Mr. Pickles Formally Opens First Arizona Location in Scottsdale, Moved HQ to Arizona in 2022

“Since 1995, Mr. Pickle’s has been a sandwich shop specializing in sandwiches, salads and catering,” says Mike Nelson, chief executive officer, Valley resident, and long-time customer who purchased the brand in 2020 when founders/owners Frank and Michele Fagundes decided to retire.

The Scottsdale location features all of Mr. Pickle’s hot and cold sandwiches, notably the Mr. Pickle, which is chicken breast, bacon, Monterey jack, avocado and the works as it relates to veggies; the Santa Maria Tri-Tip, which is actual tri-tip sourced from the famed Santa Maria region topped with specialty barbeque sauce and the works; and Big Jake, a turkey sandwich with cream cheese, avocado and the works. The brand now also has two new sandwiches of note.

“The first is Listen Linda, which is named after my wife of 36 years and is piled high with turkey breast, avocado, bacon, swiss cheese and the works – including our specility garlic sauce – as far as condiments unless otherwise noted,” says Nelson. “And the second? That would be Della’s Deli, which honors my business partner, best friend, and Mr. Pickle’s president Dean Johnson’s wife of more than 40 years, Della. It features turkey breast, ham, salami, cheddar, and the works.”

There are 10 types of bread and wraps from which to choose at Mr. Pickle’s, including the Dutch crunch roll, sourdough roll, sweet roll, wheat roll, sliced sourdough, sliced wheat, sliced marble rye, and various wraps, including gluten-free wraps. In addition to a wide selection of chips, sides include red potato salad, macaroni salad, jumbo whole dill pickles (of course!), and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. A cookie is also given FREE with every sandwich, salad, or wrap.

“For those who do not know the brand yet, every order automatically comes with one of our melt-in-your-mouth cookies, a hallmark of the brand since its incepetion,” says Nelson, adding there is also apple sauce available as a side in kid’s menus as well.

“We partner with as many bakers, regional farms and ranches that we can when sourcing our products, making every item unique to us,” says Nelson, who spent the past year bringing the business into the digital age and investing in technology that will propel the brand forward nationwide. “You will not see six-inch and footlong sizing from us, more specialty breads than uniform options.”

With Nelson’s purchase of the brand, he moved its national headquarters to Arizona in 2022, opening an office at 9332 Raintree in Scottsdale. Its franchisee support center is located in California.

In addition to launching the Scottsdale headquarters and opening the first Arizona location, Nelson – a veteran of the restaurant business with more than 30 years of experience as an owner and operator of Wingstop, Subway Restaurants, and Carl’s Jr. franchises nationwide.

“We only have one goal with this brand: for guests to “Enjoy Every Sandwich,” says Nelson.