There’s something about pie. It doesn’t matter if it’s sweet or savory; filled with fruit or custard or steak and ale; conventionally round or half-moon-shaped; store-bought or baked at home. Whatever the particulars, pie is somehow accessible and comforting and irresistible in a way that, say, muffins, cake, or doughnuts can never be.
“Never say ‘no’ to pie,” counsels “Today Show” personality Al Roker. “No matter what, wherever you are, diet-wise or whatever, you know what? You can always have a small piece of pie….” Or a big piece.
Pie has a long history in America. We’ve been eating it ever since the Pilgrims brought the idea of enclosing things in dough across the Atlantic. What they ate was probably mostly meat pies, though a recipe for pumpkin pie did first appear as early as 1675. (We can only imagine what early American pumpkin pie-eaters would have thought of all those pumpkin spice things we don’t need this fall.)
Regional pie styles developed over the years, reflecting locally available ingredients — pecans in Texas, Key limes in Florida, peaches in Georgia, blueberries in Maine, apples almost everywhere — and more elaborate confections like lemon meringue, banana cream, and black bottom pies attained classic status.
Many American cities boast pie shops today — dessert emporiums that make a specialty of pies. Then there are bakeries with a wider repertoire which nonetheless turn out a variety of first-rate pies. And some places known primarily as diners or even full-scale restaurants make pies of some distinction, too, selling them to take out as well as to enjoy in situ. A number of purveyors offer both sweet and savory examples, and some of the signature items singled out below are dinner rather than dessert.
All those kinds of places are included in this list of top-notch places to find pie. Whatever the particulars, all of them will delight the pie-lover, and many of them are among the 40 best pie shops in America.
1. Alabama: JaWanda’s Sweet Potato Pie
> City: Birmingham
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Pecan sweet potato
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2. Alaska: A Pie Stop
> City: Anchorage
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Coconut custard
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3. Arizona: Piefection
> City: Mesa
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Lemon blueberry sour cream
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4. Arkansas: Rymolene’s Pies
> City: Fayetteville
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Cranberry Key lime
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5. California: I Like Pie
> City: Claremont
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Chocolate chip chess
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6. Colorado: 3.14 Sweet & Savory Pi Bar
> City: Colorado Springs
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Amaretto cherry almond
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7. Connecticut: Cutie Pies
> City: Thomaston
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Grasshopper
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8. Delaware: Sweet Somethings
> City: Wilmington
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Banana cream
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9. Florida: P Is for Pie Bakery
> City: Orlando
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Caramel pecan hand pie
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10. Georgia: Pie Society
> City: Savannah
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Steak and ale
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11. Hawaii: Hawaiian Pie Company
> City: Honolulu
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Strawberry guava
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12. Idaho: Pie Hut
> City: Sand Point
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Crème brûlée
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13. Illinois: Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits (Logan Square)
> City: Chicago
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Blueberry pistachio
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14. Indiana: Pots and Pans Pies
> City: Indianapolis
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Biscuits and gravy pot pie
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15. Iowa: Kathy’s Pies
> City: Cedar Rapids
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Dutch apple
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16. Kansas: The Upper Crust Pie Bakery
> City: Overland Park
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Raspberry peach
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17. Kentucky: Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen
> City: Louisville
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Double crust apple
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18. Louisiana: Not Just Pie
> City: Monroe
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Banana caramel
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19. Maine: Two Fat Cats Bakery
> City: Portland
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Blueberry
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20. Maryland: Dangerously Delicious Pies
> City: Baltimore
> Yelp rating: 3.5
> Sample specialty: Baltimore bomb
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21. Massachusetts: Petsi Pies
> City: Somerville
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Mississippi mud
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22. Michigan: Sister Pie
> City: Detroit
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Salted maple
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23. Minnesota: The Buttered Tin
> City: Minneapolis
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Pumpkin chiffon
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24. Mississippi: Tom’s Fried Pies
> City: Jackson
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Pizza pocket hand pie
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25. Missouri: Pie Oh My
> City: Maplewood
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Dulce de leche mini pie
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26. Montana: Black Cat Bake Shop
> City: Missoula
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Huckleberry
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27. Nebraska: The Village PieMaker
> City: Eustis
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Cherry
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28. Nevada: Mix Bakeshop
> City: Reno
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Mixed berry
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29. New Hampshire: Just Like Mom’s Pastries
> City: Weare
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Chocolate M&M
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30. New Jersey: The Pie Store
> City: Montclair
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Chicken tikka
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31. New Mexico: Pie-O-Neer Pies
> City: Pie Town
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Apple green chile piñon
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32. New York: Petee’s Pie Company
> City: New York City
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Black bottom almond chess
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33. North Carolina: Fayetteville Pie Company
> City: Fayetteville
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Peach crumble
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34. North Dakota: Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Café
> City: Fargo
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Key lime
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35. Ohio: Just Pies
> City: Westerville
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Chocolate silk
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36. Oklahoma: Pie Junkie
> City: Oklahoma City
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Drunken turtle
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37. Oregon: Pie vs. Pie
> City: Gresham
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Coconut cream
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38. Pennsylvania: The Pie Place
> City: Pittsburgh
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: California raisin
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39. Rhode Island: Wayland Bakery
> City: Providence
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Boston cream
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40. South Carolina: Sugar Bakeshop
> City: Charleston
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Buttermilk
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41. South Dakota: Pistachio Pie
> City: Rapid City
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Pistachio
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42. Tennessee: Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop
> City: Murfreesboro
> Yelp rating: 5
> Sample specialty: Peanut butter cream
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43. Texas: Emporium Pies (Emporium Arts District)
> City: Dallas
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Father Christmas (peppermint cream with dark chocolate crust)
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44. Utah: Rocky Mountain Pies
> City: Salt Lake City
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Sea salt caramel French silk
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45. Vermont: Piecemeal Pies
> City: White River Junction
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Rabbit bacon
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46. Virginia: Proper Pie Co.
> City: Richmond
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Raspberry chocolate
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47. Washington: A la Mode Pies
> City: Seattle
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Bourbon butterscotch
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48. West Virginia: Oliver’s Pies
> City: Wheeling
> Yelp rating: 4
> Sample specialty: Pineapple
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49. Wisconsin: Elsie Mae’s Canning & Pies
> City: Kenosha
> Yelp rating: 4.5
> Sample specialty: Ginger lime
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50. Wyoming: The Bread Doctor
> City: Torrington
> Yelp rating: 5
> Sample specialty: Chicken pot pie
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