If we are to trust the words of NPR, “cupcakes are dead” and pie is seizing the throne as the nation’s new beloved dessert. Wedding magazines are declaring pie buffets to be the new wedding cake, cake-decorating classes are being replaced by pie-baking workshops, and, no stranger to narrowly focused dessert boutiques, Seattle has met the trend with a crop of specialty pie shops, offering up a slice at a time for around $4. PIE HAS ARRIVED.
Of course, sensible citizens will point out that PIE NEVER LEFT. Humans have worshipped pie since before we were born and will continue to do so long after we’re dead. But pie has made the leap—fueled by whatever combination of commerce and whimsy and the flapping of butterfly wings on the other side of the globe that makes such leaps possible—from home kitchens and roadside diners to boutique cafes, with the last month bringing two new pie shops to Seattle: High 5 Pie and the simply named Pie landed on Capitol Hill and in Fremont, respectively, joining the preexisting Shoofly Pie Company in West Seattle and Seattle Pie Company in Magnolia.
Which is the best? Declaring “the best pie” is like declaring “the best cake”—it can’t be done. There are too many factors to consider. Are you a crust person or a filling person? If you’re a crust person, do you prefer butter or lard? How about duck fat (speaking of food trends)?
If you believe the crust is more than just a vehicle for a delicious filling, then your journey begins and ends at Magnolia’s Seattle Pie Company (3111 W McGraw St, 217-4743). Its leaf-lard-based (sorry, vegetarians) dark golden-brown crust is perfectly salty, flaky, and magnificent. (Leaf lard is the highest quality pig lard available, taken from around the pig’s kidneys and groin—oink!) And though the crust tastes like the harvested sweet skin of angels, Seattle Pie Company has mastered the art of not having too much of a good thing (a mistake regularly made by High 5 Pie). This crust is just thick enough to hold up to the mountain of filling, yet thin enough to fall apart into a few flaky layers with each bite.
As for fillings, Seattle Pie Company’s small cafe offers up everything from traditional sour cherry to peanut butter cream, but the signature pie really is the best. The Desserted Island Pie (get it? Desserted?) is a mixture of raspberries, marionberries, strawberries, and Granny Smith apples all topped with a cinnamon-
laced crumb topping. It’s tart, sweet, and salty—fantastic plain, but made even better with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. (And if you’re not convinced the trip to Magnolia will be worth it—though it will—Seattle Pie Company’s goods are also available in several local supermarkets both whole and by the slice.)
West Seattle’s Shoofly Pie Company (4444 California Ave SW, 938-0680) is another shop that does its crusts right. Unlike Seattle Pie Company, Shoofly uses an all-butter recipe, and its vast menu of flavors—featuring all the usual fruit fillings along with dark chocolate pecan, lemon meringue, and the signature Shoofly Pie (rich with molasses)—has kept it a community favorite since it opened its doors in 2007. For Shoofly, pie is not a trend but a lifestyle.
If crust means nothing to you, well, perhaps you’ll appreciate the adventurous menu at the newly opened High 5 Pie (1400 12th Ave, 695-2284). Like Shoofly, it has an all-butter crust, but it is not at all remarkable. It’s a bit bland, in fact, and there’s too much of it, especially in the “cutie pies,” which are four-bite mini pies wrought with crust in a muffin tin. As I bit into High 5’s crust, not one molecule of salt sizzled on my tongue, and the fluting around the edges was tough, as though it had been overworked prior to baking. Crust is finicky—you can’t mess with it too much or it will turn into a rock.
Initial tests found even High 5’s fillings coming up short—the cherry almond could’ve benefited from an extra punch of flavor, and the sweet potato needed nutmeg or allspice. But any missteps are made up for by the coconut cream pie, with clouds of thick, pale-yellow coconut custard and homemade whipped cream piled high and topped with more toasted coconut. It’s both light and creamy—heaven. High 5 also features a Froot Loops pie, which is so popular they’ve been sold out during all my attempts to try it.
Instead of offering pie by the slice, Fremont’s Pie (3515 Fremont Ave N, 436-8590) sells handheld treats in two sizes: mini, which is about the size of your average cupcake, and mini-mini, which is a tiny and cute two-bite pie. The mini-minis are great—at only $1.50 a pop, customers can try three flavors for about the same price as a full slice at the other shops. Pie’s peanut-butter-and-jelly pie (hooray!) has a crumbly peanut-butter-cookie crust with a dollop of raspberry jam in the center (which tasted almost identical to my grandmother’s celebrated freezer jam, made every year with raspberries from her backyard). The key lime pie has a highly tender, all-butter crust with fantastically tart filling (though a little dab of whipped cream on top of the naked pie would’ve been a nice addition).
And while four pie shops might seem like too many for one city (then again, we have, what, 17 cupcake shops?), Pie is ensuring its longevity by offering something none of the others do: late-night pie! On Friday and Saturday from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., Pie serves pie from a window so you can grab some pie—savory and/or sweet!—while barhopping or on your way home from a show. Genius. 
Gee it’s exactly columns like this one that make such silly, ephemeral “trends” possible. Fuck pie and fuck everyone who rushes out to get pie now that’s it’s the new Molly Moon’s.
an all-butter crust?? blasphemy!!
Allspice is only suitable as a meat spice. At least that’s what my Granny allus said.
#1, you really have a problem with dessert? How can anyone get angry about having several places to get ice cream and pie? This makes no sense to me.
PIE PIE PIE say it with me PIE PIE PIE!!! Apple pie, pumpkin pie, Hair Pie!!
Try the rotating pie at Betty Restaurant, in Queen Anne. Pastry chef Brittany Bardeleben has been at it for years, and it’s her grandma’s secret recipe. Amazing.
No article about Seattle pies – particularly one which references a coconut cream pie – is complete without mentioning the Dahlia Bakery’s Triple Coconut Cream Pie, truly the best coconut cream pie in the city.
@ Dingle Berries, i’m with you 200%. the Dahlia Pie is the best.
High 5 is so underwhelming as to be embarrassing there is an entire shop devoted to it
@7 I will have to try that! This was specially about shops serving only pies (or 90% pie), so that’s why it went unmentioned. Coconut Cream Pie is one of my very favorites and Dahlia Bakery has yet to let me down with anything else ever. (Have you had their Samoa cupcake? I have literally dreamt about it. It’s SO GOOD.)
I have to throw a shout out to A la Mode Pie. They don’t have a shop (yet, but Lordy Lordy they should because their pie blows everyone else out of the water) but they do deliver and sweet heavenly holy kittens, you have not lived until you have tried their Blue Hawaiian (blueberry and pineapple magic) and Chocolate Cream in a pretzel crust.
Don’t even get me started about High 5. I was so excited, waiting with bated breath for their opening. The disappointment was heartbreaking.
“Pie trend”? Asinine.
A friend of mine had High Five pie at her wedding in lieu of cake. It was absolutely disgusting. Seattle Pie Company in Magnolia has a very high and consistent quality by comparison. I’m actually hoping that High Five Pies will be out of business soon.
People earn their livelihoods there for heaven’s sakes. If you don’t like it, don’t go back. Hoping for it to go out of business seems perhaps a little…harsh?
Hipsters + food + the internet = most nauseating shit ever?
People that care about what kind of dessert is cool should be sterilized, right along with people that take iphone pictures of their boring ass dinner and post it to the internet.
I don’t think it’s about being cool. Did pie ever go out of style? Now it’s being appreciated on a larger scale, and people are remembering how much they love pie. That certainly does not make pie “Hipster.” I am by no means a hipster in any fashion, but damn if I don’t love me some pie.
It’s the same with cupcakes. They just make so much sense. Single serve cakes of deliciousness that bring you back to elementary school birthday parties? What’s not to love?
Some people prefer cake. Some people prefer pie. Crazy people don’t like dessert. I’m just glad there are some decent pie shops opening up because I can’t make crust to save my life, and now I can rely on someone else to do the delicious work for me. I’m just sad I have to drive to get to one instead of walk to the disapointment that is near my house.
@7&@9 Yeah. I don’t like coconut, but there are a couple of people at my work who talk about Tom Douglas’ coconut cream pie with unmatched reverence. I’ve heard about it dozens of times, so I’m assuming you should try it, Megan.
Having said that, I tried High 5 on Saturday night. We only tried the berry cutie pie, but it was totally disappointing. Our friends had a heated-up, full-sized piece of apple a la mode. The ice cream was melted and the pie was cold….
That Tom Douglas coconut cream pie is wonderful. I don’t see the need for any other pies in Seattle.
But if you’re down in Turlock, I would highly recommend Latifs.
I know that it’s a bit out off the beaten path, but there has been the Australian Pie Company in Burien since 1998. Sure, most of their pies are savory, but come on…the’ve been here in the area and doing it for a long time now.
http://www.australianpieco.com/index.htm…
@14. Honestly, this is a “newspaper” about Seattle culture. Culture syndications regularly write about food, as most of us (even pro-annas) eat food daily. Don’t worry about sterilization, Americans aren’t procreating nearly as much as we used to…probably because we are afraid of giving birth to smug little assholes like you…just sayin’
After I spent over $50 for two pies and a pint of ice cream at High Five Pie, it would’ve been nice to not smell all the construction, sawdust and glue that is apparently still lingering in the air.
Not even a mention of 3.14 in White Center?
Hey what about 3.14? I love their coconut cream!
It’s hard sometimes to believe that all of these cupcake shops, specialty ice cream shops and pie shops can survive. I’m constantly surprised that the market for these items is sufficient to support even ONE store, let alone the dozens. What next?
I was cruising on Highway 99 one night when the urge to wander struck and I saw a store that sells – no kidding – sea salt. Really? Really? Are people so willing to make a special trip to buy salt that a store can specialize in it? Are people so appreciative of the difference between this salt and that salt that they are willing to pay for it? Really?
In a country where you can buy frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (for those too busy or too inept to make their own?) I guess anything is possible.
I ended up eating at Pie in Fremont twice on Saturday. I was excited to see it opening and we went there to get some dinner. I was a little disappointed that they don’t offer larger sizes, you’d need three of their $5 pies for a meal (or at least I would) and it’s just not cost effective that way. I got a veggie one, which was quite good actually and had excellent crust. That night I was heading home from a show at 1:30am and they were still open (bonus points) so I stopped for a snack. I tried the macaroni and cheese one for something different, but it wasn’t as good as the veggie one.
Overall: Decent as snacks, but not the meal I was hoping for. Guess they are just going for the bar crowd. (haven’t tried their sweet pies)
That’s a cute picture of Bettina
My boyfriend and I ventured to West Seattle for Shoofly on Saturday. The gal who helped us was so nice! We grabbed our slices to go.
Later when we dug in, we both remarked about the crust and how AWESOME it was. For me, crust is not just a vehicle to hold the pie together. It is a major component of a pie’s tastyness. Their crust is perfectly buttery and fresh and deeeeeeelicious.
Anyhoo, I’d gotten about three bites in when I heard my boy smack his lips and shut his to-go container. I was like, “Holy cow, did you even TASTE that?” and he nodded eagerly and replied, “That’s why I ate it so fast. That was FUCKING GOOD!”
I agree. Shoofly is FUCKING GOOD.
maybe the reason we’re such a nation of huge fat asses is because we have ridiculous dessert fads that cycle through every few months.
Pie in Fremont is just awesome. The pies are amazing and folks that work there are super sweet. I’d particularly recommend the apple pie.
23’s comments –> I found the size to be perfect. They are comparable with hand held lunch pies you’d get in places such as Australia. I think they have a happy hour too where pies are $3.14.
is that melina in the pic?
I’ve been making pie at Two Bells for about a year now, and like to think that I’ve been bring the level of pie in belltown up a bit.
“pie” in Fremont….lots of crust in single serving pies, not a lot of filling.
Fad, my ass. You might as well say that baguettes are taking over the tables of France or pizza in Naples. Nothing beats a good ol’ slab of pie and a damned good cup of coffee, same as it ever was and always shall be. A-fuckin’-men!
Yuppies finding what oldsters always knew, and never stopped enjoying. Diners are havens for those of us that don’t get caught up in fads, but just go for straightforward goodness. Long live diners. (and yes, you are all yuppies)
Even when I ate meat — which I always liked and definitely miss — the idea of rendered pig in my dessert made me nauseous.
Sorry, Magnolia. That’s fucking gross.
Golden, flaky crust with luscious fillings, fruit or cream, all made entirely from scratch…MMMMMMMMMMMMM!
My beloved mother spoiled us rotten!
Hooray for the comeback of PIE!!!!
Wow. Impressive.
Seattle discovers pie. What next? Soup.
I guess Seattle is just one big, open air Home Economics class anyway, so yawn.
I can’t wait for the ‘socks n’ sandwiches’ trend to heat up.
@36. You love soup. I love pie. To each his or her own.
I love pie and I always have. I prefer pie to cake. I prefer cake to cupcakes. My Nana and I would often bake pie together before she died around 4 years ago. I’ve never found anyone’s Lemon Meringue to be as good as my Nana’s was. For our first Valentine’s celebration I baked my bf a blackberry pie. We’ve been together for 8 years and we both prefer pie to cake. When we get married we’ve decided on having a variety of pie instead of cake. I don’t care about trends but more places serving pie is a good thing in my opinion. ^_^
Shoofly Pie doesn’t make Lemon Meringue pie. They call it that but it doesn’t have meringue on it, it has cream. They should call it a Lemon Cream pie instead. Dahlia Bakeries Coconut Cream pie is the best. It is so decadent and rich it’s ridiculous. I can never finish a whole slice myself or else I feel sick. But it’s so good I love it too much. I’m trying to decide if for my birthday I want the Dahlia Bakery Coconut Cream or if I want to try out Seattle Pie Company’s Desserted Island pie. If you want a good Key Lime pie buy one from Agua Verde. Be warned though it is on the sweet side but so very tangy, creamy and delicious.
“The key lime pie…” [Pie 3515 Fremont Ave N] is most likely NOT made with Key limes. Were it so, it would cost around $10 per slice.