Pretzel Parade

The Banshee's sandwiches make us march downtown

Randy Shemanski

With Parade Day rapidly approaching, we've turned our thoughts here at ec/dc to what we plan to do as the city of Scranton celebrates St. Patrick's Day.

If you're among those who stumble out of bed at the crack of dawn to kick back some green beer or other beverages as a pre-game warm-up to the parade itself, you'll undoubtedly be famished by the time the early afternoon rolls around.

If you're Irish (or like to pretend you are), then you may be thinking of heading to one of the city's Irish restaurants or pubs for lunch. Here at ec/dc, we're among those who pretend to be Irish, so you won't find us ordering the bangers and mash or anything with cabbage.

What you're liable to find us chomping on come midday is one of the tasty pretzel sandwiches at The Banshee.

These simple yet yummy creations are slowly popping up on the menus at more local dining establishments, and it's easy to tell why. Imagine taking a soft pretzel, slicing it in half and loading it with your favorite lunchmeat.

Makes you want to head to Philadelphia and stock up on the city's famous snack, doesn't it?

Well there's no reason to waste time on the turnpike. The Banshee has five different pretzel sandwiches to choose from: The Whistling Pig (ham), The Turkey Trot, The Crabby Cow (roast beef), The Corned Beef and The Tuna Tickler.

Our favorite choice is The Turkey Trot. The thick stack of warm sliced turkey topped with cheese on the soft pretzel roll has our taste buds piqued with interest from just describing it.

The temptation to devour the pretzel roll separately is tough to ignore, but one bite with the savory turkey makes us wonder why nobody came up with these sandwiches years ago. We like pretzels. We like meat. Why didn't we think of this sooner?

We know what you're thinking, too. Turkey on Parade Day??? The triptophan will put even the most seasoned parade-goer in nap mode in no time. Thankfully, you've got the other four sandwiches to choose from. We'd go with the Whistling Pig (mmm, ham), but we'll let you choose for yourself.

The best part about the sandwiches is this: You can add fries and a soda and your bill won't exceed $10. Of course, a pint of Guinness will cost you a little more, but that's no problem.

Now get out there and join the parade of pretzel sandwich loving peeps.