Texas Pie Co. Credit: Photos by John Anderson

Texas Pie Co.

202 W. Center, Kyle; 512/268-5885
Mon.-Fri., 10:30am-6:30pm; Sat., 10:30am-4pm; closed Sun.
www.texaspiecompany.com

If the plan is to tailgate in the parking lot or bring an RV, grabbing some smoked meat at one of the famed barbecue temples in nearby Lockhart has probably crossed your mind; Black’s, Kreuz’s, Smitty’s, and Chisholm Trail will all be glad to oblige. But don’t forget Texas Pie Company in Kyle. Julie Albertson ditched her bank job 30 years ago to bake pies for the wholesale market. Fourteen years ago she found a deserted pizza joint in downtown Kyle and she and musician-husband Spencer Thomas have been baking flaky, first-rate pies (10- and 4-inch) for retail and wholesale customers ever since. Twenty different flavors of pie (all the favorites plus some creative offerings), three cheesecakes, and a few cakes or cupcakes are featured daily, but they also make really delicious casseroles in two sizes: chicken pot pie, King Ranch chicken, chicken tetrazzini, three-cheese lasagna, and beef stroganoff. The large will feed six to eight folks, while the smaller will satisfy a quartet. They sell them frozen to-go, but call ahead an hour and they will heat them up for you. Throw in some of their salads and yummy yeast rolls and you have a portable feast. Beware of the single traffic light on Main Street in downtown Kyle; take a parallel street and park on the side to avoid amazingly horrible traffic for such a small burg.

This article appears in November 15 • 2013.

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Mick Vann is a retired Austin chef who is a food writer and restaurant critic, cookbook author, restaurant consultant, and recipe developer. He moonlights as a University of Texas horticulturist with a propensity for ethnic eats and international food, particularly of the Asian persuasion, but he also knows his way around a plate of soul food or barbecue.