Cranky comedian Colin Quinn has said he traces the disappearance of the lovably idiosyncratic New York he grew up in to the precise moment when street-cart pretzels went bad. He’ll be happy to know a few prime specimens are turning up—not on the street, but in some of the better bread baskets and bar menus around town.
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Photographs by Zach Desart for New York Magazine.
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BLAUE GANS
139 Duane St., nr. W. Broadway 212-571-8880
“I wouldn’t eat a New York street pretzel if I were starving to death,” says Blaue’s Kurt Gutenbrunner; he serves his with weisswurst and sweet German mustard.
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COMMERCE
50 Commerce St., nr. Barrow St. 212-524-2301
Maybe the first pretzels ever to make it into a fancy-restaurant bread basket. They’re made from scratch and baked fresh every night at 5:30.
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GRAYZ
13–15 W. 54th St., nr. Fifth Ave. 212-262-4600
If Gray Kunz sold these delicious housemade specimens from a cart on Fifth Avenue, he could make a fortune.
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THE RUSTY KNOT
425 West St., at 11th St.; 212-645-5668
A Slow Food pig in a blanket, the pretzel dog encases a Sabrett frank in dough rolled fresh daily. The mustard’s made from scratch, too, with Yuengling Lager and thyme.
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THE CITY BAKERY
3 W. 18th St., nr. Fifth Ave. 212-366-1414
The pretzel croissant: a thing of such flaky, buttery perfection it has its own Website (pretzelcroissant.com).
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LORELEY
7 Rivington St., nr. Chrystie St. 212-253-7077
This rollicking Biergarten imports par-baked pretzels from Bavaria and serves them hot, three to an order, with horseradish mustard.
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