Duck into this local pretzel bakery for the best REAL Philly soft pretzels in the city. There’s no pretensions here – it’s a tiny dark room overlooking the pretzel oven that starts churning out rows of pretzels at 4 a.m. most days. Behind the counter is one of the bakers who will sell you hot pretzels fresh from the oven for 50 cents a piece.
The Center City Soft Pretzel company has been in business for almost 40 years. This is the pretzel of my childhood – at least once a quarter we’d have Pretzel Day at school – our parents would give us a couple of quarters and we’d get to walk home with fresh pretzels.
When I was a little older, I used to come here with my friends at 4 am after a night out. There’s really nothing like the smell of dough and yeast wafting through the early morning air.
Forget all the Philly Pretzel Factories you see around and do right by Philly by tasting the real deal. The bakery is located on Washington Avenue just a couple of blocks down from the Italian Market area.