Why You Should Avoid Ordering Pie At Restaurants (With One Major Exception)

One might imagine that pie would be an exception to the times you should avoid ordering restaurant desserts. Even though you might not be an expert in the genre yourself, pies are generally believed to be a little simpler, more rustic, and easier to make than other fancier treats, particularly for a professional kitchen. After all, it seems like everyone's grandma has a semi-secret apple, pumpkin, or blueberry pie recipe. But restaurants, as much as we love them, are still businesses at the end of the day, and they must find ways to maximize income while also trying to save time and even precious counter space. That's why so many of the slices you'll spy on menus are more likely to be brought in than house-made.

Even if your favorite diner, cafe, bistro, or brasserie could afford to ignore the hospitality industry's notoriously narrow profit margins, it literally might not have the surface area on which to flour and drape crust after crust, or staff members trained in the art of pie making. So buying those pies frozen just makes more sense (and cents). But that doesn't mean that you should feel compelled to pay a markup for something you could more or less get from a grocery store freezer, however much you may have enjoyed your main course.

The exception to this — and most of this stripe of culinary guidance — is that if you want some pie, you should just order some darn pie. It's okay to pay for convenience in the absence of quality sometimes. And it sure is easier to have the restaurant bake, slice, plate, and store a Sara Lee than it is to do so at home.

Restaurants with dedicated pastry programs will probably be pretty proud of them, and thus upfront about what's going on back of house. Real restaurant reviews – not the dreck that populates some corners of the web — should also surface some answers. To better understand your pie's provenance in murkier instances, you'll need to ask. Even if it isn't made on-site, the degree to which it's outsourced might still mean that you're getting a superior product. Worst-case scenario, the pie came iced in a box, but might still satisfy. Or, it could be purchased from one of the best bakeries in town to create that magical marriage of ease and excellence.