar, where we were welcomed by the waitress almost immediately. The menu offers a good selection of sandwiches, we settled on a turkey carver (me) and a chicken cordon bleu (my husband). We also got small sides of coleslaw and potato salad to share. They also carry Deep River kettle chips, which is nice that they picked a local brand of chips to stock.
They have a good selection of beer and wine. My husband got a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon for only $ 2, can’t beat that! I did think the wine prices were a but high compared with the rest of the prices. All glasses were $ 8 or $ 9, they should offer at least one in the $ 5 or $ 6 range, especially since you’re just having a casual lunch, it’s not fine dining. It was also not high enough quality wine to warrant those prices. Not enough to ruin my impression of the place, but I did pass on a drink and just had water instead.
Our food was awesome! Everything is so fresh. The turkey on the turkey carver was fresh and piled high. The cranberry mayo was yummy and the bread was so fresh. I loves my husband’s chicken cordon blue even more. Fresh, hot chicken piled with ham and cheese and some of the best honey mustard I’ve ever tasted. But for me, the best part of the whole meal was the coleslaw I have searched high and low for good coleslaw. It’s always too watery or too dry… too vinegary or too bland… this one was PERFECT. I couldn’t help but rave about it the whole time I was eating it. We were told it’s made fresh in house and I believe it. This will definitely be my go to place anytime I need coleslaw.
The portions are large. We got the small side salads which were definitely big enough to share and were only $ 2 each. They’re the size of the small container you’d get at a grocery store deli. For just $ 1 more you can get a large, which is the size of the medium container you’d get at the grocery store deli. Definitely a great value because if they charged by the pound like the grocery store does, you’d probably pay a lot more. We managed to polish off our sides but each took half of our sandwiches home.
The staff were very friendly and the food was great. We will definitely be back to try out the other sandwiches on the menu. I’m really hoping I can go back to try the meatloaf sandwich that was covered in one of the other Unilocal reviews… not that many restaurants serve meatloaf sandwiches and I love them! Pickle Stand is a great addition to Middletown’s restaurant community.

Came here on whim.
I ordered the meat loaf melt because it was their special and figured that was something they would make decently. I thought it was pretty good. I also ordered a ham and cheese melt to go. That was pretty good, too. I like their selection of beer in bottle and tap. This is a wine and beer exclusive bar. Owner was a cool guy, he talked about adding more beer to the line.

For a place called «The Pickle Stand», this place has pretty shitty pickles. The garlic sour tasted like it hadn’t sat long enough in brine, it was almost like a salty cucumber.
The «knuckle» sandwich was pretty bland and tasteless for something claiming to have «roasted garlic mayo». I had to come home and put garlic salt on it myself, not to mention the roasted peppers were fermented like they were left out too long, or were old.
For $ 9 you’d think the stack of meat you might get would rival the old ruby’s, but sadly this place doesn’t even come close.
Another piss poor half-​assed restaurant on main st, way to go Middletown.

They just opened less than a week ago. Soft opening, I believe the grand opening will be on October 5^th. They just got their tap system working. These are a couple nice guys. Wally — the owner you will recognize from Keegan’s up the street. This former cigar shop turned deli /​bar offers pizza, sandwiches, beer and wine. I had a mashed potato and bacon pie that was very good. They poured a decent black and tan. The juke box, an iTunes fueled machine was fun to play with too. I will be back.