If we can agree on anything in these divisive times, it’s that pretzel buns are one of the greatest food inventions since Jakob Gareth Food created food in 1295.
We can agree on that, right? I know you’re nodding your heads, “yes,” so I can just move on.
In 2013, Wendy’s released the Pretzel Pub Sandwich, and it instantly knocked the Bacon Mushroom Melt out of my Wendy’s gold medal spot.
The combination of that iconic chicken, two types of cheese (Muenster and cheddar), and honey mustard on a perfectly tender pretzel bun had me coming back at least once a week. I would throw those bad boys down faster than you can say, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s,” but alas, just as the employees were memorizing my name and face, it was gone.
I’m pretty sure Wendy’s dabbled with other pretzel bun fare in the years since, but nothing ever came close to that Pretzel Pub Sandwich. Well, guess what, folks? It’s a miracle. Pretzel Pub Sandwiches are back, but this time along with the cheese and honey mustard, there’s bacon, pickles, and fried onions along for the ride.
So that’s it. That’s the review. I gushed about the OG Pretzel Pub, and this is the same sandwich with three awesome additions. It’s a 10 out of 10, right?
No, and I’m bummed beyond belief. There is just way too much going on with this sandwich. Each ingredient is great on its own, but once plopped on top of each other, none really stood out, and it made for a buzzkill of a meal.
I remember the original sandwich being a compact, tasty, and harmonious masterpiece. Here, the two gloopy ingredients (beer cheese and honey mustard) mixed with the lightly melting muenster make a gross texture with a flavor I could only describe as…warm?
I got a spicy chicken filet, and even that familiar flavor ended up being bland and masked. Honestly, the pickles had the most dominant flavor in the sandwich and kinda didn’t belong.
Now, while I’m pretty mad, it wasn’t all bad. I didn’t hate it.
The pretzel bun was still God-tier. I just love a soft pretzel’s taste and texture and believe any sandwich instantly improves with them as bread. Wendy’s cooks the best bacon in the fast food game, so no complaints there. Crispy fried onions are the most underutilized burger topper in the world, and should replace every raw onion moving forward.
Again, these are all good ingredients on their own, but combined? What a mess. There were too many cooks in the kitchen when they came up with this updated sandwich.
You can order a Pretzel Pub Burger, and I suspect all these ingredients might work better with beef. But I think the move might be to customize your own variation in the app.
I’m not even positive that’s allowed, but I’m going back to try this with two fewer ingredients. I think I might just cut the “Pub” out entirely and lose the beer cheese. Two sauces were just too messy.
I’ve probably romanticized the 2013 Pretzel Pub too much over the years, so you may like this much more than I did. It’s worth a shot, but just make sure you’re parked or at home while you eat it, because it’s a big sloppy experience.
Purchased Price: $6.19
Size: N/A
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 840 calories, 42 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 105 milligrams of cholesterol, 1780 milligrams of sodium, 71 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 42 grams of protein.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
It would be helpful to list the ingredients in the intro. This review felt like a chore to read, as it was all over the place. I had to go to their website to get a full grasp of the sandwich
Yes. I thought the same thing.
Yeah, I see what you’re saying. I made some changes to make it clearer. When I was editing it, I assumed readers would combine “The combination of that iconic chicken, two types of cheese (Muenster and cheddar), and honey mustard…” with “Pretzel Pub Sandwiches are back, and they’ve brought bacon, pickles, and fried onions along for the ride this time” in the next paragraph. But I can see how that separation could make it unclear. Thanks for pointing it out. I’m going to go throw away my computer’s keyboard and force myself to run the site on an iPhone keyboard for a week as punishment.
There’s an event I like to attend every summer, but one of the big issues is food. Leave the site at the wrong time and you may give up prime parking. Stay, and the on-site options tend to start at moderately expensive and go up from there. One year they had a concession stand open on the event floor during lunch hours, so I decided to check it out. They had a deli sandwich that didn’t look objectionable, and came on a pretzel _croissant_. It. Was. Awesome. And it forever spoiled pretzel buns for me. It’s like trying to get excited about eating dollar store hamburger buns as dinner rolls when you know gourmet croissants exist.
Interesting. I can’t comprehend how one would even go about making a pretzel croissant!
Pretzels are more about the process than the ingredients, it seems. You need specific ingredients to make rye bread, pumpernickel, or buttermilk biscuits. But you can pretzelize just about any bread. To do so, you just have to glaze it with something in the right pH range before baking. Lye is a common chemical used for this purpose, but baking soda is another option. The pH causes a chemical reaction in the skin of the bread when you bake it, apparently regardless of what kind of bread you’re baking. So, pretzel croissants, pretzel potato buns, pretzel whatever. Actually, pretzel cornbread and pretzel buttermilk biscuits might be really cool to try.
Sad to see this review. I was so excited seeing this new item, and tried it immediately. I got it with a burger (which I feel like would be the best option out of the proteins available), and with no pickles (because Wendy’s pickles are pretty overpowering – good on their own or a classic cheeseburger, but not this type of build). I thought the burger was amazing. Of course anything with crispy onion strings is a winner in my book, but the crispy onions, beer cheese, and honey mustard worked super well together with the bacon.
The burger version is really good
I got the burger version and thought it was really good, although when I get it again, I’d probably have them leave off the muenster cheese. I thought it was a bit too strong a flavor. It didn’t make me dislike the burger, though; I just think it would have been a 10 out of 10 for me without the muenster.
Omg I completely agree!! I was OBSESSED with that original chicken pub burger and this was so disgusting! It was a giant hot mess! I wish they’d just bring the original back.