New York has always been a pizza pie town, but we’d wager that our actual pies are hot-hot-hot, too. That deliciousness spans from the appeltaarts of early Dutch colonizers to the Oprah-approved key lime pie at Little Pie Company in Midtown. Fork in hand, our trusted sources tasted their way through the Big Apple to figure out the best neighborhoods for pie in NYC — just in time for Thanksgiving. It reminds us of that Seinfeld episode when Frank Costanza said, “You want a piece of me?” In this case, the answer is unequivocally yes. Maybe two pieces.
6 Best Neighborhoods for Pie in NYC
Morningside Heights, Manhattan
A 1961 institution, The Hungarian Pastry Shop tends to buzz with sugar and caffeine addicts at all hours.
“It was a weekday afternoon when I went in and it was packed,” recalls Erin Jean Whitney, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with the Bohemia Realty Group and StreetEasy Expert, who recently stopped in. “You couldn’t sit down!” Whitney recommends the pumpkin cheesecake. “It was soooo good, and the people were super, super nice.”
In short: They’ve more than earned their galaxy of five star reviews and legions of regular customers, many of whom stop in from nearby Columbia University.
Harlem and Morningside Heights Homes Under $850K On StreetEasy Article continues below
Harlem, Manhattan
Further uptown, Lee Lee’s Baked Goods also opened in the swinging ‘60s — 1965, to be precise.
“I had actually been in before, but I didn’t realize what a legendary place this was,” Whitney says. “You walk up to it and not only is it cute, but it actually has a screen door, like a front porch. And the bell rings when you walk inside.”
Owned by Alvin Lee Smalls, the bakery is famous for its rugelach, but its apple pie also has us salivating. Just from looking at the baked goods on offer, “you know that they are special and they’re going to taste good and won’t let you down,” Whitney says.
For pie delivery, she recommends Fancy Pies, which delivers daily in all five boroughs. Current fall flavors include Southern Bourbon pecan, creamy Jamaican spice pumpkin, and Nana’s Alabama Apple. “They’re just really artsy…I don’t have enough good words to say.”
Gowanus, Brooklyn
The backstory behind Four & Twenty Blackbirds bakery reads like a movie: two sisters move to New York City from a small farm in Hecla, South Dakota (population: 193), open a pie shop together, and eventually go viral — selling thousands and thousands of cookbooks and garnering even more fans for their toothsome and unexpected pie flavors, which include salted caramel apple and brown butter pumpkin.
They’ve certainly given a sometimes industrial-feeling Gowanus some small town charm (true to their roots, nice touches abound; you can even add a hand-written note to your pie delivery order for $3).
Gowanus Homes Under $1M On StreetEasy Article continues below
Lower East Side, Manhattan
Amid the Queen Anne-style former tenements and Gothic revival churches of the Lower East Side, “Clinton Street baking company is one of my favorites!” says Ante I. Jakic, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker with The Belvedere Advisors Team at Compass, Townhouse and Luxury Condo Expert, and StreetEasy Expert. “It has the best pumpkin pie I have ever tried.”
Whitney also loves Petee’s Pie Company, on Delancey Street. “This is my favorite cherry pie,” she says. “Nice and sour! It is just the right amount of tart; people over-sweeten pies too much. The magic of a cherry pie is really in that nice tart taste.”
Lower East Side and East Village Homes Under $1M On StreetEasy Article continues below
East Village, Manhattan
Strolling the East Village can sometimes feel like entering Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow, thanks to towering elm trees and storybook architecture at every turn. And it tastes like it, too.
“Another great [bakery] is Veniero’s,” Jakic says. “It’s a [130] year old pastry shop, and every single pie and cake I have ever had there has been to die for.”
The icon has been family run by five generations since it opened its doors in 1894, and they’ve been baking up heaven in their basement bake shop from the beginning. (The cheesecake is particularly divine and yes, they ship nationwide.)
Upper West Side, Manhattan
Whitney stops in at Silver Moon Bakery for their bread, but you’d be wise to check out their pies, too: currently on-offer is a highly Instagrammable Harvest Plum Tart that looks a bit like an unfurling rose, as well as an apple tart where slivers of Granny Smith slices gracefully rest atop a frangipane filling.
Upper West Side Homes Under $1M On StreetEasy Article continues below
“Their bread is so killer, but they have a number of fruit tarts that are super fun and colorful to add to any table display,” she says. “For the holidays, they will be debuting chocolate mousse, pecan pumpkin and apple pie.”
Even though we haven’t tasted them yet, you can bet that we’ll be waiting at their door…because in pie we crust.
Much like our pie, buying a home in NYC is unlike anywhere else. Chat with our licensed StreetEasy Concierge for a free consultation to get prepared.
StreetEasy is an assumed name of Zillow, Inc. which has a real estate brokerage license in all 50 states and D.C. See real estate licenses. StreetEasy does not intend to interfere with any agency agreement you may have with a real estate professional or solicit your business if you are already under contract to purchase or sell property.
