Pie Town, NM Pie-o-neer Pie Shop
A pie lover is a certain breed of person. In a nutshell, you have to be between the ages of being able to chew and being dead. If this is you, then you have to put “indulging in the perfectness of the Pie-o-neer Pie Shop in Pie Town, New Mexico” on your bucket list.
Yes, there really is a Pie Town. It's located at the top of the Continental Divide in New Mexico, U.S. of A, just east of where highways 60 and 603 meet. If you're not familiar with where that is, most people are familiar with the town of Albuquerque, New Mexico (even if we can't always spell it), and Pie Town is about a three hour drive from there. There are no traffic lights or stops, and they don’t have a gas station.
The destination you want is the Pie-o-neer Pie Shop, and yes, it is well worth the drive!
We really couldn't believe that we'd already spent a whole week in New Mexico before someone thought to tell us that there was a place called Pie Town, and that, true to it's name, there were shops that sold pies. I know! Guffaw, right? Lots and lots of warm, delicious, decadent, handmade, homemade, made from scratch, perfect pies, right in our midst.
How does one go through life not knowing these things? I mean really! And oh how we'd been craving pies. We would have been there much sooner, perhaps even camped out for a few days if we had to, had we known of it's heavenly existence.
Any New Mexican culinary adventure would not be complete without a visit to this little New Mexico pie shop.
People from literally all over the world come to visit the Pie-o-neer Pie Shop just to enjoy a slice of pie with some coffee or tea. Kathy Knapp, owner of Pie-o-neer, loves this fact. She offers visitors a journal and a pen so that they can write a little about themselves, where they’re from, and what brought them to Pie Town. Each day after the shop closes, she sits and reads through every single one of her visitor’s entries and smiles. And when her shop journal fills up (and each fills up fast) she stores it and pulls out a new one.
Things you need to know:
♥ Once they’re out of pies they’re out of pies.
♥ They make whatever kinds of pies they feel like making each day. So if your heart is set on a certain type of pie, and you know when you’ll be visiting, you'll need to give them a heads up. Be sure to call ahead by at least a few days.
♥ They’re not always open and they don’t always hold the same hours, so you’ll want to check for updates via e-mail, their Facebook page, or by phone.
♥ Each pie is handmade from scratch every time.
♥ Their signature pies come with signature smiles.
♥ They have an adjoining art gallery filled with amazing local art.
And I know that all of you want to see some of the photos I took here, no talk about pies would do without pictures after all. Enjoy:
Pie-o-neer Shop Front: Come on in for "A Little Slice of Heaven".
A Piece of History: Find out how Pie Town got it's name. This sign is proudly displayed just outside the front door of Pie-o-neer.
Storefront Flyers
Pie-o-neer Apple Pecan Pie With Oats - This was not a pie, this was like nirvana. Like, you literally just become one with it the second it goes in you're mouth. You won't know where you are or who you're with or what you're wearing. None of that will matter.
Pie-o-neer Chocolate Pecan Pie - Look at that crust! Just look at it! Perfectly flaky and it crisp-melts in your mouth. The chocolate was like a soft moist gooey best brownie in the universe ever pie filling. And it's a PIE! And you get to eat it here!
My Pie-o-neer Chocolate Banana Cream Pie - you have not tasted banana cream until you've tasted this! I am soooo not kidding. (Everyone was jealous because it was the very last slice of the day. Yay me!)
Photos ©2013 Michelle pg Richardson for Eye on Life Magazine