Whether you like a simple pretzel snack, to cover your salted treat with chocolate for dessert – even if you’re looking to venture into adding it to your main meal – you can do it all right here in the Greater Reading area. Read on to find out where you can delight in all things pretzel.
Starters
Kick things off with one of these appetizers (perfectly paired with the beer of your choice if you’d like)…
Pretzel Bites: served with German mustard and Helles beer cheese.
Sly Fox Brewery, Wyomissing, slyfoxbeer.com
The Ugly Pretzel: a Cheddar and Crab Imperial-topped pretzel.
The Ugly Oyster, Reading, theuglyoyster.com
Franklin Beer Cheese & Philly Big Braided Pretzel: with Stonefly, Cream Cheese, Cheddar and Mozzarella
Saucony Creek Franklin Station, Downtown Reading, sauconybeer.com
Bavarian Pretzel: paired with Pale Ale Cheddar, coarse salt and grain mustard.
B2 Bistro + Bar, West Reading, b2bistro.com
Pretzel Nuggets: baked soft pretzel nuggets served with a spicy beer cheese sauce.
P.J. Whelihan’s Pub & Restaurant, West Lawn, pjspub.com
Pub Pretzel: colossal sized and served with English mustard and queso blanco.
Liberty Ale House, Shillington, thelibertytaproom.com
Soups & Salads You Say?
It’s true! You can find pretzels served up in these dishes, too!
Sweet Potato Soup: Featuring apples, pretzel dust, spiced whipped cream, sunflower seeds and thyme.
Dans at Green Hills, Green Hills, dansatgreenhills.com
Pretzel Croutons: add them to your House, Chicken Caesar or Buffalo Chicken Caesar Salad.
Schaylor Brewing Company, Shillington, schaylorbrewingcompany.com
Covered in Deliciousness
Prefer your pretzels coated in something extra delicious? Try one of these finds…
Chocolate-covered: grab the Pretzel Nibs at Zipf’s Candies. They’re unique, and absolutely the perfect salty-sweet snack.
Sweet Surprises, West Reading, sweet-surprises.com
Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets: stock up on this one in bulk.
Meme’s Chocolates & Bulk Foods in the PA Dutch Farmers Market, Wyomissing, farmersmarketofwyomissing.com
Yogurt-Covered Pretzels: find this fan-favorite at Echo Hill Country Store.
Echo Hill Country Store, Fleetwood, echohillcountrystore.com
Traditional Chocolate-Covered: if you’re looking for traditional, no frills, tried-and-true chocolate-covered pretzels, find them at Unique Snacks (uniquepretzels.com) in Reading, Tom Sturgis (tomsturgispretzels.com) in Shillington and Billy’s Candies in Temple (billyscandies.com).
Pretzel Crack: dark covered pretzel bark with Faller's pretzels and Brocmar Country Candy bacon found at Simply BOLD, West Reading, simplyboldcafe.com
Rolls, Melts & Stuffins
Thinking you want to try something more substantial? visit one of these spots…
Pretzel Sandwich Rolls: choose a pretzel roll for your sandwich creation, including specialty items like the Turkey Melt at Brewer’s Bar and Grill, West Reading, brewersbarandgrill.com
Grab a breakfast sandwich: on a pretzel bagel (think ham, egg & cheese) at the Shillington Farmers Market Café. shillingtonfarmersmarket.com
Melt Mania: head to the Kutztown Tavern to enjoy their Pretzel Crab Melt, Turkey Melt (served on a pretzel roll) or a veggie option – the Portabella Melt, served open-faced on a toasted pretzel roll.
Kutztown Tavern, Kutztown, kutztowntavern.com
Crab Pretzel: a colossal pretzel is paired with bluefin crab, cheese blend, Old Bay and topped with scallions at Liberty Ale House, Shillington, thelibertytaproom.com
Stuffed Pretzels: order the Stuf’d Pretzel at Schaylor Brewing Company, Shillington, in one of these options: Pizza, Buffalo, Cuban, Crab, Philly Cheesesteak or Pretzel Dog.
Schaylor Brewing Company, Shillington, schaylorbrewingcompany.com
Save Room for Dessert
Pretzels and dessert just go together. Are we right? Satisfy your sweet tooth and try one of these…
Frozen Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Pie: vanilla ice cream paired with crushed pretzels, chocolate-covered mini pretzels, hot fudge and a caramel ice cream topping. It’s a favorite of many and found at Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar, Reading, peanutbar.com.
Pretzels & Fudge Ice Cream: (order it on a pretzel cone!) at Pop’s Malt Shoppe, Kutztown, popsmaltshoppe.com
Sweet & Salty Pretzel Crepe: with cream cheese, Nutella, ground pretzels, caramel, chocolate syrup and ice cream at Taste of Crepes, West Reading, http://places.singleplatform.com/taste-of-crepes/menu
Strawberry Pretzel Delight: layered Jell-O salad with a pretzel crust, layers of cream cheese, Strawberry Jell-O and strawberries from Salad & Desserts at the Pa.
Dutch Farmers Market of Wyomissing, farmersmarketofwyomissing.com
Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream: (add more pretzels as a premium topping) at Sweet Ride Ice Cream, West Reading, sweetrideicecream.com
Cinnamon Pretzel Bites: cinnamon sugar pretzel bites are served with cinnamon sugar butter and cream cheese icing at Chatty Monks, West Reading, chattymonks.com
Cool Collabs: Saucony Creek and Unique Snacks have come together to debut some fun foods to try. Head out to order the Unique Pretzels Ice Cream Sandwich (scratch-made salted caramel Vanilla Brown Porter ice cream layered between pretzel cookies), a Unique Pretzels Encrusted Truffles Assortment or the Unique Pretzel Shrimp Scampi Dip.
Saucony Creek Franklin Station, Downtown Reading, sauconybeer.com
Soft Pretzels
Sometimes a good-old soft pretzel just hits the spot with its bready texture. Grab one here…
Regular and stuffed pretzel wraps: (breakfast, lunch and dinner flavor varieties) at the Soft Pretzel Corner at Pa.
Dutch Farmers Market of Wyomissing, farmersmarketofwyomissing.com
Fun flavors: go regular, stuffed or get your soft pretzel in a garlic, cinnamon & sugar or sour cream & onion option at Stoltzfus Pretzels at the Boscov’s Fairgrounds Farmers Market, Reading, fairgroundsfarmersmarket.com/merchant/stoltzfus-soft-pretzels
Bavarian Pretzel: it’s a Berkshire Mall staple! Grab one at the Wyomissing shopping center’s kiosk.
Berks Pretzel Companies
Reading is known as “Pretzel City” for a reason. Here are some of the pretzel companies that call the area home.
Faller’s All Natural Pretzels: Opened by Edward J. Faller at 528 Moss St., Reading, in 1911. Faller’s uses only fresh, all-natural ingredients. Today, the Pretzel Sticks are still baked in the same location utilizing a brick oven and slow-drying kiln. Original and Whole Wheat Pretzel Sticks are available.
Unique Pretzels: Celebrating 100 years, Unique Pretzels are made using a secret family recipe with no malts, added sugars or artificial colors by a family-owned business. They are digestive friendly, heart healthy, vegan and delicious.
Tom Sturgis: Julius Sturgis died in 1897, but his descendants continued the pretzel baking tradition. In 1946, Marriott D. “Tom” Sturgis, grandson of Julius, founded the Tom Sturgis Pretzel Company after spending years learning pretzel baking from family members. In time, Marriott’s son, Tom, joined the company and now Tom’s son, Bruce, has taken a place at Tom Sturgis Pretzels. Five generations of pretzel baking have made the Sturgis family the “First Family of Pretzels.” Visit for their unique option to purchase pretzel bread crumbs you can use to cook with at home.
Uncle Henry’s Old-Fashioned Pretzel Bakery: Opened in 1983 in Mohnton, the bakery offers hand-twisted Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels online to customers across the United States. Products are hand-rolled before they are packed and shipped. Recipes and processes have been handed down through their family for the past 50 years.
Food Truck Find: Find Pretzel Revolution at the Reading Fightins home, FirstEnergy Stadium, Reading, behind the left field bleachers or at Renninger's Farmers Market in Kutztown. Taking the science of the pretzel to a whole new level with homemade pretzel dough made with a secret recipe, the pretzels are more than just a snack. Rolls cover all meal options: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The are dessert rolls, too!
