Restaurant of the Month: Jacob’s Pickles

Four clear glass Mason jars sitting on a light brown wooden table filled with green peppers, pickles, and burgundy colored cabbage.
Photo Credit: Jacob’s Pickles Facebook

Brunch is a favorite weekend activity among New Yorkers, and there’s no better spot on the Upper West Side to brunch at than Jacob’s Pickles. Started by New Yorker and Queens native Jacob Hadjigeorgis in 2011, Jacob’s Pickles is about as southern comfort as you can get this side of the Mason Dixon line. As he says, southern comfort food is “food that makes you smile.” Truer words have never been spoken!

While brunch may be the pièce de résistance at Jacob’, make no mistake that dinner is on point, too. The restaurant follows the NYC movement of buying local – getting veggies from Union Square Market, their root beer from Saranac, NY, and meats from a butcher shop in Queens. Hungry yet? Read on!

Friends cheering their clear glasses with colorful cocktails and black straws in the sunlight.
Photo Credit: Jacob’s Pickles Facebook

Your Drink Order

Staying true to Southern tradition, Jacob’s Pickles has quite an extensive beer menu to choose from… So if you’re into craft brews, this is your spot! Keeping it local, we suggest you go with a New York beer, the Southern Tier Unearthly IPA, which has a strong citrus hop, filled with notes of caramel and pine. Perfect for fall, right?

If you’re more a cocktail drinker, go with the Honey Julep, which is a mix of Four Roses Bourbon, muddled mint, and honey syrup.

Finally, if you want to really kick off your meal with a bang, may we suggest the Bacon and Bourbon flight, combining two things all southerners (and dare we say New Yorkers?) are quite smitten with.

Fresh brunch dishes and drinks on a white and grey table in the sunlight.
Photo Credit: Jacob’s Pickles Facebook

Where to Start?

Why, with a name like Jacob’s Pickles, you start with the pickles, of course!

Keeping it seasonal, go with the pickled fall vegetables, which includes pumpkin, butternut squash and corn. Any of their traditional mason jars varieties are amazing too, the sweet and spicy carrots and dilly green beans being a personal favorite of mine.

Take it to the deep south with grit crusted fried green tomatoes – a staple on any Sunday supper table in the Low Country. This dish alone has made me a regular at the restaurant… No where else in the city can you find comparable fried green tomatoes with a finger licking good dipping sauce!

A dark brown wooden table set with brunch with fresh colorful fruit and eggs.
Photo Credit: Jacob’s Pickles Facebook

Your Main

The biscuit breakfast sandwiches have somewhat of a cult following at the restaurant, and for good reason.

Take the egg and cheese, for instance. Sounds simple enough, right? But I promise once you try Jacob’s, every breakfast sandwich you eat from here on out will pale in comparison.

If you’re looking for something heartier, we suggest trying the chicken and pancakes… Buttermilk fried chicken, crispy bacon and homemade syrup. Pair that with a side of mac-and-cheese and you’re guaranteed to be in the best food coma of your life. If you want to go on the lighter side (although “light” and “comfort food” are a bit of an oxymoron, so don’t get too crazy about counting the calories!), we suggest the spiced shrimp market kale salad with vanilla bean roasted sweet potatoes. Drooling yet?

An interior view of Jacob's Pickles darn brown wooden bar with white cups and plates with a cooler of beer in the background against cozy rustic brown panel walls with light shining through large windows.
Photo Credit: Jacob’s Pickles Facebook

Upcoming Events

Jacob’s Pickles is open for Thanksgiving, and besides my grandmother’s table down south, I really can’t think of anywhere more delicious to spend the holiday. Seats go quickly, so call 212-470-5566 and reserve your table today!

Do you have any favorite places in NYC to get southern comfort food? Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter and let us know!

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