Hoosier Mama Pie Company: Home-made pies just like mom makes
With a play on words of the Indiana Hoosiers and the slang "who’s your mama?," Hoosier Mama Pie Company cooks up scrumptious seasonal desserts in its tiny, West Town storefront. When Agent Cooper from the show Twin Peaks said, “This must be where pies go when they die,” he must’ve been talking about this place.
Chicago Avenue in West Town touts all kinds of stores and restaurants, but Hoosier’s is so small, only a hanging sign pinpoints the exact location. Upon walking into the inviting store, customers are immediately greeted with scents of home: warm and fresh pies. With only three tables including a window nook, it’s sometimes easier to get the pie to go, but if a table is available, definitely stay. Old pie tins and cookbooks align the walls radiating a certain authenticity. For $5, customers can relish a slice of pie with a cup of coffee, or splurge and order an entire pie. If it’s the latter, the eatery requires at least 48 hours notice to make the pie because they make all of their pies in-house from scratch. Seasonal pies like the oozing fruity apple and blueberry are made with buttery crusts, while their key lime is topped with a meringue and a ginger crust.
On Fridays, the pie company offers a pie flight where customers can choose three slivers of pies from a selection of five in order to sample many flavors at once. Slices of pies come with the optional a la mode on the side. Besides sweet pies, the bakery makes savories like quiche, chicken pot pie and cheddar vegetable pie. To get an idea of how busy the bakery truly is, behind the counter workers can be seen assembling pies and filling metal racks with them. Hoosier Mama’s pies can also be bought at a few other places around town including The Green City Market, at Lollapalooza and various coffee shops.
Posted by Garin Pirnia
