Day Trips: Best Maid Pickle Emporium, Ft. Worth

Photos by Gerald E. McLeod

The Best Maid Pickle Emporium in Ft. Worth elevates the pickle spear from side attraction for a deli sandwich to superstar status.

It's a gherkin thing. If you don't appreciate the tart response of a pickle slice on a juicy hamburger, then you wouldn't understand.

The hometown favorite pickles began in 1926 in a small grocery store on the south side of Ft. Worth when Mildred and Jessie Dalton began selling homemade pies and mayonnaise, which led to a sandwich spread made with pickle relish, which led to a full line of pickled cucumbers.

In the 1960s the family-owned company introduced their logo with "Smiley," a round-faced girl with a red bow in her hair. The happy icon became so popular that locals are known to get tattoos of the smiling cherub.

If people in North Texas will get tattoos of Smiley, then a souvenir shop selling branded materials couldn't be far behind. The store and museum opened last year just south of Downtown, selling T-shirts, glasses, and dolls honoring the locally made pickles. They even have pickle Christmas tree ornaments.

The store sells jars of pickles up to gallon size. All of the pickles they carry are available in grocery stores or online, but some items are hard to find, like the spicy Bloody Mary pickles, pickled okra, and beer pickles. Because of state rules, the emporium no longer sells the Sour Pickle Beer produced by Ft. Worth-based Martin House Brewing Company, but it's available in stores around the state.

The Best Maid Pickle Emporium is at 829 W. Vickery Blvd. in Ft. Worth. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

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