Philly Soft Pretzel Factory

October 17, 2006 Cuisine: Philadelphian

1532 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA 19102

Phone: 215-569-3988 Website: http://www.phillysoftpretzelfactory.com/

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There are a number of foods that are distinctly Philadelphian: cheesesteaks, scrapple, cream cheese, TastyKakes, Herr's Potato Chips, hoagies, and soft pretzels. I felt like a true Philadelphian (if only for a fleeting 15 minutes) yesterday when I had a fresh soft pretzel with yellow mustard drizzled all over.

The true Philadelphia soft pretzel:

• is usually bought from a street vendor or small "mom and pop" shop - seldom from a chain store
• is fresh, soft, and chewy
• comes in a sort of slab in which a number of pretzels are stuck together
• is sprinkled with just the right amount of coarse salt

My pretzel was warm out of the oven and provided an excellent pre-dinner snack. I've had Philly soft pretzels before while at Swarthmore, but never fresh ones. Since the pretzels have no preservatives it makes a huge difference eating them when they have just been baked.

And the best part is that three pretzels go for $1. You can also get a single pretzel for 45 cents.

A box of 100 pretzels goes for $20.

Philly pretzel with yellow mustard.