If you’re a true Pittsburgh girl at heart, I’m sure you’ve made your way to Pickleburgh at some point in your life….and if you haven’t you’re missing out! If you are unfamiliar with Picklesburgh you need to know that it is the destination for all things pickled. The Picklesburgh festival is a culinary celebration that goes beyond the dill pickle to include international dishes, prepared foods and artisan cocktails that feature pickled ingredients. This year’s Picklesburgh festival runs from July 26-28th. So if you are reading this now, you need to make plans to go ASAP! Don’t worry this blog post will tell you all the pickled goodness you MUST try when you’re there. If you can’t make it this weekend don’t worry, Picklesburgh is an annual Pittsburgh tradition and the pickles aren’t going anywhere! So please sit back, relax and read about my Picklesburgh must haves. Disclaimer: I didn’t eat/drink all of this on my own, my family shared a lot and I sampled most of the options.

1. Southern Tier Dill Pickle Gose

This beer is my own personal favorite and probably the number one reason I head to Picklesburgh every year. Warning: if you’re not a huge fan of pickles, you probably won’t like this beer (but then again if you’re not a huge fan of pickles, why are you at a pickle festival in the first place?) Southern Tier Dill Pickle Gose is extremely refreshing on a hot Pittsburgh summer day. It basically tastes like beer mixed with pickle juice and who doesn’t want that!

2. Great Lakes Dill Pickle Beer

This beer is another refreshing choice. Although Southern Tier has my heart, this beer is a good second option for sure. This beer has a little less of the pickle taste which may be appealing to most people.

3. Pickle Moonshine

Typically, I am not a big moonshine drinker, but for the sake of the blog I gave the pickle moonshine a shot. Honestly, I was surprised how much I liked it. They give you two different types of pickle moonshine to sample. One was a sweet dill and the other had a little bit of spice to it. Both options were extremly dill-icious and I wanted more!

4. Pickled Watermelon Margarita from The Warren Bar and Burrow

For all you non-beer drinkers out there, this cocktail is for you! This extremly refreshing drink is made up of tequila and pickled watermelon. Not exactly sure what that is, but this drink was SO good! It barely tasted like alcohol, but it obviously had enough in it to get my mom a little tipsy.

5. Corny Pickle

Another one of my personal favorites is the Corny Pickle. It is a pickle with deep fried breading on a stick. It is equivalent to a corndog, but without the dog. The line for these is always long, so it’s best to be patient because these bad boys are SO worth it.

6. Fried Pickles on a Stick

Without a doubt this is a Pittsburgh fan favorite. Small cut-up dill pickles deep fried with seasoning on a stick. You get about 10 pickles on a stick so it’s definitely worth the hefty price. Apparently these went viral on Facebook awhile back, so everyone is dying to try them. Unfortunately, they are sold by the same vendor as the Corny Pickle so the line is always long. If you’re a fan of deep fried pickles prepare to be wow-ed.

7. Pittsburgh Eggrolls from Pittsburgh Sandwich Society

This is the most yinzer dish I have ever tasted in my entire life, but it was delicious. For $5 you can get Isaly’s chopped ham, pickles and cheese mixed together in an eggroll. The size is pretty large, so you’re getting a good bang for your buck.

8. Mac N Cheese Eggroll

If you’re sick of pickles by now and need a change of pace, the Mac n Cheese eggroll is a good dish to try. It has nothing to do with pickles, so I’m not sure why it is at Picklesburgh, but it was pretty good. If I had to compare, it tastes like a Sheetz Mac n Cheese bite. Overall, pretty good other than the lack of pickles part.

9. Pickled Funnel Cake

I know what you’re thinking….this sounds utterly disgusting. To be honest I was a little turned off at first as well, but yet again for the sake of the blog I gave it the good old college try. Let’s just say I didn’t hate it. I would say it’s one of those things you have to try once in your life to say you did it.

10. Pickle Jalapeno Margarita from Richard Deshantz

Another cocktail woo-hoo! The Pickle Jalapeno Marg is another refreshing choice if you’re feeling another alcoholic beverage. I’m not a huge Jalapeno fan, but this was pretty good overall.

11.Pickled Jalapeno Pierogies from Gosia’s Pierogies

HUGE fan of pierogies because what Pittsburgh girl isn’t right? These were to die for, and I’m not being dramatic at all. Like I said, I’m not a huge fan of jalapenos, but this is a good choice for anyone that likes a little spice in their life.

12. Pickle Grilled Cheese from the Pickled Chef

HELLO, grilled cheese and pickles…what more could you want? These sandwiches are heavenly and located at one of the first vendors on the Roberto Clemente bridge so you can’t miss it!

13. Pickle Juice Soda from Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop

Apparently this bad boy is viral on the internet right now, so do you really need another reason to try it? If you’re not going to listen to me…you should always listen to the internet.

14. Dill Pickle Salmon Sushi from Penn Cove Eatery

Disclaimer: I didn’t actually try this because sushi freaks me out, but apparently it’s another Picklesburgh fan favorite. If you like sushi, you need to try this!

15. Pickle Lemonade from Sienna Mercato

Here is a beverage option for all the ladies that aren’t of age yet. This spin on classic freshly squeezed lemonade will bring you back to the good old days when you were smooching your high school crush on the ferris wheel at the Big Butler Fair. Aside from the nostalgia, this drink is delicious and refreshing.

Well that’s all folks! If you are heading “dahntahn” to enjoy Picklesburgh and all its glory this weekend you have to try out some of these favorites. Most of the vendors offer samples too, so feel free to try things that are out of your comfort zone (you won’t be disappointed). If you’re not a fan of pickles, don’t worry, there are hundreds of other non-pickle options you can choose from as well. Enjoy the food, drinks, live music, games/contests, shops and feel free to comment below about your favorites! Thanks for reading girlz and don’t forget to SHARE, SHARE, SHARE.

Xoxo, Court