I'm not a huge mall person, yet every once in a while I find myself at the mall. It's usually Easton since it's the closest one to me. And...there's an Auntie Anne's in there. It's hard for me to not stop here and get a pretzel.
I'm not the biggest soft pretzel fan, but there's something about these ones that are just so good. Well, I know what it is about them. They are coated and cooked in butter. But I try not to think about that. The result, however, is a soft pretzel that's somewhat crisp on the outside (not hard, but not as soft as the inside) and chewy inside. It's pretty good and for me, hard to resist.
This Auntie Anne's is in Easton's main building sort of in the middle - near some other food places like Sbarro and Panda Express. Like most mall eateries, if you want to sit down with your food you can take it to the seating area - food court style.
I'm writing about this place because I just got back from there. I took my sister to Easton and again, couldn't stay away from the pretzels. I got their regular plain pretzel. Auntie Anne's has all kinds of flavors and dips and stuff, but I usually just opt for the plain one. It's good enough just on its own. But today, when I got up to the counter (No line! For once!) I asked the girl if I could get one with no salt. Apparently they didn't have any made - I'd have to wait 5 minutes for them to come out of the oven. But, she looked through the salted ones they had and found one that didn't have a lot of salt. Rather than wait, I took that one. It was fine, but I am not a huge fan of the salt so I'd rather not have it.
But a major complaint about Auntie Anne's, and the reason that I'm deducting a star. The prices! My regular pretzel was $2.49! I know they weren't always that expensive. I thought that was crazy. Half the reason I came here all the time was because it was a cheap snack. But that's not exactly the case anymore. So of course, for any of the dips or flavored pretzels it's even more. Crazy. And these pretzels are a good snack, but they aren't exactly filling.
While the plain pretzels are my favorite, I've tried a few others. The cinnamon sugar pretzel is yummy; it sort of tastes like it would make a good dessert or breakfast. I've also had their pretzel sticks. They come in a little cardboard sleeve like french fries do, and these are perfect with the dipping sauce. I like the hot salsa cheese. They also have cream cheese, plain cheese, frosting-like sauce for the cinnamon pretzels, mustard, caramel, etc. I'm eating my pretzels on the go most of the time, so I often skip the sauce. But they are really good. However, it costs 60 cents extra for a cup of sauce.
But the pretzel flavors that I haven't tried certainly sound unique. Jalapeno, almond, garlic, pizza, raisin, sour cream and onion and sesame. What's neat about them is that, for example, the almond pretzel is coated in crushed almonds - it's not just flavored like almonds. I'm wanting to try this one, but I haven't been adventurous enough yet. They also have pretzel dogs for hot dog lovers. And they have fountain drinks and icees here, too.
The staff today was very nice, and I did appreciate them looking for a pretzel that didn't have a lot of salt for me. But the prices seem to have increased and that is quite disappointing. It's still not too bad for what you're getting, I suppose. The pretzels are pretty big - about as big as your hand with your fingers spread out. And the service is definitely fast - most pretzels are already made. They also will take your credit card even if you just buy one pretzel, so there's no minimum or anything, which I am glad about. I do like this place a lot and it's the only place I go if I ever get a soft pretzel craving. Which isn't often, but if you're in Easton already you might as well check it out. read more