Emporium Pies in Bishop Arts District...YUM!

So I headed off last Friday with my Mom and my sister to have an early Mother’s Day lunch together. We are all 3 moms, so we decided to celebrate together before the actual day on Sunday. Our destination? Eno’s Pizza Tavern in the Bishop Art’s District. I think I’m becoming a “Bishop Arts District Junkie”! Remember this area? I wrote a blog post about Spinster Records? Well…I have since been back many times. I’ve just come to love this area of town. So we arrived at Eno’s Pizza Tavern and enjoyed their wonderful lunch special – a salad, a personal 8″ pizza, and a drink all for about $9! Deal, right?

We loved it all, and we were so full as we walked out of the restaurant. Our car was parked a few blocks away, and how convenient it was that to get to the car, we had to pass Emporium Pies! Hmmmm…wonder if we parked that way on purpose? So, if you haven’t heard of Emporium Pies, I will fill you in on all the yummy details I know of… First off, they say on the website, that “Emporium Pies is a specialty pie shop in the heart of the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff, Dallas. All of our pies are handmade and our offerings change with the seasons. Our pies contain no artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils, dyes, or corn syrup. Come on in for some coffee and pie!”

Okay…look at that crust. Doesn’t it just look YUMMY? All I need is a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Back in 2012, there was an article published in D Magazine called “Breaking Pie News: Emporium Pies Has a Little Shop in the Bishop Arts District.“ This article first mentions the fact that Emporium Pies is located at 314 N. Bishop in Oak Cliff – – get it? Just like Pi (3.14) in mathematics!! Pretty funny, right?? A perfect location for Emporium Pies! It is owned by Megan Wilkes and Mary Sparks and it is housed in a 1930s bungalow – the perfect little cottage with a quaint front porch. I felt like I was walking in to my grandmother’s house to get a slice of freshly baked pie!

The owners first started selling pies online to test the market, and used many different venues to do this. After burning many pies because they were using different ovens and unfamiliar, rented kitchens, they decided to settle down in a permanent home in the Bishop Arts District.

Here it is – the quaint little shop in the Bishop Arts District. It’s a cozy little cottage with a wonderful front porch and a few tables to sit at inside.

Dallas Observer was excited to share its story called Emporium Pies Now Has A Home In Oak Cliff in 2012. It was official, Emporium Pies, instead of finding another “pop-up” location, would be permanently settling down in the Bishop Arts District. And they are right in the center of all the action in Bishop Arts. We could see their store front from Eno’s Pizza Tavern where we had lunch, so it was a no-brainer to walk in to their store after lunch. I mean…it was Mother’s Day. We needed to treat our Mom to a yummy dessert, right?

In 2013, not long after they settled in Bishop Arts, the Dallas Observer reported that Emporium, the pie-in-the-sky-idea that started out as a pop-up in the Bishop Arts District less than two years ago and quickly won over waistlines throughout the city, just opened its second shop in McKinney over the weekend.

They now have 2 locations, so those of you near McKinney don’t have to travel down to Bishop Arts to experience the greatness of Emporium Pies. You can also find them at 107 S. Tennessee St. in McKinney, Texas! If you’ve been up there before, you know that this is a wonderful area as well – lots of great restaurants and fun stores to shop in.

Great news, right? At least for me. McKinney is just a hop, skip, and a jump from my home! Could be trouble for my waist-line though. Because let me tell you…after standing in line for about 5-10 minutes at Emporium Pies in Bishop Arts District, we finally got up to the counter to order. Wow…what should we choose? We couldn’t agree on one flavor, so buying an entire pie was out of the question. Luckily, you can buy pie by the slice too!

The flavors change from time to time, and when we were there, we had a choice of the following:

Dr. Love – this is a red velvet cheese pie. It has the texture of a moist, gooey brownie and the flavor of red velvet cream cheese! YUM!
The Drunken Nut – this pie has a shortbread crust with a sweet sauce including butter, bourbon, brown sugar, and Texas pecans. Oh my… Their website says “we consider it our most perfect pie to date. You will never try another pecan pie quite like this one.”
Smooth Operator – a French silk chocolate pie with a pretzel crust. I saw this one in the cabinet, and I just wanted to smash it on my face. It looked delicious!
Lord of the Pies – a deep dish apple pie with cinnamon streusel. YUM!
Blue Steel – a flaky pie crust with a fresh blueberry filling. Just your basic blueberry – it looked so yummy!
The Nutty Honey – this has a peanut butter cream over a bed of crunchy honey bits.
In the Limelight – this pie has a tart and sweet key-lime custard with cream cheese!

Even with just a few choices, I still felt over-whelmed! Which pie should I try? A pie that is described as “our most perfect pie to date” seems like the clear winner. But…since we were taking our pies “to go,” I needed one that my kids would enjoy too, because I was leaving Bishop Arts and heading straight to carpool – I knew my kids would spot (and smell) it immediately, so I decided to get a pie that they would enjoy too. (Mom-of-the-Year, right? Or biggest idiot!)

Next time I’ll be bringing everyone their own slice of pie! Sharing once slice was not much fun!!

I went with Blue Steel, my Mom ordered a slice of The Drunken Nut and a slice of Lord of the Pies (she said for my Dad…yeah right), and my sister went with a slice of In the Limelight! While we were waiting for our slices to be bagged up for us to take home with us, we watched several people who were eating in the store receive their order. Oh my…eating your slice of pie (a la mode) in the store is the way to go. Those are some hefty, warm slices of pie with a giant scoop of ice cream on the side! YUM! But…carpool was looming, so we had to take ours to go. Maybe next time…

If you want more information on these stores, you can visit them at their website www.emporiumpies.com or check out their Facebook Page.

My pie did make it home, and all 4 of us were able to enjoy some of it. It was delicious! However, next time, I will be bringing everyone their own slice of pie. Forget this sharing stuff… Have fun at Emporium Pies! Look for me – I might be there again trying a slice of The Drunken Nut – my Mom said it was delish! Until next time…

P.S. After writing this blog post, I found this article March (2016) titled Emporium Pies is Expanding To Deep Ellum! The new store front will be at 2708 Main in Deep Ellum, right next door to Pecan Lodge! Very exciting…