It’s wrapped in the white butcher’s paper that contains one of two dozen gourmet sandwiches. It’s not an overly large deli-style spear — it’s more like the kind of slice one might find resting on the edge of a hot dog platter.
It’s a pickle; and, living up to the name of one of the newest sandwich shops in Loudoun County, it is spicy, with flecks of pepper increasing its heat.
Spicy Pickle, 44650 Waxpool Road, in Ashburn, is located in a strip mall of several new eateries located between the Ashburn Ice House and AOL headquarters. It’s the first location on the East Coast for the Colorado-based chain of specialty sandwich shops, which boast more than 150,000 combinations of sandwiches to create.
General manager Dale Faulkner said the chain is huge in Colorado. "Kids are like, 'I'll meet you at the Pickle,'" she said.
According to a RestaurantChains.net survey in January 2007, Spicy Pickle was the No. 5 fastest-growing concepts in America.
The organization’s Web site, www.spicypickle.com, states that Spicy Pickle serves a "fast casual" market that places it between "fast food" and "casual dining."
Like its other national locations, the Ashburn Spicy Pickle boasts an eclectic collection of eating options, with many of the spreads made fresh in-house. There are eight Panini sandwiches, priced at $6.45 each, that include choices like the "gobbler," sausalito turkey, artichoke hearts, feta and sun dried tomato mayo, and the "adobe," mesquite turkey, fresh mozzarella, green peppers, corn relish and chipotle mayo. Specialty subs, also priced at $6.45, feature choices like the "wise guy," a collection of different Italian meats along with two kinds of pepper and basil mayo; and the "yard bird," roasted chicken, bacon, fresh apples, spinach, bleu cheese crumbles and honey mustard.
For the more adventurous, there’s the "build-your-own" sandwich menu, also $6.45: a dizzying array of meats, spreads, toppings and cheeses that can be arranged on bread made fresh daily.
There are also soup and salads, available in small and large sizes. The Ashburn location does not have Spicy Pickle pizzetti, described as "an individual Neapolitan-style thin-crust pizza."
Faulkner said that the pizzetti should be available during the restaurant's planned expansion into other Northern Virginia locations. For now, she said the biggest challenge for the Ashburn store is marketing to foodies who aren't aware that Spicy Pickle has arrived. "If you don't live on this path, you don't even know we're here yet," said Faulkner.
When they do discover the place, the decor is modern and friendly; the food is adventurous and plentiful; and the pickles, without question, live up to their name.