Carb your enthusiasm

I always wonder about people who jump on the low-carbohydrate bandwagon. Why would anyone in their right mind willingly stop eating the best part of the food pyramid? I mean sure, who doesn’t like meat and cheese, but if I can’t put them between two delicious pieces of starch, then why bother?

When I learned there was a place dedicated to the finest carbohydrate of all—the pretzel—I was ecstatic. My friend Tim and I headed out to Sparks and were surprised to see a “grand opening” sign outside Petra’s. For some reason, I thought this place had been around a while, but it turns out it just opened at the beginning of January.

Walking in, I was a little confused about the “grand opening” signs since the furnishings were pretty sparse. A row of white tables lines one wall, with the ordering counter and food preparation area on the other. When we visited, in early February, the walls were plain white with no decorations other than some Valentine’s Day signs made with window paint and a daisy in the middle of each table. The look was a little too institutional for me, but since they just opened, hopefully they’re still planning their decorating scheme.

A small line had formed ahead of us, so we waited patiently while perusing the large blackboard that listed out the menu choices, including things like pretzels, croissants, turnovers and waffles. I couldn’t help but notice how hastily everything appeared written on the blackboard. While a friendly worker assisted the couple ahead of us, another worker came from the back and barked at me to place my order. As we told him what we wanted he began quickly pulling our choices from warming trays. I appreciated his efficiency, but he was pretty brusque and made us feel like we were bothering him. I was disappointed that so many of the items were pre-made, including everything Tim and I ordered, which was the pretzel dog ($2.75), a ham and cheese croissant ($3.75), and pretzel bites ($2.95 for a baker’s dozen).

The ham and cheese croissant was filled with thick layers of ham coated with a nice layer of cheese. The croissant surrounding it was flakey and light and had a nice sweet flavor to it. Unfortunately, the entire thing was lukewarm at best. The flavor was really good though, so I imagine this would be fantastic hot. The pretzel dog had a thin pretzel casing surrounding a large hot dog. The dog had a rich flavor with a hint of spice to it. I wish the pretzel casing had been a bit thicker and doughier. The pretzel bites were light and airy and were delicious dipped in the little cups of warm nacho cheese, which was needed as the bites were not very warm.

We decided we couldn’t leave without getting a cinnamon roll ($2.25), since the smell of cinnamon and dough filled the air. The cinnamon roll was large, with a light layer of white frosting coating the top. The middle was gooey layers of cinnamon, sugar, dough and butter. The cinnamon balanced out the sugar.

I’m hoping with some more time under their belts, Petra’s can resolve some of the issues because the food tastes good. If I go in again, and who am I kidding, this place is carbohydrate heaven so I will be back, I would probably make the request that my items be made from scratch or heated up and would place my order to go.