Auntie Anne’s

OK so I have my own personal dilemma when I go here.
Do I order the Pretzel Dog, Pepperoni pretzel, jalapeño pretzel or original salty pretzel or sweet pretzel. To add to the confusion it all smells so good! And I am seriously forced in to ordering one of these delicious items because it always seems to be in font of my gate! (OK in general area between Gate 5 thru 9.
As usual the pretzel was delicious. Today Pretzel dog one the coin toss up. I swear these are addicting! Kicking my self for not buying 2.

By gate 7 of the Denver International Aiport. I was here for a few hours of layover and decided to have a snack while waiting for my flight. I was walking towards the shops when the aroma of freshly baked almond pretzels greeted me from a distance. Hmm mmm, I thought, Auntie Anne’s it is!
There was a short line at the counter. Two crew members were working together, so my order came quick. I walked back to the gate to eat my snack there. Unfortunately, the pretzel I got was overcooked, hard and slightly burned. Bummer! I returned it immediately and asked for a freshly baked one. The crew happily obliged. ;-) As I waited for the new pretzel to bake, I couldn’t help but notice one of the crew’s long, painted and unpolished fingernails. She was kneading and rolling the dough with her hands and her nails were making the tapping sound against the counter. I felt a lump in my throat and thought, am I really that hungry? I brushed the thought aside as I was handed a new almond pretzel 15 minutes later.
When I got back to my seat, I grabbed the hot, freshly baked almond pretzel from the bag and took a bite. Hard and bitter, the pretzel was still overcooked. I was disappointed. Certainly not the same taste I’ve been accustomed to in California. As I took my time chewing the stiff piece of bread in my mouth, the cooked dough in my hand was getting rigid by the minute. A big chunk of it soon became inedible and ended up in the waste basket. :-(
One star for effort. A much needed baking and sanitary re-​orientation are definitely in order.

I didn’t get a chance to try their pretzels because…
The thought of a delicious cinnamon sugar pretzel sounded amazing. But watching the lady preparing the pretzels completely grossed me out. It’s one thing to not wear gloves when you’re rolling dough and making delicious pretzel treats, but it’s another thing to take your phone out, text message (touching a dirty surface), then continue rolling pretzels. Clearly someone isn’t aware about how big of a health demerit this is. How phones have all sorts of nasty things on them like fecal matter. I waited for her to at least wash her hands after touching her phone. But she didn’t. So I left. No thanks Annie’s pretzels. I’ll skip the food poisoning.

If you like hard, burnt, stale pretzels, then order an overpriced one from here.
I’m a huge fan of Auntie Anne’s, but this particular one at the AUS airport is such a disappointment. I had a horrible pretzel from here awhile ago, and I vowed not to make the same mistake again.
…But the buttery smell got to me and my tummy whispered, «Maybe this time it’ll be good — just try it. I’m hungry»
So I gave in and ordered a regular salted pretzel. I was excited, until my first bite. Hard, BURNT, and not even well-​salted! It was difficult to chew and had to force it down my throat — couldn’t even finish it.
Save your money for an Auntie Anne’s at the mall where the turnover is higher and pretzels are fresher.
2 stars b/​c they’re nice here, but pretzel quality is low. *sad face*

Good news was:
I had time during my layover to grab a snack, luckily Auntie Anne’s was right near my gate. I wanted the Almond pretzel which wasn’t available, but I only had to wait a couple minutes for one that was freshly cooked.
Bad new was:
After not eating Auntie Anne’s for about 3 years. .. This one freshly cooked pretzel sent me into a pretzel frenzy. I kid you not, for the next 3 consecutive days I bout a Auntie Anne’s pretzel while in Dallas. My BF even asked if there was a chance I could be pregnant, I’m not, the pretzel from this airport was just that good.

A yummy, easy, and affordable (for airport food) snack. I’m a soft pretzel purist, so I get the original, with salt. The last pretzel I got was big enough that I could only eat half at the airport, and had the other half as a snack on the plane.
They lose just one star because my pretzel had a hint of cinnamon (probably from being near the sweet pretzels) and because I had to ask for plain mustard (as opposed to buying a dipping sauce).

Having familial roots in Lancaster, PA (717, yo — Holla!) endowed me with a great many perks when it comes to life skills and coping mechanisms. While I am oft recognized for my outrageous head wear and sky-​high stilettos, I am very experienced in the following areas that hearken from a kinder, gentler, more simple life:
* If you find yourself short a soprano to sing Amazing Grace during a quilting bee, I’m your girl. All four verses; a capella
* The ripeness of a cantaloupe can be discerned by how yellow the «belly» of the fruit is, and how much it yields to gentle pressure. Give it a good smell, just to be sure.
* I am a fast mother-​husker when it comes to to corn. After we’re done with a few bushels, I’ll give you my spin on the traditional recipe for Chicken Corn Soup.
* Serve me scrapple that is substandard, and I will shun you. Or Unilocal you, whatever will make you squirm more.
* Keep the pointy part of the pitchfork away from your face, and for goodness sake, don’t wander off into the cornfields! (That was for your benefit, you Big City Unilocalers!)
* Always wait for FRESH pretzels to come out of the oven; never eat the ones basking under the heat lamp. Make sure you are carrying your Auntie Anne’s punch card, and ask for yours to be dunked in melted butter.
I stick to the classic… and sometimes ask for no salt, so that I can just enjoy the sweetness of the dough, baked just so: golden-​brown crisp giving way instantly to toothsome tenderness. This is one treat that can always persuade me to leave my rather strict gluten-​free eating habits.
Of course, there are other sweet and savory flavors, and a plethora of dipping sauces, but I cannot resist the seduction of the classic with buttah, bb.
Believe!

I know it might sound rediculous to write a review of a place inside an airport but for those of us who are stuck in one more often than we’d like I’d like to tell you that Auntie Anne’s pretzels in Austin Bergstrom Airport is great. I got some pretzel sticks and cheese dip. $ 3.50 with tax for a yummy snack. Most other things at the airport are old, dry or way overpriced. I would recommend going here (outside terminal 9) the next time you’re at ABIA.