Lagoon sells three different pretzels within a small stretch of the park, and nobody stopped to ask why. We just bought all of them.
Honestly, the question is fair. Why does one amusement park need three pretzel options in the same general area? We don't know. But we weren't going to let that question go unanswered without doing some serious research. So we tracked down all three, sat down, and taste tested the whole thing. Here's what we found.
Contender One: The Golden Palace Super Pretzel ($4.99)
First stop was the Golden Palace. Five bucks, add cheese sauce for $1.29. Now, when I asked how the pretzels were made, I got about what you'd expect from a spot like this. Crickets.
This is your standard super pretzel, the kind you find at amusement parks, gas stations, and probably somewhere in your freezer right now. Hard, chewy, crunchy, and it had clearly been sitting on the rack for a while. The nacho cheese sauce was spicier than expected, which was a nice surprise, but the pretzel itself? Terri gave it a thumbs down. That about covers it.
Contender Two: Liesl's Pretzel Haus ($8.99)
Right around the corner from the Nutcracker, Liesl's Pretzel Haus is brand new, and they carry Ben's Soft Pretzels. This one's a fresh rolled, baked pretzel and you can tell right away. The bread is way thicker, more like a soft roll than a traditional pretzel. It came out steaming hot and with a sharp cheddar cheese sauce instead of the standard nacho.
Now that's how I like my pretzels. Soft, warm, thick dough, and a cheese that actually has some character to it. This one was MY favorite. Sharp cheddar cheese, soft pretzel, no complaints. If I had to pick just one, this is the one.
Contender Three: The Biergarten Bavarian Pretzel ($13)
The Biergarten is a whole different experience. Thirteen dollars, and it comes with both mustard and cheese sauce included. They make these fresh, which means there's a wait. And yeah, in the middle of that wait, a very enthusiastic worker almost accidentally handed me someone else's order. He was ready to give it to me too. We let it go. You can't just take somebody else's pretzel. Well, apparently you can, but we didn't.
When our pretzel finally came out, holy smokes. This thing is massive. Terri took one look at it and said it was bigger than her head. The pretzel itself had a soft center with a nice firm crispy outer layer, exactly what a Bavarian pretzel should feel like. The cheese was the best of the three, rich and sharp, and the mustard had a good bite to it.
Only complaint: not enough salt on the outside for my taste. I want to be able to taste my salt. But the pretzel itself and the cheese are genuinely good, and the mustard is worth trying even if you're not normally a mustard person.
The Cross Dip Experiment
Now here's something worth knowing. We tried dipping the Golden Palace pretzel into the Biergarten cheese sauce. That actually fixed it. The pretzel on its own, thumbs down. That pretzel with better cheese? Pretty good. So if you end up with a sad super pretzel and you're near the Biergarten, upgrade your cheese situation.
The Verdict
For the best bang for your buck, Liesl's Ben's Soft Pretzel wins. Soft, fresh, and at $8.99 it's the middle option price-wise. If you want a full lunch, the Biergarten Bavarian pretzel is worth the $13, especially with that mustard and cheese sauce included. And if you just need a snack and the Golden Palace is right there, well, maybe just get the cheese and dip something else in it.
Terri had a different take on all of this. Her advice was to just go to Sam's Club and get a pretzel for 99 cents. She's not entirely wrong. But where's the fun in that?
Want to watch us eat through all three and make some questionable pretzel decisions in real time? Watch the full video here:
Watch the full video on YouTube
Next time you're at Lagoon, you'll know exactly which pretzel line to get in and which one to walk right past.
