My friends and I have eaten more pie over the past few weeks than I have all year. When I asked for suggestions about where to get to good pie, you guys gave me more stops than I ever expected. I had planned to have this review wrapped up by Thanksgiving, as a "where to order your holiday pie" article. I'm not even close to being finished. I'm not giving up. I just want to offer you a preliminary rundown, in time for Thanksgiving.
I've come to the conclusion that "best pie" is going to be hard to choose. There's the pie with the best crust (but do you like graham cracker or pie crust?), best meringue, best custard, best nut pie, best fruit pie, best pie for ice cream, best ice box pie, etc.
For my money, my favorite this past few weeks has been Charlotte's and Sweets and Eats in Keo. It's a little over an hour to get there and back, but I think it's worth the trip. A whole pie is $20 (24 hours advance notice is needed). You can get it by the slice, but come early. We arrived around 1, and the pie was almost gone.
Their meringue is just perfect (and I don't usually like meringue) in portion and texture, and the coconut flavor in their coconut pie was incredible. The custard had great texture too, and the meringue actually stuck to it pretty well. It's the pie that everyone keeps comparing other pies too, so you know it's good.
Charlotte's Sweets and Eats is located at 290 Main Street (near Morris Antiques) in Keo, and open Tuesday through Friday from 11-2 and Saturday from 11-3. They don't take credit, cash or check only. They have a pretty decent lunch menu too.
My second favorite, and probably the best place to order your holiday pie from, would be Hunka Pie in North Little Rock. Hunka Pie cannot be beat for the sheer variety of pies he has to offer. His holiday pie list has over 20 pies, all made from scratch.
The two readers who submitted Hunka Pie commented on the nut pies. I tried the pecan. It gets high marks. The karo filling was very nice. I found the many varieties of fruit pie on the menu more interesting, though I didn't try any (other reviews praise them). He'll put pretty much any fruit you can name in a pie. I'll have to visit again and try the blueberry. The lunch counter offers savory pie too. Hunka Pie is located inside of Galaxy Furniture, in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock. Hunka Pie is open 10-6 on Tuesday-Saturday. No credit cards accepted.
I've only visited 7 out of about 20 user submitted places. If you want to see the results of the first 7, check the link. Be sure to check back for the other dozen! You can also visit my photo gallery if you just want to look at the pies.
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