Wetzel's Pretzels

Update Review, June 2023 Visit

Almond Crunch. $6.49.

Meh.

The pretzel just didn't taste very fresh.  It was taken from the display case and dunked in copious almond crunch coating (which I definitely appreciated, although much of it fell off), but I suspect it had been sitting in the case quite a while.  It also seemed sightly over-baked, was fairly dry, not dough and fluffy, and was pretty dark in one area.  It wasn't very buttery.  Solidly, meh.  

The almond crunch coating was good, sweet, crunchy, but, overall, not a good showing by Wetzel's. **+.

Update Review, April 2023 Visit

Another year, another National Pretzel Day!  Of course I went to celebrate with my favorite (free) pretzel at nearby Wetzel's.  I was thrilled that there was essentially no line, and staff seemed friendly despite the "holiday" that they likely weren't especially excited to be taking part of.

Original w/ Butter & Salt.

"Hand rolled, baked fresh, and lightly buttered & salted. Also available in non-buttered."

I managed to score one fresh out of the oven, then promptly freshly dunked in copious amounts of butter and coated in salt to order.  It was basically as good as a generic soft pretzel of this style is going to get.  It was soft and puffy, the base pretzel had a reasonable flavor (American style soft pretzel of course though, not the malty nature of a German pretzel), and the butter was glorious.  Salt made it all pop.

When you get one of these fresh, it really is quite good.  ***+.

Update Review, May 2022 Visit

National Pretzel Day.  Always a fun day for me, as I enjoy making a journey out of claiming my free pretzel at various vendors, which this year included both Auntie Anne's and Wetzel's, co-located in the same mall, just moments away from each other.  I used this opportunity to try something totally different at Wetzel's, and went to Auntie Anne's, my preferred vendor, for my sweet pretzel (which I reviewed last week).  But at Wetzel's, I kept it simple.  Very simple.

Original Pretzel. No Butter, No Salt.

Have you ever had a plain pretzel?  Like, truly plain?  No butter, no salt, just, pretzel?

I ordered one on a day I was mildly curious what Wetzel base pretzels taste like, and when I saw the display pretzels were all really sad looking ... they looked old and dried out.  And, obviously, like their pretzels normally are, buttered.  So I did the "trick" some people do to get fresh fries at McDonald's by ordering without salt, and asked for an original pretzel, no butter.  I was told there would be a slight wait, which I anticipated, and had no problem with.

It was nice to get a pretzel hot and fresh out of the oven.  It was warm, doughy, and far less crispy/dried out as they can be from sitting under the heat lamps.  It was also, um, very boring.  I knew butter added goodness to it, but, wow, I didn't realize just how plain the base is without it.  No malty, wheaty taste, no ... anything really.  Just some warm, fluffy dough.  It needed far more than mustard to make it interesting.

I actually just brought it home, reheated it up (I know, defeating the purpose of having it fresh!), and dunked half in cheese sauce (yum!) and did the other half covered in cinnamon roll glaze I had left over, and the non-buttered base made it a perfect vehicle for both sweet and savory toppings.  If you plan to bring your pretzel home to use for something else, I recommend this no butter approach, but if you want something to enjoy on the spot, unless you are getting interesting dip, go for the buttery goodness.  Butter is a good thing.

**+.

Update Review, November/December 2021 Visits

Nearly two years in to the pandemic, and my regular mall soft pretzel place, Auntie Anne's, was still closed.  So even though I didn't love Wetzel's Pretzel's my first visit, I decided to try a few more times, this time getting more decadent coated options.

The good news is that I found one I do like, but, I like to have whipped cream to dunk it in, and I like it warm ... and Wetzel's never seem particularly warm nor fresh.

Sinful Cinnamon. $5.79.

"A whole pretzel baked fresh and tossed with cinnamon sugar. Sweet!"

Since the regular pretzel I had last time was a bit boring, I decided to go for a sweet, dessert-like pretzel.  My choices were cinnamon sugar or almond crunch.  I opted for the former, sorta craving a churro at the time.  I went for a full size pretzel, known as the "Sinful Cinammon".  When served in smaller bite form, the cinnamon sugar bites are known as "Cin-A-Bitz".

My pretzel was tossed in cinnamon sugar to order, but the pretzel itself was a plain buttered pretzel plucked from the display.  It was lukewarm, kinda hard, and I don't think was particularly fresh.  

When I tried the Original pretzel, I found it didn't have much base flavor, so this was an improvement over that, in that the sugar and cinnamon coating was generous, and it did add flavor and sweetness.  I found myself still wanting something to dunk in it, or icing, or just ... something.

So overall kinda lackluster, and at $5.79, it just felt expensive for a mediocre item (cinnamon sugar is $0.50 more than plain pretzel).

**+.   It was much better when I brought it home, heated it up, and dunked into whipped cream.  ***.

Almond Crunch. $5.79.

"Make it nutty! A fresh baked Wetzel's Pretzel topped with our sweet and salty almond crunch."

I still have yet to find a Wetzel's pretzel that makes me as happy as I want it to, so for my next selection, I went for the most decadent of the sweet options, the almond crunch.  Much like the Soulful Cinnamon, it was coated in the crunch coat to order, but was otherwise was a plain buttered pretzel plucked from the display.

This was the best pretzel I had so far, but, it still let me down.  The pretzel was both hard and soft, was lukewarm, and clearly was not fresh.  Sigh.  The base flavor was again fairly boring, although it was heavily buttered.

The coating was good though, and very generously applied.  I was impressed with how well the coating stuck to the exterior.  That said, it in no way tasted like almond, and there were no bits of almond identifiable.  "Sugary crunch" seemed more accurate than "almond crunch".

This pretzel was sweet enough, and decadent enough, to be close to a dessert, which is what I was looking for, but it really still needed either caramel to dip into, or whipped cream, or something.  Although, at 596 calories, it didn't "need" it from that aspect ...

Like the Sinful Cinnamon, this pretzel was $0.50 more for the coating.

*** as served, but again, once I brought the other half home, heated it up, and dunked into whipped cream, it took it up a notch, ***+.

Almond Crunch. $5.79.

"Make it nutty! A fresh baked Wetzel's Pretzel topped with our sweet and salty almond crunch."

I had a free pretzel coupon to use a few months later, and since the almond crunch was the best I had so far, I went for it again.  It came out looking like a pretzel from a totally different place, way less coating on it.  I also was able to watch it being made, and saw a regular, unsalted pretzel was plucked from the case, dunked into liquid hot butter, and then put into the crunch coating.  I wonder if you can ask for one salted, or one without butter?

Anyway, this version actually had larger bits of crunch coating, and seemed crunchier than the previous one, even though that one had so much more coating on it.  I think I liked it a bit more, but I also knew what to expect at this point - warm dough, not what I think of as a pretzel, very buttery, slightly sweet coating.  It still needs a caramel or icing dip, or whipped cream and ice cream, or something to complete it for me.

*** as served, ***+ once I added my own ice cream this time.

Jalaroni Twist. $6.29.

"Fresh baked cheese pretzel topped with pepperoni slices and big, juicy slices of jalapeño."

And finally, I went savory.  And rather all out, if you are thinking of a stop at a pretzel place as a "snack".

I'm not really sure this should be considered a pretzel at this point.  Yes, I think it is the same base dough that Wetzel's uses for all their pretzels, and yes it was vaguely pretzel shaped, but ... it really didn't remind me of a pretzel in any way.

But let me back up.  In the savory, cheesy department, Wetzel's has several offerings, all dubbed "Twists", starting with the simple "Cheese Meltdown", which, the best I can tell is just cheesy bread (using their 3 cheese blend), then they have jalapeño or pepperoni versions, and this, the "Jalaroni" which has both.  All are cheesy, and, although they look like pizza, none have pizza sauce (although you can purchase marinara dip separately).  Hence, my evaluation of basically cheesy bread vaguely shaped like a pretzel, more like what you find at a pizza place, just, shaped like pretzels instead of breadsticks.

So how was it?  Well, like all my pretzels from Wetzels, not exactly hot and fresh.  Lukewarm.  Sigh.  Auntie Anne's really does a much better job with freshness.  The base dough used by Wetzels never strikes me as very pretzel-y, not like Bavarian style soft pretzels, which drives me crazy when having a plain pretzel, but works better here.  The very generic dough makes a decent enough base for cheesy bread, but, besides the shape, I wouldn't say it was any different than very generic pizza place cheesy breadsticks.  The jalapeño did add little pops of spice, and the pepperoni made it kinda taste like pizza in a traditional sense, and made it a bit greasier, but still ... just pretzel shaped cheesy bread.  

I think with marinara sauce dip it likely could serve as a pizza replacement, but, at 600 calories per pretzel, uh, why not just get real pizza?  It really isn't a "snack" like this.

Overall, glad to try it, but, eh.

**+.

Original Review, May 2021

Mmm, soft pretzels.  Such classic mall food court food.  Or, well, I suppose the classic setting is sporting events or street vendors selling reheated Superpretzels (which, don't get me wrong, can be quite tasty!), but I'm talking about fresh soft pretzels, usually made right there in front of you, the aroma irresistible, with a bunch of fun dips to pick from.  Like my usual goto, Auntie Anne's.  

Wetzel's has been around since 1994, but I don't think I ever saw them before ... 2015 or so?  Not the common brand where I grew up, and a late comer compared to Auntie Anne's.  They have franchises all over the US, and a few internationally.

Much like Auntie Anne's, pretzels come in "original" (salted with butter), "soulful cinnamon" (cinnamon & sugar), sour cream & onion, and sweet almond crunch.

They also make a slew of pretzels with cheese baked in (some with pepperoni, jalapeno, etc too), smaller "bitz" - nope, not "bites", "bitz", and of course, crowd favorites, pretzel dogs (in several varieties).  Standard soft pretzel shop dips are offered (savory options like cheese or pizza sauce, sweet ones like caramel or icing glaze), and a few fountain drinks like classic lemonade.

Wetzel's Stand at the mall.

Whenever I've walked by Wetzel's, I've seen it as "the other" pretzel place in the mall.  Auntie Anne's was always my goto for a soft pretzel, and they had a "real" storefront, whereas Wetzel's just has a little kiosk in the middle of the hall.  Plus, Auntie Anne's was open for years before Wetzel's joined the lineup.

But Auntie Anne's closed during COVID, and didn't reopen.  Wetzel's did.  Plus, really, how do you resist the aroma of a fresh baked pretzel?  Even with my mask on, I couldn't resist the smell.

Pretzel Making.

Since the kiosk has no separate kitchen, all prep is done right in front of customers.  I felt a bit bad watching with such fascination, much like watching a pizza dough being tossed, but it was really amazing to watch the pretzel dough be rolled out, shaped into a pretzel with the flick of a wrist, and laid out.  The next one was done before I could blink.

Another staff member took the formed pretzels, dipped them in a solution, and put on baking tray.

From there, they went into the oven, where they baked until timer went off, then were rotated 180*, baked again until timer went off, then were moved down to a different rack, and a new batch put in.  One more baking, one more rotation, and they were done.

Clearly a *very* well controlled baking experience.

Bag.

I had to laugh at the message on the bag: "Moderation has a time and place. This isn't it".

<3.

Original with Butter & Salt. $4.89.

"Hand rolled, baked fresh, and lightly buttered & salted. Also available in non-buttered."

For my first pretzel from Wetzel's, I went simple: original.  But yes, of course I got butter and salt.

My pretzel was hot and fresh.  As fresh as can be, literally, we had to wait for them to come out of the oven.  And then to cool a little before they'd hand over.

I was given the option of salted or not, and clearly went for salted, the salt was applied to order, along with being dipped in fresh butter.

It was hot.  It was fresh.  It was glistening with butter.  Salted just enough to really have salt in every bite, but not excessive.  Fairly evenly applied.  All great things.

The pretzel had a lovely chew to it, a bit chewy on the outside, but very soft inside.  Really, just perfectly cooked.

But I'm not raving about it.  Every aspect of the execution was spot on.  It just didn't ... taste like much?  Butter and salt, sure.  But the base pretzel was really lacking in any depth.

I had a packet of mustard in my bag, so I dunked some in there, and it worked, but this really screamed out for something more like warm cheese dip, or even an icing.  Maybe cinnamon/sugar?

So, execution wise?  ****+, but actual satisfaction?  **+.  Overall ... ***.

The $4.89 price seemed high for a pretzel too.