Pie Hut

The name alone is compelling, but this happy little eatery with its Fiestaware-colored upholstery offers more than just excellent pie. There’s an inviting array of sandwiches, from an Italian hero on focaccia bread to hot pastrami with sauerkraut and 1000 Islands dressing on grilled rye to a huckleberry Monte Cristo, which is an egg-dipped and griddle-fried sandwich of turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese topped with sweet huckleberry syrup. A Hawaiian panini combines Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese, pesto, and pineapple chutney. On the side of just about any sandwich, have a bowl of baked potato soup – an unexpectedly light dish garnished with cheddar and scallions.

As for the pie, it’s first class. In late summer, the star is huckleberry, in which the deliriously flavorful blue berries spill copiously from a fragile crust. Other surefire winners include sour cream lemon with sharp citrus zing, marionberry/apple in which the dark berry’s complexity sings mischievous harmony with ingenuous apples, and rhubarb that is the classic pie-plant pie with fruity ebullience in a savory crust that easily flakes when prodded with a fork. Heather Gross, who is chef, owner, manager, and hostess, bakes about three dozen pies every day, not counting the savory chicken pies that are a locals’ favorite for take-home supper.