10 Pies to Eat on a Cross-Country Road Trip from New York to San Francisco

June 12, 2013

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Vegan Apple Rhubarb at Mission Pie, San Francisco (Credit: Courtesy Mission Pie)

Last month, I drove from New York to San Francisco, and although the landscape, accents, and climate changed as my friend and I moved west through 13 states, one thing remained constant: pie. Blueberry, rhubarb, pumpkin, chocolate. We were hard-pressed to find a dining establishment where pie of some kind or another was not available.

I was amazed by this consistency: not only has pie infiltrated seemingly every nook and cranny of the country, but it is, overwhelmingly, delicious. One of the chief delights of driving 3,519 miles was discovering thick slabs of it almost everywhere we paused, from diners and truck stops to hotel casinos and that Christian bookstore in Nebraska. Regardless of the beliefs and politics that divide Americans, we are truly united in our pursuit and enjoyment of the perfect slice of pie.

What follows are the 10 slices of pie we ate over the course of our travels. Some were good, some were great, and some were sublime. But all of them provided delectable evidence to support the theory that wherever you go in this country, pie will be there to greet you warmly.