When The Weather Has You Down, Pie Cocktail Bars Are All You Need

@mnels24

Pie bars sound too good to be true, but they’re becoming a reality in cities across the country. And no, we’re not just talking about the handheld dessert. The pie bar concept was dreamt up in the trendy and densely-populated Capitol Hill area of Seattle, Washington. This is where the world’s first late-night “pie only” cocktail lounge — appropriately named Pie Bar — was born. It caters to the adult who loves sweets just as much as booze, and now it has a twin bar, Pie Bar Ballard.

This idea is the brainchild of twin sisters Natalie Delucchi and Alyssa Lewis. Alyssa is an award-winning pie maker and her twin sister Natalie hones her craft behind the bar with sweet inventions like the Pietini.

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Pull up a chair and get cozy. At Pie Bar, you’ll find a menu of savory and sweet homemade pies that you can pair with smooth craft cocktails. You’ll find savory pies like steak and potato and chicken pot pies. On the sweeter side, indulge in pies like apple crumble, coconut, pumpkin, chocolate pecan and specialties like “Desserted Island” with strawberries, raspberries, marionberries, Granny Smith apples and streusel. You can pair your pie with cocktails like the apple pie moonshine mule or a strawberry crumb Pietini.

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Pie Bar Ballard has a variety of different pies like the peanut butter cream, coconut cream, Ballard Bumble Berry Crumble and the Boozy Nut Pie with pecans, rich dark chocolate and bourbon. You’ll find complimenting cocktails like the root beer old Fashioned and the strawberry rhubarb margarita. When you’re in an extremely festive mood, the pumpkin Pietini or the pecan Pietini may be up your alley.

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Pie bars are popping up beyond Seattle. There’s Florence Pie Bar in Florence, Massachusetts and Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Pie bars are definitely having a moment and we’re on board.

The Florence Pie Bar is a cozy cafe all year round made for pie, coffee and conversation. In addition to all the fruit pies, cream pies, nut pies, vegetable pies, meat pies and hand pies, there are soups, scones, quiches and savory galettes. If you’re less about the booze and more about the pie, Florence Pie Bar is more your speed, although it does have seasonal beer and wine to go with your sweet treat. By the slice, pie goes for about $4.50 while whole pies are in the $22 range.

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Flavors change throughout the seasons at Florence Pie Bar, like sweet potato, apple cider caramel, brown butter pumpkin and maple cream, but throughout the year the pies are made with all-butter crusts. Get adventurous with the blackberry ginger (made with whole berries and crystallized ginger), pear dark chocolate hazelnut, chai cream or salty honey. The list is never-ending.

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If you’re in New York City, head to Brooklyn to experience a mecca for pie lovers at Four & Twenty Blackbirds. In addition to the OG Gowanus pie shop, there’s now a 10-seat pie counter that offers whole pies, as well as the dessert by the slice. It has homemade baked goods, teas and Stumptown coffee. You can choose from a selection of beer, wine and local ciders that all somehow pair well with your pie.

Pie bars are one of those concepts we all wish we created. Pie and booze? So simple, but so genius.