The Bottom Line
Pros
- Large portions
- Affordable prices
- Friendly service
Cons
- Slows down during the lunch rush
- Often crowded
Description
- Address: 9520 Seminole Blvd., Seminole
- Phone: 727-398-4673
- Fax: 727-398-7840
Guide Review - Pickle Barrel
Pickle Barrel is one of those places where locals go for a good, inexpensive lunch. Since 1984, Pickle Barrel has been making sandwiches to rival the best New York City delis, pleasing customers and constantly growing their business strictly through word-of-mouth.
The Reuben is at the top of my list, but I also adore the chicken salad sandwich, the tuna melt and the hot corned beef platter. Pickle Barrel serves sandwiches so big they’re difficult to eat. More often than not, I end up taking home half a sandwich, particularly if I order a cup of homemade soup or an order of potato pancakes. My wife believes that Pickle Barrel’s onion rings are possibly the best in the Tampa Bay area.
Pickle Barrel boasts a long list of "Famous Deli Sandwiches," including hot corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, beef tongue, brisket of beef, turkey breast, salami, Virginia baked ham, liverwurst, chopped liver, smoked whitefish salad, shrimp salad, seafood salad, chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad. Diners also have a choice of several crisp salad platters such as Nova Scotia salmon, chopped egg salad or a tomato stuffed with tuna, chicken, shrimp or seafood.
First-timers may want to go at an off hour, before or after the lunch crowd. Around noon most weekdays, it’s difficult to find an empty table and the service crawls at a snail’s pace. In addition to all those eat-in diners, Pickle Barrel does phenomenal take-out business.