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It’s also widely thought that Germans were some of the first to adopt the recipe.
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And, they even used them at weddings as a symbol of tying the knotpretty sweet, right?
Eventually, soft pretzels made their way to America, thanks to the Pennsylvania Dutch.
And now, they’re about as American as hot dogs at a ballgame.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
How could you resist that?
But, don’t get it twistednot all soft pretzels are created equal.
Recently, I set out to find out which chain restaurant does the best version of this classic snack.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
Here’s how they stacked up.
BJ’s Brewhouse
BJ’s Brewhouse serves up a menu of mostly American foods.
The big pretzel is baked in a pizza oven and sprinkled with pretzel salt.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
It’s one of two restaurants in our taste test that offers two complimentary sauces.
The color is a light brown with sporadic salt flakes.
The Taste:The dips carried the entire appetizer.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
It was reminiscent of those honey wheat braided pretzels sold at the grocery store.
Still, I paid $14.95 for the hors d’oeuvre.
In contrast, the cheese sauce takes on a pale shade of orange.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The Taste:Each sphere is just about as dense and devoid of flavor as it looks.
The viscous cheese does help, presenting itself as an elevated nacho cheese with a cheddar sharpness.
But, it is merely a bandaid and not a solution to fix these take-it-or-leave-it-orbs.
The starter costs $8.99.
They’re darker in color and covered in black-and-white seasoning specks that are confined mostly to the centers.
Two small dip ramekins also sit at the edge.
The Taste:The pretzels were undeniably fresh.
I had no doubt they were pulled straight from the oven mere minutes before they reached my table.
I expected more from the everything bagel seasoning, however.
My only concern was that there wasn’t nearly enough light orange cheese to go around.
The Taste:like refer to Red Robin’s slogan: yummm.
The salt was unevenly applied but on most nuggets, it was sufficient in dialing up the flavor.
They reminded me of Auntie Anne’s pretzels in a way, but not quite as crave-worthy.
Applebee’s
Appetizers are quite famous at Applebee’s.
Perhaps because they are often discounted to half price at lunchtime or during late-night service.
Or, because they are sometimes served in an all-you-can-eat format.
The pretzel sticks are Bavarian-style and come with a side of Blue Moon white cheddar beer cheese.
Appearing like scaled-down versions of French baguettes, the sticks themselves looked a little dry.
The Taste:An enlarged and even more scrumptious version of Red Robin’s pint-sized nuggets.
But, in terms of the pretzels alone, Applebee’s has everyone beat by a mile.
