The Best Pies in Los Angeles

Chef Jeremy Fox and Santa Monica hitmakers Rustic Canyon Family launched his dream restaurant in an industrial space just past Bergamot Station’s gates. Pastry chef Deanie Hickox provides an exclamation point with a pair of pies. The dessert menu spoke fame into existence with their self-described “world famous” rose petal pie, a floral Pepto pink pie with enough jiggle to weather an earthquake crafted with raspberries, fresh and dehydrated strawberries, candied rose petals, hibiscus, and crushed pretzel crust. Sugar cream pie, aka crème brûlée pie, features a sturdier crust and creamy torched custard.

Even though pastry chef Elizabeth Belkind and business partner Lisa J. Olin have a neon sign in their Mid-City bakery that reads, “enjoy life eat cake,” rest assured that Cake Monkey Bakery puts plenty of effort into pie. Belkind bakes delectable blueberry frangipane pies, which contained concentrated Michigan blueberry jam, a layer of tangy, gritty lemon frangipane, and piecrust studded with Demerara sugar granules, which caramelize during baking. Depending on the time of year, you might also find cherry almond pie, brown butter pecan pie, butterscotch pudding pie, “creamy dreamy” chocolate pie, or cider-roasted apple pie in an indulgent double cheddar crust.

Sharon Washington and her family started with Sharon’s Heavenly Cobblers, expanded to local farmers markets under the Crustees Eatery moniker and now go well beyond cobbler at a Windsor Hills bakery and café. Their stylish space features umbrella-shaded sidewalk tables and countertop pie incubator. Six-inch pies and cobblers include sweet potato, sweet-tart rhubarb with a buttery double crust, and savory chicken pot pie. Peach crisp is another strong option, topped with oats, pecans, and brown sugar and a central dough heart. Crustees Eatery also has soup bins that often include standout gumbo.

Manhattan Beach is a long way from the Florida Keys, but chef David LeFevre managed to create a memorable Key Lime Pie at his small seafood-centric restaurant that’s only two blocks from the pier and Pacific Ocean. Creamy, sweet tart filling tops a Graham cracker crust. Torched Italian meringue "flames" shoot out of the top. The tantalizing pie is plated on lime slices and finished with tangy lime zest.

For Pi Day 2020, FwD is offering whole Key Lime Pies for $32. Orders must be placed by 5pm on Wednesday, March 11. Pies will be ready for pick-up on Saturday, 3.14 from 10am to 4pm.

Friends & Family baker extraordinaire Roxana Jullapat and her crew produces delectable butter crust pies for holidays at the Thai Town bakery-café she co-founded with Dan Mattern. Pies could involve market-driven pumpkin, apple, and cranberry, plus two Southern-style crowd pleasers: pecan and chocolate chess. Jullapat’s also been known to bundle seasonal fruits. For instance, one past holiday yielded a beautiful pear, apple and cranberry pie with a double crust and a luscious salted honey pie. Year-round, their pastry case includes flaky seasonal fruit hand pies.

Zoe Nathan and longtime pastry lieutenant Laurel Almerinda feed the neighborhood’s need for edible Americana at Huckleberry in Santa Monica. Tart lemon meringue pie makes frequent appearances in the refrigerated case by the register, and fall brings rich, dark and well-spiced pumpkin pie dressed with cloud-like whipped cream and candied pumpkin seeds. For holidays, Huckleberry also sells whole apple pies with thick, flaky butter crusts and bountiful fruit that come in reusable Pyrex glass plates.

On an Eagle Rock side street, you’ll find the humble home to three-time 2015 KCRW “Good Food” pie contest winner Tracy Ann DeVore, who displays three medals, for blackberry cabernet, maple pecan, and her crust. She started with a tent outside Tommy’s and now presides over a counter and fridge beneath exposed wood rafters. Pies start at $6 and go up as sizes increase. Flaky, buttery crusts host a range of fillings, some seasonal, others simply crafted for comfort. We’d highly recommend salted caramel mango with a streusel top and judicious sweetness, firecracker apple rhubarb with a lid studded with sugar crystals, and sweet-tart Washington cherry with a centrally located heart crust.

Magpies Softserve, the chef-driven soft serve shop with locations in Silver Lake and Tarzana, offers vegan Softserve Pies that each serve 8-10 people. The Fried Softserve Pie is made with Corn Almond Softserve, graham cracker crust, layered with vegan fudge, honeycomb candy (not actual honeycomb), and topped with non-dairy whipped cream and fried candied corn flakes. The other colorful options are Red Velvet Softserve and Green Tea Softserve.

Note that Softserve Pies must be ordered 24 hours in advance and can only be picked up during normal business hours.

It’s always pie o’clock at Pie ‘N Burger, which has lived down the street from Caltech since 1963. So says the neon clock on the wall near the entrance. Current owner Michael Osborn started working there in 1972, and the same pie maker has been filling shelves with fruit and cream pies since 1971. They bake more than a dozen types of pie every day. In July and August, that means peach pie with big chunks of fruit and little more. Coconut cream pie is available daily, complete with shreds of toasted coconut, a fluffy meringue cap and thin crust. You may find apple, cherry, or minced meat as well.

The Pie Hole launched in the DTLA Arts District in 2011 and now has six SoCal locations, including Glendale, Hollywood, and Pasadena’s Indiana Colony food court. Co-founder Sean Brennan sells sweet and savory pies from a tempting display case, with varieties listed on butcher paper. Their deep roster draws on fourth generation recipes from "Pie Mom" Becky Grassley and might include sweet-tart blubarb (blueberries + rhubarb) and silky maple custard. Their hand pie game is also strong thanks to flaky crusts and fun fillings like Philly cheesesteak of guava cream cheese.

Mixed berry mini pies will be available for $3.14 on Pi Day (March 14). There will be other pie specials and vendors to celebrate the big day.

Mozza has become a juggernaut at the corner of Melrose & Highland, with three compelling restaurants that sit side-by-side, plus a grab-and-go outlet. Dessert has always been a key strength thanks to pastry chef Dahlia Narvaez and her mentor, Mozza co-owner Nancy Silverton. For summer at more casual Pizzeria Mozza, Narvaez created a towering strawberry gelato pie. Each oversized slab sports a Graham cracker crust, cascading whipped cream, strawberries, sheets of toasted spiced almonds, primarily for texture’s sake, and a complementary drizzle of tangy saba. In cooler months, coconut sorbetto pie with hot fudge and salted almonds may be on the menu.

Jon Stocking has built a NoHo Arts District destination hangout, thanks to a unique vibe and a variety of sweet and savory pies. The café features exposed wood rafters, reclaimed wood walls, and a Stumptown Coffee program that includes cold brew on tap. Pie fillings include cherry, peach, and pumpkin, depending on the season. Some pies are available year-round, including a memorable Chocolate Espresso Almond Cream, which features a marzipan base, a gritty blend of espresso and chocolate, espresso pastry cream, espresso whipped cream and whipped cream. The base is a fairly basic crust of flour, butter, eggs, and water. The Republic plates this pie with a decorative squiggle of chocolate sauce.

The Rose Venice, the high-volume Silicon Beach restaurant from Sprout Restaurant Group and Chef Jason Neroni, typically has two pies on the dessert menu. Tart lemon meringue touts dramatic meringue spires, but it’s chocolate banana cream that we crave. A flaky, butter-based crust hosts firm dark chocolate ganache, vanilla pastry cream, and fresh-cut banana slices. More whipped cream, dark chocolate shavings, and cocoa nibs complete the sweet picture.

Chef Chris Phelps gracefully transitioned Salt’s Cure to a larger Hollywood space with a full bar that resides amidst production and post-production houses. Thankfully, one of their signature desserts survived the transition: grapefruit pie. This California play on a steakhouse classic, Key lime pie, features firm, sweet and pleasantly tart orange-hued custard, a soft Graham cracker crust, whipped cream, and candied grapefruit peel.

Opened at The Hoxton Downtown LA in October 2019, Sibling Rival is an all-day neighborhood bistro from the acclaimed Sunday Hospitality group. The signature Sunday Pancakes are a must, but pie lovers will be in for a treat, thanks to pastry chef Mallory Cayon's creations like Meyer lemon and champagne meringue, and a holiday pie menu that featured Buttermilk Pumpkin, Baked Apple, Bourbon Pecan and Maple Custard. Cayon herself might wheel the rolling pie cart to your table with mini pies like frozen orange, chocolate molten with salted caramel ice cream, cheesecake with huckleberry compote, banana cream, and maple custard with goat milk cream and espresso powder.

In the Philippines, “sari sari” is the name for a general store. Sari Sari Store, the food stall from Margarita Manzke and fellow chef/husband Walter inside Grand Central Market, features metal pigs hanging from the ceiling and clear focus on Filipino comfort food. The menu stars Filipino rice bowls with proteins like crispy pork belly and rotisserie chicken, but by all means save room for buko pie. This textural wonder combines coconut jam, coconut custard layered with young coconut, and topside crumble.

Mickey Petralia’s outdoor café near Griffith Park trailheads offers visitors painted picnic tables, trees strung with colorful lights, a circle of hay bale seating, and musical accompaniment in the form of chirping birds. The hefty slab of apple pie has a butter-based crust and slices of sweet tart fruits sprinked with cinnamon. The Trails also typically makes a vegan pie, either strawberry rhubarb or mixed berry.

Longtime lawyer Brianna Abrams found life is sweeter when baking pies instead of filing legal briefs. She opened a Brentwood pie shop in 2017 and built on early success with a Mid-City outpost in 2018. Abrams named the shop for her hometown – Winston-Salem, North Carolina – and she showcases many Southern recipes starring all-butter crusts. PieSmiths craft double crust pies in fruit flavors like blueberry, cherry, and the seasonal Orchard Peach & Nectarine (June - August). Chocolate Cowgirl is a particularly decadent bake that combines salted caramel chocolate and oat crust. Assorted pies are available by the slice, in 11-inch rounds, as 5-inch minis, 4-inch hand pies, and as tiny PieBites.