Livin' The Pie Life - Pies, Both Savory and Sweet, on Lee Highway and N. Glebe Road in Arlington

[jderryup]

I couldn't find a thread on this deserving shop.  On the way home from a successful dentist visit to Arlington - I couldn't resist the simple singage.  "Livin' the Pie Life".

Took home a small chilled chocolate cream and an apple/cherry right out of the oven.  The chocolate had a chocolate crumb crust and the fruit pie had an excellent traditional pie crust.  Being of a savory orientation, I also got a bacon and cheese scone.  There were also mini quiches that I'll try next time.

All were great and worth the price ($$) - and being about 4" in diameter, they were lighter in the calories than getting a whole pie.  

The chocolate pie scored some serious husband points.

[Genevieve]

The mini-pies are wonderful -- the crust is so good and the filling is delicious but not tooth-achingly sweet. The cherry pie is my favorite, and the chocolate cream is my son's favorite.

 

[horacebailey14]

This place is great! I love the sign, I love the small space, and I love how when you walk in you just see hundreds of pies right in front of you. What could possibly be a more welcoming sight?

The quiches and savory pies had great flavor combinations. The sweet pies were outstanding. And the crust on everything was delicious of course, beautifully buttery and flaky. So often dessert pies are sickly sweet but the three we tried here were perfectly balanced. My favorite was definitely the key lime. 

We got mini 4 inches, but afterwards realized they sell some flavors by the slice. We'll know for next time as I suspect that yields a better crust to filling ratio.

[DonRocks]

Are others prepared to say these are the best pies in the DC area? I know of none better.

The lemon chess pie may be the best I've ever had.

[Bob Wells]

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

Are others prepared to say these are the best pies in the DC area? I know of none better.

The lemon chess pie may be the best I've ever had.

Ok, you had me at lemon chess. I learned about chess pie from a guy from the Mississippi delta who used to make them for me. Dare I ask if they also have chocolate chess, coconut chess, plain ol chess....?

[DonRocks]

30 minutes ago, Bob Wells said:

Ok, you had me at lemon chess. I learned about chess pie from a guy from the Mississippi delta who used to make them for me. Dare I ask if they also have chocolate chess, coconut chess, plain ol chess....?

I didn't see - today, I got a large Lemon Chess Pie and a Chicken Pot Pie ($32 each, and worth it). There were a lot of people in there, rolling dough - this place is for real.

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ETA - They have a Salted Caramel Chocolate Chess Pie. If that sounds evil, they have individual-sizes (which still look fairly ample).

[Bob Wells]

5 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I didn't see - today, I got a large Lemon Chess Pie and a Chicken Pot Pie ($32 each, and worth it). There were a lot of people in there, rolling dough - this place is for real.

---

ETA - They have a Salted Caramel Chocolate Chess Pie. If that sounds evil, they have individual-sizes (which still look fairly ample).

keerist, I just checked the website. Not a huge fan of salted caramel anything, but they also have a "Brown Butter Coconut Chess Pie," which to me has "last meal for a condemned man" potential.

[captcourt]

Our favorite so far has been the cherry pie.  And their breakfast pastries are quite good, too.

[YoyoGrrrl]

I will say that the pies we ordered for Thanksgiving were a bit disappointing. (We had ordered great pies from them before.) While the cherry filling and crumb top were as fabulous as usual, the bottom crust was so tough, I couldn’t even cut it with a fork. Same for the crust of the salted caramel chess pie. I chalked it up to overworked pie dough in the madness of the holidays. Last summer they had a blackberry pie that was loaded with cinnamon, which completely overpowered the fruit.

That said, the cherry pie is my favorite followed by the Mile High Chocolate pie. We’ve enjoyed the scones and salted caramel chocolate chess pie too (when the crust is tender).

[DIShGo]

15 hours ago, YoyoGrrrl said:

I will say that the pies we ordered for Thanksgiving were a bit disappointing. (We had ordered great pies from them before.) While the cherry filling and crumb top were as fabulous as usual, the bottom crust was so tough, I couldn’t even cut it with a fork. Same for the crust of the salted caramel chess pie. I chalked it up to overworked pie dough in the madness of the holidays. Last summer they had a blackberry pie that was loaded with cinnamon, which completely overpowered the fruit.

That said, the cherry pie is my favorite followed by the Mile High Chocolate pie. We’ve enjoyed the scones and salted caramel chocolate chess pie too (when the crust is tender).

The crusts we had yesterday, on the lemon chess and the chicken pot pies, were flaky, buttery, and easily cut with with a fork. So perhaps your tough crust was the byproduct of holiday madness.

This was my first time trying chess pie, and I am a fan! Would love to try one of the chocolate varieties. I also love a good cherry pie. So that is on my list as well.

[Peachyboy1]

I've also noticed some toughness of bottom crust recently.  But not all the time.  Couldn't discern a pattern, but eventually decided that life is too short to be eating tough pie crust.  It's a shame, because until then I considered their pies among the best I'd had.  (Randolph's tarts, etc. are excellent, but pies are not their main focus.)  (I got some great pie in Leesburg at Mom's Apple Pie, but I don't get out that way much.)

[Bob Wells]

1 hour ago, Peachyboy1 said:

I've also noticed some toughness of bottom crust recently.  But not all the time.  Couldn't discern a pattern, but eventually decided that life is too short to be eating tough pie crust.  It's a shame, because until then I considered their pies among the best I'd had.  (Randolph's tarts, etc. are excellent, but pies are not their main focus.)  (I got some great pie in Leesburg at Mom's Apple Pie, but I don't get out that way much.)

Mom's is really good. We got a couple for Thanksgiving. You can order in advance or line up until they run out of pies (they bake a ton of pies). 

For the tart variation, hard to beat Arno's.

[DonRocks]

On 3/7/2019 at 9:36 AM, DIShGo said:

The crusts we had yesterday, on the lemon chess and the chicken pot pies, were flaky, buttery, and easily cut with with a fork. So perhaps your tough crust was the byproduct of holiday madness.

On 3/8/2019 at 1:37 PM, Peachyboy1 said:

I've also noticed some toughness of bottom crust recently.  But not all the time. 

We need to distinguish between "tough" and "leathery." The crusts at Livin' the Pie Life *were* tough, but also flaky and buttery - almost as if they had a thousand layers of butter - they crackled and gave-in to the fork, but a slight side-to-side wobble was needed to cut completely through. On the palate, they were classic, fresh, butter crusts which were both moist and flaky - my idea of a perfect pie crust.