Why Legion Brewing took its pretzel off the menu
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This pretzel was $8 on Legion's old menu. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Why, Legion? Was it the eggflation? Was it the challenges of the craft beer industry?
- Why, oh why, Legion — on a day in February — would you take your warm soft pretzel off the menu, with its beer cheese and signature steak knife, when you knew I liked it?
Why it matters: Legion Brewing's pretzel was a top contender on my Charlotte pretzel ranking in my iPhone's Notes app.
- Luckily, as a journalist, I had an excuse to text Legion owner Phil Buchy and demand answers.
What he's saying: "It is actually a business decision," Buchy tells me over lunch at his South Park brewery.
- Buchy says with all the economic uncertainty last year and into 2025, Legion was reviewing its numbers and how it could be more efficient with its staff while bringing down the price of goods in response to inflation.
- The pretzel was one of the only items on Legion's menu that was outsourced, making its cost higher. (In fact, one of the biggest complaints Legion receives is they don't carry Heinz because they make their own ketchup.)
- "Beer is an affordable luxury," Buchy says. "We want to make sure that we can bring more to the bottom line, but still provide a great experience."
What they did: Executive Chef Gene Briggs — who Charlotte magazine once called "The Most Overqualified Brewery Chef in Charlotte" — got to work.
- He wanted Legion's elevated, rotating menu to include a signature bread, something similar to the experience of ordering Kindred's famous milk bread.
- Introducing the buttermilk beer bread: warm, fluffy rolls made with their craft-brewed pilsner, topped with sea salt and a buttery glaze.
What to try: The Brewer's Board ($12) serves the baked-to-order rolls like a charcuterie board with sliced prosciutto, manchego cheese, marinated olives, pimento butter, bacon jam and — of course — beer cheese.
💭 My thought bubble: I'll stop complaining about the pretzel. The Brewer's Board accomplishes the same goal: something delicious to nibble on while you down a Juicy Jay — and it's even better for sharing amongst a group of diverse taste buds, due to the variety of the spread.
- "Especially in today's health-conscious society, these are nice and light. Doesn't leave a heavy feeling in your stomach," Buchy says. "It also means you can drink more beer."
By the numbers: Legion sold about 45% more boards in Q1 2025 than pretzels in Q1 2024.
- The board costs $0.75 per order versus $3.25 for the pretzels.
- "We want to be price conscious, but we also want to be quality conscious to make sure we're giving people a bang for their buck," Briggs says.
Zoom out: There is another way to find these pretzels, however. Legion has long sourced its pretzels from Queen City Pretzel since it was just a home kitchen operation.
- Buchy said they sold so many pretzels once the South Park brewery opened in 2018 that Queen City Pretzel upgraded to a staffed commercial kitchens off South Boulevard.
- There's no animosity with the pretzel manufacturer, he clarifies. It was just time for something new and to spread their culinary wings.
The bottom line: Legion will probably bring the pretzel back — eventually.