Press Clippings

Following is a feature story which was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on April 17, 2003. The story spotlights one of the assets of Benton Park.

Gus' Pretzel Shop keeps dough rolling

by Theresa Tighe

Every time a pretzel breaks at Gus' Pretzel Shop, Gus Koebbe Jr. eats it.

3-25/04: August Koebbe, right, and Noah Bryant.
August Koebbe, right, honcho at Gus' Pretzel Shop, checks a new batch of dough in the mixer with Noah Bryant, a baker. (People Productions photo by Clark Rowley)

He claims that's about 25 pretzels a day. Koebbe is a joker, too, so that figure may be a little high, but not much.

"I just love pretzels," he said.

It is good that Koebbe, 47, loves pretzels. He is the third generation of his family to own Gus' Pretzel Shop at 1820 Arsenal Street near Anheuser-Busch brewery.

It may be the last purely pretzel bakery in St. Louis.

Koebbe Jr., who lives in Oakville, is of average build. Big, soft dough pretzels have 210 calories each.

Many remember Koebbe pretzels from the time when men stood on street corners selling golden brown stick pretzels that peeked out of paper bags. A few men who work for themselves still buy pretzels from Gus' to sell on street corners and in front of businesses such as factories and car dealers

Koebbe Jr. says those pretzels - the long breadstick kind - are a St. Louis thing. St. Louis bakers invented them so the pretzel would stick out of the bag and make people hungry.

People remember those times. Hardly a day goes by without Koebbe Jr. hearing, half in complaint, "I remember when pretzels cost a nickel."

He replies that pretzels cost only 50 cents now.

When he was 8 years old, Koebbe began selling pretzels at the construction site for the intersection of Interstate 55 and Arsenal Street.

A father passes the tricks of the trade to his son, and Koebbe's father taught him many. "He told me when business is slow I should burn a pretzel," Koebbe said. Although it might not seem so, the scent going out into the neighborhood draws customers.

Now, without burning pretzels, the shop draws 400 customers a day and bakes almost 9,000 pretzels a day. Most are sold to retail customers - call 314-664-4010 or go to guspretzels.com.

The pretzels can be found in the frozen-food section of area groceries.

The shop, with its gleaming walls, resembles an ice-cream parlor. But there are large windows through which people can see pretzels being mixed, cut into long strips, twisted and baked.

Posted in the front of the shop is a legend of the pretzel. Many years ago, people crossed their arms over their breasts while praying. Originally, monks made the pretzels to resemble those arms crossed in prayer, to give to children.

Koebbe has transformed pretzels into what is a prayer for him. Surrounded by pretzels, it is not an easy task.

He said, "I gave up eating pretzels for Lent."

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