Are Shredded Pickles a Condiment Only Available in Michigan?

Here in Michigan, we're very specific about our food.

We like our pizza Detroit-style, we like our hot dogs Coney-style, and we like our pickles... shredded, apparently?

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The other night while putting toppings on the burger I was about to have for dinner, I happened to notice that the shredded pickles I was about to add were made by a Michigan company.

And that made me realize - in all of my travels (not that I'm a world traveler by any means), I've never seen shredded pickles offered as a topping for a burger or a hot dog anywhere other than in Michigan.

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But, I know that if I go to a Whitecaps, Griffins, Gold, or Rise game, shredded pickles will be there as a topping option next to the onions.

If I order a dog with pickles from Yesterdog, or Grand Coney, or Bob's Bar, or Dam Dogs in Rockford - it's going to have shredded pickles on it.

You'll even find them on pickle pizzas around town, including The Mitten Brewing Co.'s iconic "Westerdog".

So, I decided to dig in (not to any actual hot dogs, unfortunately) and try to find out if shredded pickles are purely a Michigan thing.

Are Shredies Pickles Purely a Michigan Thing?

To be honest, I haven't entirely figured that out. Hot dogs aren't as widely celebrated in most places as they are here in Michigan. I dug into the most famous hot dog places in Chicago, and it appears that shredded pickles aren't offered as an option.

Nathan's the world-famous hot dog joint out of New York, doesn't offer any type of pickles as a topping for their dogs. (Though they do sell burgers and you can get pickles on those.)

I wasn't quite sure if Ohio had a "most famous" hot dog option, but I chose a place called Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace to check out because I liked the name. Dirty Frank's offers up sweet relish or a pickle spear as options, but no shredded pickles.

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A check of a place called Hillbilly Hotdogs in West Virginia didn't have any sort of pickle option on their menu to speak of.

Shredies Pickles Are Made Right Here in Michigan

Perhaps the reason that we don't see shredded pickles offered up on menus outside of Michigan is due to the fact that, seemingly, the only company in the U.S. to produce them is based right here in Michigan.

In fact, a quick Google search for "shredded pickles" only shows me the Shredies that I'm used to, and some shredded pickles that are sold by Meijer.

The big name in shredded pickles, Gielow Pickles, is headquartered in Lexington, Michigan.

While many of their products are available for purchase via their website, as of right now, Shredies are not. In fact, the only place that I know for sure in Michigan that you can get your hands on them is Gordon Food Service.

I did discover that Gielow now has a facility in Fort Pierce, Florida - but a quick perusing of local hot dog places doesn't show shredded pickles as an option on any of the menus.