Pie review: Heidi's Pies

Heidi's Pies - visited on March 12, 2014

Earlier in March, I was giving a presentation at a Business Forecast Summit being held an hour away from my house. It was an all-day thing although fortunately my session was only an hour. At the end of the day, I was anxious to beat the traffic home. My normal commute to my office is less than 20 minutes but this was far enough away that I was facing at least an hour on the road each way, more during the afternoon commute. I'm one of those people who cannot handle long commutes. I live and work where I do for a reason. Mainly so I don't experience road rage every time I get into my car. Fortunately, this was a once-in-awhile thing so I figured I could suck it up this time.

What made it palatable is I also figured, since I was in the neighborhood anyway, I would stop off at Heidi's Pies on my way home. This was literally on the way back from the summit as Heidi's is located just off the freeway (or one of the freeways) I needed to take to get home. I've been meaning to try out Heidi's Pies ever since my coworker, Queen of Cheap Eats, told me about it. But it was too far away for me to make a special trip for it, especially with the price of gas these days, so I wasn't able to go until now. Since I didn't go for a meal but just came for a slice of pie to go, I can't really classify this as a restaurant review and they're technically not a bakery. So I guess it's more accurately a "pie review".

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I liked the baker's racks full of whole pies waiting to be called upon behind the counter. They also had a big flat screen TV near the front that kept flashing a loop of the different pies being offered. I think I had some vision of a small business, non-chain version of a Marie Callendars, like a cozy diner out of the 50s. But you know the drawback with anything out of the 50s? It's more than 60 years old. Flat screen TV notwithstanding, Heidi's Pies did feel a bit "old" when I walked in. I was there late afternoon so it was too early for dinner and the place was almost completely empty. It actually looks smaller on the inside than the outside would have it appear.

But I wasn't there for a meal. I just wanted a slice of pie to go. Being me, it had to be a slice of the apple pie. There was one lady behind the counter who was very nice, called me "hon", and packaged up my pie slice very promptly. It was a good-size piece but I admit to being taken aback that it was $5.45. The place wasn't exactly swanky-cute like Susie Cakes in swanky-expensive Menlo Park and I think I expected such a no-frills place not to have a frilly price. But never mind, I told myself, maybe the slice would be so good, it would be worth almost the cost of a whole pie.

As I expected, afternoon/evening commute traffic was bad so I had over an hour to wonder about it. Add in some additional time when I made myself be a grown up and have dinner first before breaking into my pie dessert. I'd like to be able to tell you this was the best pie I've ever eaten. However, I can't. It was good, not bad, not great. I don't think it was worth $5.45 to be honest; it was good but not something I'd go miles out of my way for. But, as always, I'm glad I tried it and now I know. If I was in the neighborhood again, I'd probably go once more and try a different flavor. Queen of Cheap Eats says their banana cream pie is awesome so that goes on my foodie bucket list.

Ice cream addition is mine - you can't have apple pie without ice cream