Old Port Lobster Shack serves the right mayo

This isn’t Yelp, but I thought I’d share a review of this restaurant:

Old Port Lobster Shack - Restaurant in Redwood City, California

We were there over the weekend and overall it’s pretty good. I’d definitely go back. Very casual affair and pretty East Coasty considering it’s in a strip mall. You might want to call ahead though as a line does develop.

The reason I mention it is because of this entry on their menu:

What’s so special you ask? Well, notice that they call out Hellmann’s Mayo. Hellmann’s is a brand of mayo that’s found only in the East Coast.

I remember a few years ago, I was at Safeway searching for whole grain mustards (I’m picky), and there was a couple that was searching for mayo. Eventually the man exclaimed “Where are they hiding the Hellmann’s?”

I leaped to action and helped my fellow East Coasters in need: “Excuse me, they don’t sell Hellmann’s here. I think it’s called Best Food.”

Sure enough, a few years later, Best Foods mayo labels started saying “Also known as Hellmann’s”. In fact, according to their site, “Best Foods’s® is known as Hellmann’s® east of the Rockies.”

This topic came up at lunch today because a bunch of us Long Islanders went to lunch and it was observed that you simply can’t get Russian dressing here - which makes some classic sandwiches absolutely awful. Also having not seen the Best Foods website, Heather noted that Best Foods and Hellmanns were the same from her taste testing.

And now you know another useless fact.