If you had Quad Cities Pickle Wrap War on your 2021 Bingo card, you can mark that off! At the end of last week, when all was alright in the world, a pickle wrap war broke out between local Quad City businesses and was trending on social media. Now that the dust has settled, we can give you all the details about #QCPickleWrapGate2021.

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Some local Quad City businesses were in quite a pickle at the end of last week. You know what pickle wraps are, right? Dill pickle spears that are wrapped in ham or dried beef with cream cheese smacked in between there. It's about as Midwest as you can get beyond Maid Rites.

One local business got a little upset when a new Quad Cities announced that they too were selling pickle wraps and that they invented pickle wraps. Without hesitation, the public, the internet, and other businesses joined in on the "fun."

I'm not here to hurt anyone's feelings. I am here to simply give you the facts. But I want to give you part of my opinion on this before we start. The pandemic has been stressful on everyone. I really, really, really, hope that you continue to support local businesses in the Quad Cities like Meatball's Sandwich CompanyCafe Fresh!, LoPiez, Cavort QC, and everyone else in this story.

Again, I'm giving the facts. Some facts are harder than others, but here is the entire story. Without further ado, let's get to #QCPickleWrapGate2021.

Meatball's Sandwich Company/Cavort QC/QC Local

Back in May, Meatball's Sandwich Company opened up in Bettendorf. One of the items on their menu is pickle wraps. QC Local made this post last week on Wednesday promoting the new business.

Someone with a vested interest in another company in the QC shared the post and didn't write very kind words.

On Friday, Meatball's Sandwich Company posted on Facebook on Friday a partnership with Cavort QC to raise money for the River Bend Food Bank and featured the controversial pickle wraps.

At this point, the not-so-nice post was making its way around town. Before we get anywhere, we should probably tell you what was written.

Cafe Fresh!

Now we get to what started it all. We did obtain screenshots of the post in question. Here is exactly what was written:

"When you see these pickles, ask yourself does something look somewhat familiar? But kinda sloppy in presentation?

No. Those are NOT Cafe Fresh Cream Cheese Pickles. Being a person that operated with integrity & 100 % originality I have zero respect for people who shoplift from the corporation they previously worked for to create their own restaurant or people who snatch ideas from other establishments.

These pickles are a Midwest thing. I was taught to make them as a kid & have made them since then. Naturally when I opened my little cafe it only made sense that I went with that rather than a standard pickle spear with my sandwiches.

I didn't say anything when a local grocery store shoplifted my thing b|c that particular store does it often to locals - gives them a deal to sell their stuff there just long enough to duplicate it & call it theirs‍♀️

But!!!

After the year we've had & everything that has been taken from so many local establishments when I saw this come through my feed. I'm pissed! In an eatery setting, I made these something extra special. My spot, CAFE FRESH. If you want to look like a real shithead. You open an eatery after a "pandemic" in the QC area where someone else had an original idea & made something famous for over a decade. Definitely a fail move on the part of this meatball shop. Seriously, I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

After the year we've all had though, one thing I've learned is so many people have no limits or standards. This should not surprise me. Support local does not include poorly imitating another local spot's offerings. It just doesn't."

Not the best look in the world. Anyway, that was making its way around town. Right after midnight on Thursday, June 10th, a post was put up on the Cafe Fresh! Facebook page.

Between this post and the very negative post, a lot of attention was starting to garner around pickle wraps.

The overall general census of the comments was that people were thinking Cafe Fresh! was claiming they invented pickle wraps. They did not invent pickle wraps. No one knows who "invented" them and you can't find the answer. Some people were saying it possibly came from Germany. I don't know because no one does, or cares to, or wants to know.

That's like asking who came up with PB&J? Or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie-pop? The world may never know.

To throw fuel on the fire, the staff at LoPiez decided to hop in on the fun surrounding the #QCPickleWrapGate.

LoPiez

The guys over at LoPiez wanted to have fun and announced on their social media on Friday,

"We here at LoPiez, inventors of Quad City New York Style Pizza restaurants, are testing a new invention by taking the Midwest Sushi that is the ham and pickle wrap and putting this 40 year old favorite on our classic cheese slice for quick bursts of tangy, creamy, salty tubes that repeatedly explode in your mouth."

I don't know about you, but that's funny as hell.

Not only did LoPiez hop in on the fun, so did the Moline Police Department and they have some good trolling skills.

Moline Police Department

On Sunday, the Moline Police Department chimed in on the weekend fun with pickle wraps and made this post which was getting a lot of attention.

Since they are peace officers, they were trying to keep things light-hearted and maintain the peace. They shouted out both Cafe Fresh! and Meatball's Sandwich Company on the Iowa side.

While you would think that would be enough, one other kind of funny thing happened I found out about which is why I'm bringing it back to Meatball's Sandwich Company

Meatball's Sandwich Company, again.

Out of all of the craziness that pickle wraps have brought us this past weekend. Meatball's Sandwich Company did the best thing.

Go to picklewrap.com. I'm not hyperlinking because you won't believe me if I do. Go ahead. Copy picklewrap.com and put where the URL goes.

Best. Thing. Ever.

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