Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop, a family of craveable restaurants
with a cult-like following across Northern California that was recently named
among the Fastest Growing Emerging Restaurants in the United States by Nation's Restaurant News
and among the Top 100 Movers & Shakers by Fast Casual, has
opened the doors to its first-ever location in Los Angeles County. The 1,500-square-foot
restaurant, located on the bustling southeast corner of Sepulveda
Blvd. and Sherman Way at 7070
Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys and
open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, is led
by California natives and
life-long friends Jason DeMayo and
Eli Ilishah. The team, under their
Hungry Hospitality brand, also own a location in Fresno and have plans to open additional
locations in Los Angeles and
beyond in the coming years.
VAN
NUYS, Calif., July 12,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Mr. Pickle's Sandwich
Shop, a family of craveable restaurants with a cult-like
following across Northern
California that was recently named among the Fastest Growing
Emerging Restaurants in the United
States by Nation's Restaurant News and among the Top 100
Movers & Shakers by Fast Casual, has opened the doors to its
first-ever location in Los Angeles
County. The 1,500-square-foot restaurant, located on the
bustling southeast corner of Sepulveda Blvd. and Sherman Way at 7070 Sepulveda Blvd. in
Van Nuys and open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, is led by California natives and life-long friends
Jason DeMayo and Eli Ilishah. The team, under their Hungry
Hospitality brand, also own a location in Fresno and have plans to open additional
locations in Los Angeles and
beyond in the coming years.
With the recent expansion into Arizona and now with the move to Los Angeles, we are poised to take the brand
nationwide. And we just have one rule: to make sure guests enjoy
every sandwich, every time.
"Since 1995, Mr. Pickle's has been a premier full
service-sandwich shop specializing in innovative sandwiches, salads
and catering," says Mike Nelson,
chief executive officer and long-time customer who purchased the
brand in 2020 when original founders Frank
and Michele Fagundes decided to retire. "During its first
three decades, thanks to its company culture, incredible recipes,
and all its fans, the brand grew from one to 54 locations across
northern California and, in the
past two years, opened six new locations in Arizona as well. The Los Angeles launch is the next step in our
long-term plan to take the brand nationwide."
Mr. Pickle's is special in that it doesn't turn to big-box
vendors for its core ingredients, instead partnering with artisan
bakers, regional farms and ranches to source its products, making
every item unique to Mr. Pickle's.
"You will not see six-inch and footlong sizing from us, more
specialty breads than uniform options," said Nelson.
The Los Angeles restaurant
features all of the brand's most popular hot and cold sandwiches,
notably the Mr. Pickle, which is chicken breast, bacon,
Monterey jack, avocado and the
works as it relates to veggies; the Santa Maria Tri-Tip, which is
actual tri-tip sourced from the famed Santa Maria region with the works; and Big
Jake, a turkey sandwich with cream cheese, avocado, and the
works.
"Of particular note: we are bringing the real Dutch Crunch to
town," said Nelson, referring the Mr. Pickle's mouth-watering soft,
freshly baked French roll topped with rice flour to create a
slightly sweet and perfectly crunchy topping.
Beyond the long-time items and Dutch Crunch, the new location
also boasts two wholly new sandwiches to the brand in the Goomba
and the Mama Mia.
Italian for friend or confidant, the Goomba features capicola
and pepperoni – new proteins for the brand across all of its
locations – as well as salami, ham, red onion, pepperoncini,
pickles, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, and lettuce. It can also be
transformed into a perfect chopped salad with the works and a
choice of dressings, to boot.
The Mama Mia is Mr. Pickle's spicy twist on a traditional
meatball sandwich that pairs warm meatballs with capicola, melty
pepper jack cheese, pepperoni, and jalapenos.
"We also just enhanced our bread, adding new rolls to our
expansive carb-lover section of the menu," said DeMayo. "We partner
with a premier brand out of San
Francisco whose mother dough dates back more than 150 years
to make these ultra-specialty rolls, as well as our new sliced
sourdough, custom to us."
Beyond this, acknowledging that Mr. Pickle's has throngs of avid
fans with custom orders whose popularity has spread over the years,
the brand also offers a "Not-So-Secret Secret Menu" to sandwich
lovers everywhere.
"Available as part of Mr. Pickle's delivery program, the menu –
accessible when clicking to create an order online or through Door
Dash – boasts more than half a dozen items," said Ilishah.
Among the not-so-secret customer favorites:
Spicy Bird with turkey breast, pepperjack, jalapenos,
Baja sauce, and the works (unless
otherwise indicated)
Pickle Burger with roast beef, cheddar, thousand island dressing,
and the works (unless otherwise indicated)
Fast Eddy with roast beef, cheddar, barbecue sauce, and the works
(unless otherwise indicated)
Say Cheese with cheddar, Monterrey
jack, Swiss, provolone, and the works (unless otherwise
indicated)
Reggie-Reggie with chicken breast, pepper jack, Baja sauce, and the works (unless otherwise
indicated)
A leader in online ordering technology, Mr. Pickle's partners with
DoorDash and invested in Paytronix Systems, Inc., the most advanced
digital guest experience platform, to provide direct order and
delivery services straight from its website at
http://www.mrpickles.com.
Mr. Pickle's also has a full menu of catering options, ranging
from small deli boxes with perfectly wrapped sandwiches and cookies
to large-scale premium selections, salad boxes, and even
health-conscious wholesome box offerings in a vast array of
sizes.
"This is a full-circle moment for Jason and me," says Ilishah.
"We grew up in the Bay area, and just weeks from graduating from
Los Altos High School in 2009, we sat in the school's parking lot
one night talking about life, and – oddly – sandwiches. We got it
into our heads that night we would one day own a sandwich shop
together. All these years and a million twists along the way, which
is exactly what we are doing on what we think will become a massive
scale."
Though DeMayo grew up in hospitality thanks to his father, Woody
– a veteran of Carl's Jr., Wingstop, and other restaurant entities
over the past five decades – the University of
Oregon music major's focus was music much of his life.
Ilishah, similarly inspired by Woody, would graduate from UC Davis
after studying communications and film and get into acting before
the pandemic forced them to sit down and look at their
priorities.
"While working in music most of my career, I did dabble in
hospitality while living in Southern
California prior to COVID-19," says DeMayo. "When the
pandemic hit, I began working with my father's restaurants and fell
in love with it. Eli – with whom I worked with in hospitality over
the years in addition to our more creative pursuits – was ready to
make a move as well, so we put wheels in motion the past several
years to align with my father and take the next steps with a brand
that we personally love."
Ilishah was already a long-time fan of the brand, while DeMayo
was introduced to by way of Nelson, a veteran of Carl's Jr., Wing
Stop and Subway who worked with Woody for decades.
"With the recent expansion into Arizona and now with the move to Los Angeles, we are poised to take the brand
nationwide," said Nelson. "And we just have one rule: to make sure
guests enjoy every sandwich, every time."
For more information or franchise opportunities, visit
http://www.mrpickles.com.
Media Contact
Alison Bailin, HMA Public
Relations, 6023183775, abailin@hmapr.com
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SOURCE Mr. Pickle’s Sandwich Shop