Little Pickle is back — and more eateries are coming to Esplanade
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The Works bagel comes with houe-smoked lox. Photo: Jessica Boehm/Axios
Little Pickle is back, this time with a permanent space to serve Jewish classics like hot pastrami and egg salad sandwiches.
The big picture: Co-owner Rick Phillips first opened Little Pickle as a pop-up in 2022 to pay homage to the Jewish delis he frequented growing up in New York.
- Phillips ran MercBar (which closed last year) at Esplanade near the Biltmore for 28 years. While the shopping center was undergoing renovations, the owners offered Phillips free space to launch the pop-up, he told Jewish News in June.
The intrigue: Little Pickle was never supposed to return after its initial pop-up, but Phillips said the owners of the Esplanade told him they were bombarded with calls asking when the deli would return.
- "Everybody wanted the pastrami, the pastrami, the pastrami!" he told Jewish News.
The latest: The permanent Little Pickle opened over the summer. It mainly operates as a take-out style shop to cater to the surrounding office workers, but there are a handful of tables for eat-in dining.
Best bites: I sampled "The Works" — smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion and capers on a toasted everything bagel.
- The bagel packed a delightful crunch and plenty of salty seasoning and the house-smoked lox was rich and plentiful.
1 sad thing: The eatery was out of potato latkes when I visited. Guess I'll have to go back!
What we're watching: Phillips and his business partner Peter Hearn also opened The Mercer this summer in the former MercBar location next door to Little Pickle.
- Part bistro, part martini bar, The Mercer offers a fresh raw bar, sushi handrolls and a selection of high-end meat and seafood entrees.
What's next: The restaurateur duo will open a third concept in the Esplanade, a Mexican restaurant dubbed Camello, later this year.