Snack Shop
NYC's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie? It's From a Hip Pretzel Bakery
Snack Shop goes to Elbow.
There are a million (a slight exaggeration) bakeries in the city, and each one has their own take on the classics. A lot of times these takes are uninspiring—Elbow Bread in the Lower East Side does the opposite. Think danishes made from sheep milk cheese and barley tea bialys. The little shop started out as a pop-up focusing on Jewish American flavors and last October opened up a permanent space in the Lower East Side in partnership with Court Street Grocers. On the internet, they’re known best for their sweet potato pretzels (which sell out on the weekends) and making interesting, complex shapes out of said pretzels. Most notably, there’s one on display at the front that spells out the store’s name. Now, I knew I had to get in on the fun and try a pretzel, but I was most excited to try out their other goodies.
The Snacks
Other than their internet hype, I can attest that when I entered the adorable corner-shaped bakery, it smelled like pastry heaven and I was transported out of the outside hustle and bustle. Soft humming music, the sound of brewing espresso, and a pastry case full of fresh goodies all made it the ideal way to spend a cozy winter morning. Their famous “elbow” pretzel was on display and they have a special corner of the back counter with a pretzel warming case, just like at a baseball game.
Sweet potato pretzel. Elbow sells a sweet and savory option for these pretzels, the sweet dusted in cinnamon sugar and the savory served up a mustard dipping sauce. I really wanted to taste the pretzel, so I went salty. I’ll admit it was difficult to get myself to rip the pretzel apart because of how beautiful it looked. Each little pretzel is this gorgeous orange-ish brown color and has what appears to be little hands at the end of the pretzel bow. Like I said in the video, I wanted to take it home and hang it up on my wall instead of eat it. Nevertheless, I persisted. Flavor-wise, the pretzel was sweet and had a more complex flavor than a classic baseball or street pretzel. The sweet potato definitely came through, and the mustard complemented it well. I’m not sure if I'm just not a pretzel girl, but it didn’t knock my socks off. No doubt that it was well-made, but it simply wasn’t my favorite.
Nori chocolate chip cookie. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be crazy about the pretzel and decided to get their chocolate chip cookie as my second treat. It looked promising, and the idea of seaweed paired with chocolate intrigued me. One bite in, and I can confidently say my socks were knocked off. I’ve tried countless chocolate chip cookies around New York City bakeries, and none of them came close to the umami flavor of this one. The saltiness of the nori with the rich puddles of dark chocolate made this soft cookie one of my all time favorites. Consider me shocked to have never seen it on any of the notable chocolate chip cookie lists in New York!
Final Rating
While I went to Elbow for the pretzels they’re known for, I left shocked by their chocolate chip cookie. I’d hate to say that this little bakery is overrated, and if I had only had their pretzel, that might be my final choice. For now, I say I have to return and try even more of their other pastries (like that sheep’s milk danish) before I come to a conclusion. They have so many rotating options, it might take me a bit to get through all their pastry offerings, but I’m not complaining!
If you’re reading this and you have a suggestion for a Snack Shop in the city that I must visit and (honestly) rate, leave a comment here or on our Snack Shop TikTok video. I love suggestions!
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