Auntie Anne's

Auntie Anne’s Was the Best Part of Traveling Anywhere | Eater

"A pretzel-focused chain that deliberately inhabits nontraditional retail spaces—malls, train stations, airports (including older terminals), rest stops, and big-box stores—where its presence feels like a small luxury amid otherwise joyless surroundings. The menu is simple (standard pretzels, pretzel bites, and pretzel dogs) but versatile thanks to toppings and dips: classic pretzels with honey mustard, buckets of cinnamon-sugar bites with sweet glaze, and other combinations. The product is characterized by a heady buttery aroma, impossibly soft, brioche-like bread, occasional salty-baked butter crunch, and a tendency to leave a greasy residue on the fingers; it’s portable (handheld or in a bucket), travel-friendly, and emotionally resonant—rare enough to feel special, tied to the thrill of going somewhere else, and deliberately kept as an occasion rather than an everyday convenience (the author rejects at-home kits)." - Jaya Saxena