The revitalized and reopened Helms Bakery sells pies whole and by the slice in options such as corn cream pie with figs.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
12 of L.A.’s best bakeries for holiday pies
The final flourish for Thanksgiving is invariably pie. You might be making yours from scratch. Or maybe you want to put the task of baking holiday pies in the hands of a professional. If so, you’re in luck ... but the clock is ticking. Make your Thanksgiving pie orders for pickup before the big day.
Los Angeles is a city of terrific bakeries and bakers, and ice cream makers too. Yes, there is ice cream pie for Thanksgiving (including plant-based ice cream), and there is cheesecake and pumpkin-churro sweet buns. Traditional pies include sorghum-sweetenedpecan pie, kabocha pie, banana cream pie and apple caramel crumble pie. It’s pies galore.
Or, if you want to get into the kitchen and roll out dough, you should definitely check out these recipes from former cooking columnist Ben Mims for apple, pumpkin and not-too-sweet pecan pie.
Showing Places
(Jessie Clapp)
All Day Baby
Silver Lake Eclectic $$
Lien Ta’s crimson corner diner in Echo Park is offering six pies from pastry chef Sam Robinson for Thanksgiving this year, including classic flavors such as market apple with shortbread crumble and an all-butter crust, banana cream filled with dulce de leche and vanilla custard and pecan pie, plus comforting creations such as a spiced pumpkin cheesecake with a brown butter graham cracker crust and candied pepitas, a French silk pie with chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ganache and a sweet corn and blueberry pie that features a sweet corn custard, a corn cookie crust, blueberry whipped cream and fresh blueberry compote. Pre-orders can be picked up from the restaurant on Wednesday, Nov. 27, from 3 to 5 p.m.
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(Ishnoelle Richardson)
Baking With Ish
San Gabriel Valley Bakery $$
Ishnoelle Chin Richardson, who operates his small bakery operation at the Blossom Market Hall, has one of the most impressive pastry counters in the city. Many of his treats are inspired by his Filipino background, celebrating ingredients like ube, coconut and fish sauce in his bakes. The earthy, nutty flavor of ube is the star of Richardson’s ube pumpkin pie, with a layer of bright purple ube custard over pumpkin pie custard with Chantilly cream and a crunchy pumpkin seed tuile. Richardson is taking holiday orders for the ube pumpkin pie ($60), a sticky rice pie with corn and jackfruit ($60), ube cheese jackfruit pie ($60), caramel apple with fish sauce pie ($60), ube cheese pie ($55), blue corn bibingka cheese pie ($60) and more, through Nov. 17 or until he sells out. Orders can be placed on his website.
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(Ira Edelman / Clark Street)
Clark Street Bakery
Echo Park Bakery $$
Zack Hall’s string of local bakeries began with bread and, fittingly, will be offering Thanksgiving bread specials in addition to whole pies. For those looking to fill out the holiday table with pull-apart rolls, the baker’s selling them by the dozen ($10), along with whole country, seeded, and baguette loaves of bread ($4.50-$10.50). When it comes to desserts, Clark Street is vending 9-inch pies in classic apple, pumpkin and pecan versions, made with crusts using Sonora flour from the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project. Pies are $48 each. Pickup is available at the Brentwood, Echo Park, Larchmont and Clark Street Diner locations on Nov. 27 and 28. Orders close Nov. 24.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Fat + Flour
Culver City Bakery $$
Impress everyone at Thanksgiving with holiday pies from star bakeshop Fat + Flour from Nicole and Blaine Rucker, with a stand in Grand Central Market and newer, larger location in Culver City. The bakery is offering five 9-inch whole pies for the holiday, including a tart key lime pie in a salted graham cracker crust and topped with subtly sweet whipped cream, Basque-style pumpkin cheesecake that’s miraculously gluten free, bourbon pecan pie, an all-butter, double-crusted apple pie with green apples and a splash of bourbon and a chocolate chess pie with a chocolate graham cracker crust. The bakery even has frozen buttermilk chive biscuits to start your holiday eating on the right foot. Orders places online can be picked up from either location on Nov. 27. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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(Jakob N. Layman / Friends & Family)
Friends & Family
East Hollywood Bakery $$
Roxana Jullapat’s bounteous pastry case is worth a visit year-round, but at Thanksgiving the Friends & Family baker is expanding her usual heirloom-grain offerings with whole pies between $62 and $65 apiece. This year’s menu includes sorghum-sweetened pecan pie, organic heirloom-breed pumpkin pie, quince-and-apple streusel pie, a classic chocolate chess pie, cranberry brown butter pie and a spiced heirloom-apple pie. Bread options include a sourdough boule ($12), a half-dozen white cheddar biscuits ($28), a fresh baguette ($6.50) and a half-dozen pull-apart potato rolls ($26). Friends & Family chef Daniel Mattern also is whipping up a la carte savory sides and salads such as mushroom bread pudding, herbaceous turkey gravy, cranberry dressing and balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts. The final day to order Thanksgiving pies and other items from Friends & Family is Nov. 24, with pickup on Nov. 27.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Helms Bakery
Culver City Bakery $$
Chef Sang Yoon recently opened a reimagined version of Helms Bakery at the Helms complex on Venice Boulevard. The 14,000-square-foot space includes a coffee bar, kitchen, downstairs bakery, upstairs dough room and a large center market area with cold and hot prepared foods and an elite selection of snacks. For the holidays, the bakery will be selling whole pumpkin ($65), pecan ($65) and apple pies ($85). Starting Monday, you can pre-order pies on the website to pick up the week of Thanksgiving.
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(Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times)
Pop Pie
Costa Mesa Bakery $$
When it comes to pies, a good crust is crucial. I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into a slice of pumpkin cream cheese pie from Pop Pie Co. in a tiny storefront in Costa Mesa. The smooth pumpkin custard infused with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove was a perfect companion to its beautiful buttery crust. And it wasn’t just the pumpkin pie. The all-butter crust on all of the restaurant’s pies is formidable. The salted caramel apple pie is the bestseller and I can see why. Its old-fashioned oat crumble topping is a perfect accompaniment to the tangy fuji, red delicious, and granny smith apple filling. The creamy and zesty key lime pie was also delightful. The sweet and nutty bourbon pecan pie with molasses, sea salt and orange zest makes for a comforting fall option. Can’t make up your mind? Order a mix-and-match pie where you can try all of them — six slices for $38. If you’re partial to a particular flavor, you can get a whole 9-inch pie for $37. While you’re there, try one of the savory pies. My favorite is steak and ale with slow-braised beef with barley, mushrooms, carrots and dark ale gravy. Again, in an all-butter crust. Orders must be placed online by Nov. 22 for whole sweet pies, with pickup on Nov. 27 and 28. If you prefer to build your own pie with various mixed slices, you’ll have to go in person and purchase on the day of. Keep in mind, walk-in pies will be very limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The shop has three additional locations in San Diego.
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(Sasha Piligian / May Microbakery)
Sasha Piligian (formerly May Microbakery)
Echo Park Bakery $$
Sasha Piligian’s petal-and-fruit-topped, hyper-seasonal cakes are some of the most coveted desserts in L.A., and in fall the former Sqirl pastry chef’s gorgeous baked goods can be ordered as Thanksgiving pies. This year she’s offering three pies for the holiday, each priced at $70. You can secure a See Canyon-apple and fig leaf pie topped with brown sugar crumble; a sweet potato tahini pie that tops a Her Produce-sweet potato custard with salted tahini whip, both in a buttery Sonora-flour crust. For something tart and tangy, there’s a Key lime passion fruit pie with house-made graham cracker crust and meringue. The last day to order from Piligian is Nov. 22 for pickup on Nov. 27 at either Canyon Coffee in Echo Park — where one can regularly find her tea cakes, cookies and other treats in the cafe’s pastry case by the register — or in Mid-City.
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Apple caramel crumble pie from SweetBoy.
(Mike Cotrone)
SweetBoy
Hollywood Hills West Bakery $$
Ben Sidell helms the desserts program at Saltie Girl, the East Coast-founded seafood restaurant owned by his mother, Kathy Sidell, that expanded to a location in West Hollywood in late 2022. Regular offerings include a baked-to-order chocolate chip cookie with Valhrona chocolate and an apple-walnut tart. For the holidays, Ben is offering an apple caramel crumble pie with salted caramel and oat granola, a pecan brownie pie and large-crown sweet buns with pecans, cinnamon or in a pumpkin-churro flavor. Sweet buns are $35 to $40, whole apple caramel crumble pies are $55 and whole pecan brownie pies are $60 apiece. Place your order by emailing [email protected] by Nov. 18 with the subject line “Thanksgiving Preorder” and your order, name and email. Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 27, from noon to 3 p.m. at Saltie Girl.
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(Katrina Frederick / Sweet Rose Creamery)
Sweet Rose Creamery
Santa Monica Ice cream Bakery $$
The Rustic Canyon Family’s artisanal ice cream shop in Brentwood Country Mart is serving a chilly take on the classic Thanksgiving pie. Sweet Rose Creamery is vending a variety of ice cream pies in flavors such as pecan featuring brown sugar ice cream with buttered pecans and fudge in chocolate cookie crust; fresh-apple ice cream with salted crumb and caramel sauce in a graham cracker crust; and a pumpkin version with pumpkin ice cream, meringue, pepitas and cinnamon in a gingerbread crust. Whole pies are $60 apiece. Pre-orders end Nov. 24, with pickup available Nov. 26 and 27.
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(Joanna Soon / République)
République
Hancock Park French Bakery $$$
Picking up sweets from the bakery at République is always a pro move. A decade in and fans still line up on a daily basis for a glimpse of the pastry case helmed by James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and co-owner Margarita Manzke, and her baked goods are out in full force during the holiday season. This year she and her team are offering a plethora of pies for Thanksgiving, including all the festive classics — pecan, apple and pumpkin, plus a Filipino stalwart, buko pie — in addition to a few lighter fruit options such as strawberry passion fruit cream pie and banana cream pie (all $54 apiece). Spruce it up with a side of fresh vanilla whipped cream for $10, or opt for whole cakes such as pumpkin Basque cheesecake in classic or pumpkin flavor ($80), three-layer salted caramel chocolate cake ($84) or berry tres leches ($68). What’s more, the restaurant’s cookbook, “Baking at République,” can be purchased on site for $30 and makes a great hosting gift or baking reference year-round. Online orders can be picked up from the restaurant in designated time slots through Nov. 27; orders for more than two cakes or two pies for next-day pickup should email [email protected].
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(John Troxell)
Yangban
Downtown L.A. Korean American Jewish $$
Every meal at Katianna and John Hong’s Yangban restaurant in the Arts District inevitably ends with a slice of their whipped cheesecake. It doesn’t matter how much I’ve eaten for dinner. Or how I swear I couldn’t eat another bite. The cheesecake hits the table and it’s game on. It’s an excellent cheesecake, lighter and fluffier than most, thanks to a combination of whipped cream, whipped cream cheese and whipped coconut cream in the filling. The crust is ultra-buttery and crumbly, made with coconut biscuits, brown sugar and lots of roasted brown butter. It’s the welcome exclamation point at the end of any meal, including a holiday dinner. The Hongs are selling whole whipped cheesecakes ($64) along with Goguma custard pies made with roasted white sweet potato ($64) for the holidays. To order and schedule a pickup time at least three days in advance, email [email protected].
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Eat your way across L.A.
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Updates:
3:01 a.m. Nov. 8, 2024: This guide was originally published in 2023 and has been updated with new information, including the removal of Dunsmoor, Proof Bakery, the Pie Room by Gwen and Cobblermania, and the addition of Helms Bakery, Fat + Flour, All Day Baby and Pop Pie.
