Hand-twisted, low-rise, figure-eight soft pretzel sold from sidewalk carts, doused with mustard. Denser than the German original, flatter than the Bavarian.

The Philadelphia soft pretzel arrived with German and Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants in the 17th century and was reshaped by South Philly Italian bakers in the 20th. The local pretzel is flatter, denser and saltier than the German original, twisted into a hand-rolled figure-eight rather than the standard knotted shape. Sidewalk vendors and elementary-school pretzel days made it a Philadelphia birthright. Federal Pretzel Baking Company opened in 1922 on South 4th Street and still operates; Center City Pretzel Co. in South Philly bakes round-the-clock. The standard order is a soft pretzel with a stripe of yellow mustard down the middle, eaten while walking.

2 editor picks for Philadelphia soft pretzel in Philadelphia, ranked by editorial score. All Philadelphia signature dishes · Philadelphia soft pretzel across every city.

Reading Terminal Market ★ 4.8

$Market

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is the 1893 enclosed public market under the old Reading Railroad train shed at 12th and Arch, with 80 vendors.

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Center City Pretzel Co. ★ 4.4

$Street food

Center City Pretzel Co. in Philadelphia is the South Philly wholesale pretzel bakery on Washington Avenue, baking the city's hand-twisted figure-eight.

OrderPhiladelphia soft pretzel

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