2017 York City Pretzel Company Tour Flyer

A bit about us...

Welcome to York City Pretzel Company! The space you’re currently standing in has, at various times in the past, housed many businesses including a bootery and a food court (including sushi and BBQ!). It is now home to the freshest, most authentic Bavarian pretzel this side of Munich. Our shop opened in late 2014 after our owners lamented the fact they couldn’t find a decent pretzel to pair with their beer. They set out to elevate the traditional bar pretzel into something amazing and after a lot of long nights testing recipes developed the simple, fresh, classic Bavarian pretzel you see today.  

Today you can find our pretzels at over 50 bars, restaurants and grocery stores in York, Cumberland, Franklin, Dauphin, Adams and Lancaster counties. That’s right: our pretzels are so great that restaurants in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country choose our products to put on their menus.

A brief history of the pretzel…

The earliest recorded evidence of pretzels can be traced to around the year 1100. Throughout its history the pretzel has represented everything from a symbol of religious significance to prosperity in marriage (Sweden) to serving as an early version of an Easter egg in Germany (parents would hide pretzels for their children to find on Easter morning.)

In the 1700s, German immigrants to the United States (now known as the Pennsylvania Dutch) brought their pretzel baking traditions with them and made Pennsylvania the “Pretzel Capital of the United States.” To this day 80% of the pretzels produced in America are made in Pennsylvania.  

How we’re different…

“If you want to experience the beauty of a true Bavarian pretzel, all you have to do is make your way to York City Pretzel Company…”---Zagat

We keep it simple. Our pretzels are made from six (and only six) ingredients: flour, water, yeast, butter, brown sugar and salt. It’s almost too easy, right? Almost. The real secret to our success is how the pretzels are prepared before they’re baked.

Those German immigrants we talked about? Before they came to America, pretzels were dipped in a solution of diluted lye before baking. That’s what gives a pretzel that deep brown, shiny crust that comes into your head when you think of a Bavarian style pretzel. 

**The top half of this pretzel was dipped in lye; the bottom half was not**

After they settled in their new homes in America, the Germans were unable to find lye or a suitable substitute to finish their pretzels before baking. They resorted to a butter wash and later dipping the pretzels in baking soda to try to replicate their traditional recipe. This style of pretzel is what became associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. We may be in Pennsylvania Dutch country but we certainly don’t serve their pretzels. We went and found that lye (it’s perfectly safe, don't worry) that the original Pennsylvania Germans couldn’t and we use it the same way it’s been used for hundreds of years. When you eat a York City Pretzel you’re eating an authentic Bavarian pretzel, prepared the way our ancestors made them. It’s the literal perfect soft pretzel.