The jar of pickles my friend Jason recommended was $9. “Bubbies are the best pickles you’ll ever eat,” he’d told me, a solid recommendation from a guy whose palate is pretty good.

A spokesperson for Bubbies Pickles, founded in San Francisco in 1982 by Leigh Truex (Bubbie herself), explains: “Just like using every part of an animal, from hide to tail, Bubbies encourages ...