Pickle lovers in the Permian Basin now have a new reason to rejoice.
Odessa’s newest restaurant, simply called Pickles-It’s a Big Dill, opened up on July 27 and offers plenty more than just pickles and puns.
The new fast food place is located right off the highway at 2901 E I-20 Suite E and its menu includes burgers, sandwiches, chicken strips, burritos, breakfast, salads and, of course, fried pickles.
The restaurant is owned by Jamie Tisdale who also owns Wilson’s Corner.
“Business has been great,” Tisdale said. “We were hoping to be busy but we surpassed what we had in mind.”
The restaurant is opened from 4 a.m.-3 p.m. every day.
Tisdale, who has owned Wilson’s Grocery in south Odessa for almost 25 years, was originally looking at adding another Wilson’s Corner.
But it wasn’t long before she decided to do something different after a trip involving her mother and sisters.
“I found this location and started all the paperwork for it and everything for Wilson’s II,” Tisdale said. “Well, we have a sisters trip where we go out of town every month for vacation. My mother and us five girls go out of town. We were sitting outside talking one night and thought, ‘maybe we should go out for something different on the name.’ We came up with pickles. From pickles, we went on to ‘paint me green’ or ‘call me pickles’ or ‘it’s a big dill’ or ‘I’m pickleicious’. I started thinking we were on to something.”
It wasn’t long before the name came up.
“I thought, this is going to be chain-worthy, so I hired a lawyer to help create a chain called ‘Pickles-It’s A Big Dill.’ I wanted something snappier than ‘Wilson’s Corner II’. Wilson’s Corner has been very good to me and I’ve done all I can do with that. I’ve watched it grow for 25 years and we’ve expanded it four times. I decided to dip my toes into something else and this is it. Hearing the remarks from people, I know I made the right decision.”
Tisdale still owns Wilson’s Corner but says that balancing the two businesses has not been difficult.
“You know, once you learn to manage one business, it doesn’t matter if you’re managing one or 20,” Tisdale said. “Once you master it, you’ve got it under control. I’m trying to teach my son the ropes now and how to balance it out instead of looking at it like one project, two projects, three projects. Look at it as doing something you really like because I love what I do.”
Unsurprisingly, the pickles have been a big hit at the restaurant.
“We start serving them at 5 a.m.,” Tisdale said about opening day. “That’s when people start coming in for fried pickles. Our cheese burgers are always a hit. But (opening day), it seemed to be that everyone wanted a catfish dinner. Catfish seemed to be our number one seller (Wednesday). Our burgers and our chicken strips dinners are what people love too.”
Front end Manager Donna Smith had another pickle pun to describe how the opening days have gone.
“It has been pickleicious,” Smith said. “That’s the best way to put it. We got started and the next thing we knew, it was time to close the doors. We had so many people coming in. It was great. I just hope people are patient with us and understand that we’re still getting things rolling.”
She talked more about the reason why customers love their pickles.
“They said they love the batter on them and say it’s the right consistency and the right crispiness,” Smith said. “Our jalapeno specialty burgers are off the charts. They love our chicken strips and steak fingers. We have all kinds of French fries.”
The store currently has seven employees.
While the store is currently opened during the breakfast and lunch hours, Smith said the store could add an evening shift in the future.
“We figured with a lunch rush, we didn’t know if we’d have an evening crowd,” Smith said. “If we find out we do, then our hours are subject to change.”
Ray Hill, a longtime former Odessan who now lives in Levelland came back in town for a short time this week and was one of the early customers to come by the store.
He said he wasn’t disappointed.
“I love it,” Hill said. “The food’s great. The atmosphere’s good. It’s a beautiful good.”
While the pickles have been popular with customers, Hill also recommend to others the breakfast menu as well as the shrimp.
“The breakfast burritos were really good,” Hill said. “The shrimp I had yesterday we’re really good. Everything I’ve had is pretty good.”
If you go
- What: Pickles-It’s a Big Dill.
- Where: 2901 E-20 Suite E in Odessa.
- Hours: 4 a.m.-3 p.m.
- For more information: tinyurl.com/374h7ena
