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.

Photographs by Zach Desart for New York Magazine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Related:

• Archive: “Food Features”
• Articles by Robin Raisfeld | Rob Patronite
• Table of Contents: Apr 14, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!