Dining Home Dining Articles Restaurant Reviews Dining Guide Search for restaurants:

By Julie Lay
Photograph by Katherine Bish

Call it kosher kismet: Pickles Deli owner Tim Metz has been in the sliced-meat business for more than 17 years; he worked at Jack Carl’s 2 Cents Plain until just before the downtown deli closed shop in 2005. His friend and co-owner, Sean Olson, just so happens to have a history in restaurant management. Metz’s sister, Peggy Schnoble, has a little side business making wedding cakes, and she just so happens to bake a pretty mean cupcake. So when a friend of Metz’s mentioned that there just so happened to be a space in the Central West End that would be perfect for a deli, everything just sort of came together.

Pickles’ strongest selling point might be that although the deli is located in the midst of some rather upscale eating and living establishments, the owners didn’t overdo it with wildly incongruous recipes or unnecessary garnishes. Instead, the business plan seems to be good food in hearty portions, blended with a few surprises. And it’s working.

Metz and Olson can be seen daily working the counter, chatting up patrons and giving their suggestions about what cheeses, condiments and sides may best complement your sandwich choice.

From the pastrami and corned beef imported from New York to the pit ham from right here in Missouri, Pickles’ meats are full of flavor. (The focus—rightly so—is more on the quality of what they serve than on weighing out each ounce of meat to make sure every sandwich is consistent.) The salty goodness of Pickles’ peppered and slow-steamed pastrami is well complemented by a mellow Swiss and spicy mustard and is served on a soft, thick rye bread.

Pickles’ secret to pastrami success? Their insistence on using the navel cut—a cut of beef that comes straight from the belly of the beast. It’s a more marbled cut from the brisket end of the cow and a favorite among pastrami traditionalists, but it has become increasingly hard to find as people looking to cut the fat have demanded
healthier options.

Not to quibble, but for a place with a name like Pickles, you’d expect theirs to be good. You’d be wrong. The menu states that sandwiches are served with your choice of half a kosher dill or half a bread-and-butter pickle, but all of mine were served with maybe a quarter of a pickle that looked like it had seen better days.

Pickles does have a few surprises. The pesto chicken salad starts with just a hint of basil and finishes with the tart aftertaste of pickle relish—a refreshing change to a deli classic. And in response to what’s almost a necessity at any place that serves food in the CWE, plans were in the works as of press time to offer beer and wine by late fall.

For dessert, Schnoble’s super-moist yellow cupcakes topped with an indulgent chocolate icing made for cupcake heaven. Pickles does offer alternatives to calorically decadent desserts, like a wheat-free and high-protein brownie, but it’s mealy and bland; even if you are a health nut, there has to be something tastier than these protein-packed poseurs.

There’s something to be said for predictability—a couple of deli-style chains have made a good business of it—but it’s not going to help you stand out in what’s typically a field of cold-cut clones. Pickles offers up just enough of a unique deli experience, along with a good blend of family atmosphere and quality food, to help it stand out. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re willing to pile the meat high.