The 25 Best Pie Shops in America

Fancy new bakeries, old school diners, and everything in between.

Pie is one of the greatest and most diverse foods known to man. Want to make fruit better? Put it in a flaky pie crust. Chocolate cream? An entire roasted chicken dinner, complete with gravy, veggies, and herbs? Pie it. Also, pie is love, and the places on this list have done their best to share that love with the world. You’ll find fancy new school bakeries, old school diners, holes-in-the-wall, baking empires, and everything in between. What do they all have in common? They’re making the world a better place, one pie crust at a time.

Nashville, Tennessee
Nationwide delivery via Goldbelly
First of all, Arnold’s isn’t strictly a pie shop, it’s the quintessential meat-and-three restaurant—a Nashville mainstay where guests line up to slide a tray down the line to pick out their choice of one meat plus three vegetables from a rotating list of transcendent versions of classic Southern dishes. The real genius comes in the decision to put their array of pies at the start of the line so that you don’t skip it after your cafeteria tray is loaded down with fried chicken and squash casserole. It’d be a shame to miss out on the regional specialty of chess pie, a Platonic ideal of custard made with just eggs, flour, and sugar. There’s also a chocolate version of that same chess pie, a tooth-tingly sweet pecan pie, seasonal fruit pies and a chocolate fudge slice torqued up with chilis.

Call Your Mother
Call Your Mother

Washington, DC
Place orders online or buy in-store
If you’re looking for something more creative than your standard fruit or pumpkin-based pies, head over to Call Your Mother where creative flavors reign supreme. We love the S’mores Pie, a delicious chocolate pie with graham cracker crust and a toasted marshmallow top. Also, check out Hanukkah specials like the rustic Apple Upside Down Cake.

See the best pie shops in all of Washington, DC.

Louisville, Kentucky
Order direct from the website for nationwide delivery
When the Kentucky Derby rolls around each May, there are two must-haves for any resident or visitor to Louisville: mint juleps and Derby Pie. When the Kern family first invented this rich combination of chocolate and walnuts tucked into a buttery golden crust for their restaurant at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, Kentucky in 1954, copycats began to pop up almost immediately. Fiercely proud of their creation that they named Derby Pie after family members suggested names to be drawn out of a hat, the Kerns lawyered up and registered the name with the U.S. Patent Office. Hundreds of “cease & desist” letters later, you know that if you see it on the menu at a Kentucky restaurant or order one online for yourself, you’re getting the true original.

Colorado Cherry Company
Colorado Cherry Company

Denver, Colorado
In-store pickup or order online
The history of the Colorado Cherry Company begins in 1929 in Wisconsin, where the initial baker of fresh fruit and flakey crust pies, Great Grandma Katherine, became widely known for her creations. Flash-forward to the Lehnert family setting up shop in Colorado in the 1950s with a particular interest in the region’s cherry production, and a full-on pie dynasty is born. Now with locations in Loveland, Lyons, Estes Park, and Denver, the Colorado Cherry Company continues to grow because Coloradans know good pie. The wide selection of pie flavors available on any given day is a big draw, with both sweet and savory pies available. Favorites on the sweet side include Tart Cherry, Cherry Streusel, Classic Apple, and Maple Honey Pecan, and savory flavors include Old Fashioned Chicken, Post Oak Pork Green Chili, and Bison, Bacon, Mushroom & Stout. Grab a freshly made pie or a frozen one to bake on your own time. Gluten-free pies are also available for those with special dietary needs.

See the best pie shops in all of Denver.

Los Angeles, California
Order pies online
You can’t go wrong with any of Know Reality’s concoctions—after all, this tiny Eagle Rock storefront, which once operated a pie truck, has won scads of ribbons from the KCRW Pie Contest. Here, you’ll find the city’s most inventive flavors, from Winter Berry Cabernet to Espresso Bourbon Butterscotch Pecan. But the Hot Buttered Rum—which we imagine tastes like Harry Potter’s butterbeer in pie form—is our victor. Developed with a top-secret butter rum syrup that’s steeped with nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon spices (and obviously, a fair amount of rum), the pie is smothered in eggnog whipped cream and chocolate curls. Each decadent bite tastes exactly like a holiday pie should: cozy, comforting, and just a little bit boozy.

See the best pie shops in all of Los Angeles.

Washington DC
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At Mah-Ze-Dahr, you can indulge in sweet offerings like the Apple Crumble Pie, which pairs granny smith apples with autumn spices and a crumble topping that is sure to bring out the best of the season. The award-winning bakery has pies throughout the year, but flavors are constantly rotating to reflect the latest of the season.

Fireman Derek's Bake Shop
Fireman Derek's Bake Shop

Miami, Florida
Nationwide delivery via Goldbelly
After spending an illustrious career as a Miami firefighter, the natural progression is…selling pies? It is if you’re Derek Kaplan, who went from battling blazes to battling sweet tooths when he opened this Wynwood pie shop in 2013. His Key Lime Pie isn’t just Miami’s best—Andrew Zimmern anointed it the world’s best in 2017. Derek is for more than a one-trick pony, though, as his Cookie Monster cheesecake made with a chocolate-chip cookie crust and crushed Oreos is constantly in demand. And the Grasshopper is a mint-lover’s dream. Derek even slings ice cream in his Coconut Grove location, after graduating from Penn State’s vaunted ice cream school. In 2022, the shop will be expanding, opening its first Ft. Lauderdale location.

Chicago, Illinois
Delivery via CashDrop; call for in-store pick up
A few years back, Dave and Megan Miller (a ha!), two of the founding partners from Chicago’s rightly beloved Bang Bang Pie Shop split off on their own to get even deeper into the pie-making arts (and other grain-based endeavors), meticulously sourcing and milling (ah ha again!) local grain for a unique product that makes pie consumption feel about as nutritionally virtuous as it could possibly be. That’s not to say you aren't still indulging yourself—rotating options like peanut butter buckeye pie, deeply rich chocolate chess, and blueberry cheesecake swirl still unquestionably deliver on the “treat yourself” front. Just come back and get a grain bowl the next day.

See the best pie shops in all of Chicago.

Duluth, Georgia
Place orders online
In Georgia, pie is a way of life, from the decadent finishing moves at classic Southern dining experiences like Mary Mac’s to a new wave of chef-driven creations drawing global inspiration. But in up-and-coming Duluth, self-proclaimed pie-vangelist Briana Carson has spent the past decade turning Crave into an institution by embracing a wide spread of styles. Her chocolate bourbon pecan nods to Kentucky hooch and classes it up with Georgia pecans and Belgian sweets. The South is present in everything from layered lemon and chocolate chess offerings to a duo of sweet potato pies (winter only). She even pays tribute to regional favorites like Key lime, Boston cream, and Hoosier pie. And savory comes correct with a superlative chicken pot pie holding court next to offerings that include bacon cheddar and sun dried tomatoes. Even better, the pies are mini, so you can feel good about trying a few. Even better than that, Crave is next to Good Word Brewing, and pie and beer go together wonderfully.

See the best pie shops in all of Atlanta.

Hinman's Bakery
Hinman's Bakery

Arvada, Colorado
In-store pickup or order online
Owner and pie master John Hinman has a deep connection to baking and the community that it can cultivate. And while this place offers your typical, full-size pies of varying flavors, the hand pies add a touch of convenience and fun while hitting that same mark of flavor and joy. Expect standard fruit flavors like apple, blueberry, and cherry pies, with one or more seasonal flavors always on deck, and savory varieties, too, like chicken, veggie, and pork green chili pot pies. And be sure to keep your eyes peeled on those handhelds, as there’s usually a unique flavor or two that’s hand pie-only. Hinman is also a big advocate for the work that the Culinary Hospitality Outreach and Wellness (CHOW) organization does for the restaurant community.

Seattle, Washington
Place orders online
Inarguably the Emerald City’s most prominent restaurateur, Tom Douglas runs everything from a pair of fancy pizzerias to taverns, pastarias, lounges, and upscale restaurants. But one of the most famous dishes in his empire is an actual pie: specifically the Triple Coconut Cream Pie, which comes with coconut crust, shredded coconut meat, and toasted coconuts (along with white chocolate shavings on top of whipped cream). It’s probably the city’s most famous pie—beloved by locals and Obamas alike.

Baltimore, Maryland
Order nationwide via Goldbelly
Founded by the frontman of a Baltimore band who honed his baking skills summering in Indiana with his grandmother and got his pie-slinging start selling slices at his band’s merch table, Dangerously Delicious has become a full-on institution with a pair of brick-and-mortar locations (and even a presence in nearby DC). You’ll find sweet standards like lemon chess and coconut cream as well as more “dangerous” selections, if you will, like pineapple right-side-up and blueberry pancake. Don't sleep on the savory side of things, though, because they also serve up everything from ratatouille to pork BBQ in pie form.

Tiny Pies
Tiny Pies

Austin, Texas
Tiny Pies bake the kinda pies that your Southern-belle granny would if she were a hobbit. In other words; they’re the holidays in miniature, and you’re guaranteed to gag for sequels. Mother and daughter team Kit Seay and Amanda Wadsworth have been filing local stomachs and camera rolls for over a decade, implementing four-generation old recipes with organic, scratch ingredients. That’s on everything from the savory Chicken Pot Pie to the Sweet Texas Pecan (locally grown in a heavenly secret recipe). And though ‘small’ is a dirty word in Texas, restrictions need not apply. Boxes of six or twelve, and full-size Not So Tiny Pies are your typical order denominations, and if that isn’t enough crust for y’all, a Tiny Pie blended milkshake to wash that all down with should do the trick.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Order pies online
A throwback-style diner with a penchant for pie, Honeypie is a decade into giving the city of Milwaukee its pie fix, with its bakeshop turning out a dizzying variety of options. Some of them are a nod to Wisconsin culture (Brandy Old Fashioned Cherry, Apple Cheddar Bacon), and some are just a nod to being delicious. The shop also hosts a pie competition for home cooks in the fall, and if you’re serious about winning it, perhaps take advantage of the fact that they offer pie lessons as well.

Claremont, California
Order pies online
Established in 2012 and located in the cute, suburban Claremont village on the outskirts of Los Angeles County, I Like Pie offers fresh, ingenious pies, thoughtfully crafted and individually prepared. The rotating menu features seasonal flavors like the comforting winter berry pie in the colder months, autumn inspired Dutch apple, and the sunny peach raspberry in the summers. Mainstays, including a nurturing chicken pot pie and delightfully indulgent chocolate chip chess, are worth a trip alone. Flaky crusts, graham cracker crusts, and buttery crusts are filled with every fruity, chocolaty, custardy filling imaginable. If you’re driving to the West Coast on historic Route 66, just know that these pies the true treasures waiting at the end of your journey.

Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Brooklyn, New York
Order nationwide via Goldbelly
When sisters Melissa and Emily Elsen opened their Brooklyn pie shop in 2009 after building a following selling pies out of their apartment, it permanently changed the pie game in New York. More than a decade later, they’re still an essential stop for any New Yorker (or New York visitor, for that matter) with a sweet tooth, thanks to offerings like a brown butter apple streusel you’ll want to have for breakfast until the end of your days, and the beloved Salty Honey—a sweet-salty indulgence that also represents one of New York’s iconic desserts.

See the best pie shops in all of New York City.

Portland, Oregon
Order pies online
Because Portland is Portland, the city is swimming in restaurants that specialize solely in pie, from Pie Spot to Pacific Pie Co. and Paiku. But Lauretta Jean’s stands tall, with a little shop tucked amid the bustling food destination that is Division Street, seemingly transported there from some fancy remote farmland and plopped in the middle of one of America's trendiest food hoods. Everything here is locally sourced and seasonal, including the apples scored from Hood River’s legendary “Fruit Loop” (it’s a thing) that find their way into heirloom apple, Dutch apple, and apple walnut pies. Cream pies dominate too, but the crowning achievement of the roster of old-fashioned favorites done right is the rich, coma-inducing honey pie, which comes either hit with salt or paired up with hazelnuts. Those are local, too. Everything here is.

New York, New York
Order pies online or via Goldbelly
With locations in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, Petee’s is essentially a pair of museums honoring the art of pie-making on the most local level possible. This is a place that sources every ingredient from nearby farms, right down to the grass-fed butter that goes into the crust. Fruit pies are the stars, highlighted by a wild Maine Blackberry number and a NY Sour Cherry just begging to be sweetened up with a kiss from a scoop of ice cream. Chess pies get a lot of love as well, with the Black Bottom Almond offering up particular nuance, while nuts and custards round out what is essentially a parade of pie styles. Don’t sleep on the savory: The daily quiche is out of this world, and the hearty chicken pot pie is pure comfort packed into a flaky, buttery crust that will warm even the hardest heart in the dead of a New York winter.

Boulder, Colorado
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Boulder is known for being a fantastic place to experience the outdoors. Sadly, Shamane’s Bake Shoppe is not located on top of a mountain, and hummingbirds do not deliver slices of sweet potato chocolate ginger pie. We’ll be real: It’s in the back of an industrial park. But sometimes the best places are tucked away, and inside you’ll find an adorable 20-seat cafe featuring savory pies like the uber-popular chicken pot pie, plus extremely Colorado selections like the egg-packed breakfast pot pie with green chile or bison-filled pasties. Dessert options include delectable cherry mini pies, chocolate walnut bourbon espresso Derby pies, and apple wildberry galettes made with that ultra-rich European butter that piles on the decadence. All of its sweet pie fillings are constantly rotating and many come from local farmers, which is convenient considering Shamane’s mini pies are staples of the summertime Boulder Farmers Market.

Mrs. Wick's
Mrs. Wick's Bakery & Cafe

Winchester, Indiana
Nationwide delivery via Goldbelly
Sugar cream pie is associated with Indiana as tenderloin sandwiches and race cars at this point. But when the Wickersham family started firing out pies back in 1944, they became the gold-standard for the official state pie. Wick’s has built an empire on these custardy delights, but like so many things, they’re another experience altogether that tastes fresh from the source. Trek out to the small town of Winchester (about 90 minutes west of Indianapolis) and you’ll be confronted with 36 options for slices of display beneath the museum-like glass in an old-school cafe. The original sugar cream will certainly be there, but it’s not alone. Cream pies range from peanut butter to pineapple. Fruit pies go from apple to cherry to pumpkin chess. And they change daily and with the seasons. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even find mince. Either way, there’s also a full cafe, which serves tenderloin. And there’s no more Hoosier an experience than following an oversized fried pork sandwich with sugar cream from Wick’s.

Detroit, Michigan
Order pies online
In Michigan, cherries are the undisputed king of pie fillings, which makes perfect sense given the sheer number of orchards. So if you’re driving around upper Michigan and smell pie, you’re in good shape. But there’s a good reason that Sister Pie has become a sensation, and it’s not courtesy of the cherries. (Though, yes, they do wonderful things with those, too.) The Detroit bakery has exploded into national renown and even dropped a cookbook after a few short years thanks to the innovations they put between their transcendent, buttery, layered crust, which is the MVP of the operation. Seriously, you could just chomp on crust all day. But don’t. Because you’d miss out on the Salted Maple, which stands tall on a menu that rotates options like Honey Lemon Meringue, Sweet Beets, and whatever else comes to the pastry chefs’ minds.

Charleston, South Carolina
Order by calling the bakery
What began as a passion project in 2007—two New York architects moved to the sleepy South to bake things—is now a Charleston fixture, under the guidance of baker/owner Kathryn Palmisano since 2019. Visit during summer for blueberry or fall for apple—there’s an impressive commitment to seasonality (buttermilk, lemon meringue, pecan, chocolate, and chocolate bourbon pecan are available year-round). If you don’t have the room or time for a full-on pie, lemon curd cupcakes and ginger molasses cookies are always at the ready for immediate devouring.

Cole Saladino | Thrillist

Atlanta, Georgia
Order pies online
This class act makes traditional pies done correctly, the kind of pies you can carry into any situation with your head held high. Think apple pies filled beyond the brim with a glorious dome of a crust. Caramel pecan pie with a luxurious well of buttery/sugary goodness. Wholesome chicken pot pies loaded with veggies and flavorful thigh meat, thank you ma'am. They also do beautiful quiche and a selection of seasonal pies. Best of all, they take meticulous care in packing these pies for shipping so they arrive in pristine condition, and their customer service is prompt, courteous, and warm. Well, they are southerners, after all.

Portland, Maine
Order pies online
When you’re serving pie in Maine, which Two Fat Cats has been with aplomb since 2005, your blueberry pie game had better be on point. And this one is—flaky, juicy, with just the right level of spice commingling with the sweet berries. But don’t let your blueberry-related exploration stop there, or you’ll miss the (seasonally available) New England Bog Pie, which brings cranberries into the mix, along with a hint of chocolate. But hey, just because the shop’s sour cherries come from Michigan doesn’t mean it doesn’t nail that, too! You’re in good hands here wherever you land on the fruit/cream pie spectrum.

Kyle, Texas
Order pies online
At this pie shop located in the town of Kyle, just outside of Austin, pastry chef/owner Julie Alberston crafts her pies using her grandmother’s recipes. Expect all the classics—from chess to fruit pies to coconut cream and Key Lime—in both a 10-inch deep dish and 4-inch personal size. Albertson’s shop sells other baked goodies and serves a full comfort-food menu as well, but you came here for the pie. And we can vouch for the Southern Pecan, which will spoil you with the perfect golden ratio of toasted pecans and rich, unctuous filling.

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Editors: James Chrisman, Danielle Dorsey, Kelly Dobkin, Meredith Heil, Jess Mayhugh, Liz Provencher, and Tae Yoon

Writers: Lee Breslouer, Erica Buehler, Chris Chamberlain, Lulu Chang, Andy Kryza, Stratton Lawrence, Matt Lynch, Matthew Meltzer, Kat Thompson, Tiffany Tse, and James Wong