I had the pleasure of meeting with Kyle and Jerry Dallaire at 54 St. George Street, their location for Ben's Pretzels and Mimi's Famous Crepes, where we chatted about their plans for the oldest building on the street, the delicious food options they are offering, and their upcoming opening.
What inspired you to open Ben’s Pretzels?
My dad, Jerry Dallaire, had opened the first Kilwins in St. Augustine, so we knew that a good quality product is what can make it in this town. We knew we wanted to do food but wanted a quick service item. There are so many restaurants in town but not everyone wants to sit down and eat. So we started to think about what people can’t get down here and that’s when we thought of soft pretzels. We looked at different brands such as Annies and Pretzel Twister but ultimately decided on Ben’s out of Indiana. We fell in love with the product, the options for flavors and sauces and the people behind the product are extremely supportive.
Is Bens Pretzels a franchise?
Yes, there are ninety locations in the U.S. there are six or seven in Florida. The pretzels originate from the Indiana Amish. Ben, an Amish man started all the recipes but his business partner Scott brought it all together to make it a franchise.
Tell me about the Pretzel University you went to?
That was an awesome experience. We flew up to Indiana and spent a week. We were up there learning the technique of rolling the dough into the pretzel shape and learning the recipes.
Will you have a lot of flavor options?
They have a lot of cool things going on. The original pretzel is a 1/2 lb pretzel, called the jumbo. All the pretzels start with butter and then you add the toppings, they offer a lot of flavor options. One of my favorites is the dutch almond, it’s a little sweeter. The pretzel pockets are really good too. It’s like a freshly baked pretzel dough pizza pocket with different fillings, such as meatballs. They have a great selection of dipping sauces and we will carry eleven to twelve different types here.
Tell me about the location for the shop?
We are in the oldest building on the street. The building was built in 1803 and the two front rooms were the original part of the structure. We’ve had to think outside the box to get this build out completed since we can’t go through the walls. The challenge comes into running electricity and plumbing in the front rooms so it’s taking a little longer and we have to consider every little detail. We have great a general contractor working on it so we are moving forward even if it is at a slow pace.
What are some of the things you need to do to get the space ready?
This building has never been food safe, so we have to revamp it. Any area that is for food prep will need to be covered. In order to maintain the historic charm of the interior, we are using tin over the exposed beams on the ceilings and plexiglass over the stone walls and fireplace in the food prep areas. The support we have gotten from Ben’s Pretzel has been great. The co-founder Scott, came down and helped us out with the layout.
Looks like you have two store-fronts, what are you doing next to Ben's Pretzels?
Mimi's Famous Crepes will be going next door. Another great quality food product. We have to do the same food prep renovation on that side as well. We have the garden in the back which will be set up with tables and chairs for people to sit and eat or they can take their crepes to go.
Do you think Mimi’s Crepes and Ben’s Pretzels will open up at the same time?
Not necessarily, I have a feeling they will but we don’t know yet. It’ll all depend on permitting and the renovation. We are hoping to open in early Spring.
What other plan do you have for the garden?
We have a whole landscaping company coming in to revamp the courtyard. We plan to have a water feature and live music. We want to keep the charm that was already there, we just want to enhance it and make it safe for people to walk back there. We are calling it Garden 54 since we are 54 St. George Street.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the community?
We think we have something good here. We have a great location and a great product. We have great support from the franchise as well and we are excited to open soon.
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Located at 54 St. George Street, St. Augustine FL 32084
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