East Side Review: Grand Traverse Pie Company

Apologies for the food reviewing hiatus; really, I will try to be better! I’m sure most of you have noticed a new restaurant on Burkhardt Avenue. The Grand Traverse Pie Company is a small chain, that offers sandwiches, salads, and of course pie among other things.

The decoration inside seems to bring to mind a slight take of something you might find in the north Midwest. A little dark, wood features, and plants are throughout the restaurant. Its casual and simply, but the tables at a little packed in. When you enter, you immediately see a large display of pies. Just down the counter, you order your food. However, this area is extremely cramped during the rush hours, and there is an oddly placed high top table that is somewhat in the way. Just like Panera, you pick up your food at a different spot further down the counter.

Other than sandwiches and salads, the menu also offers wraps, soups, quesadillas, quiches, and potpies. I have been there a number of times now, and have tried several things. The first time I tried the Grand Traverse Club that consists of turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, and pesto sauce on Sourdough bread. I’m not a big fan of sandwiches, but I thought this was a pretty good sandwich in part due to the pesto sauce that was a different but good idea. My sister has tried the chicken quesadilla and my father devoured the Cherry Chicken Salad (romaine, chicken, tomato, cucumber, feta, parmesan, and dried cherries). Both were deemed to be quite good, although they had a hard time with me sisters request of no tomatoes. I’ve tried all three quiches, which are okay; they are good for the type of restaurant, although I wish they were firmer, and the Spinach Mushroom Quiche is my favorite. The Stuffed Pepper Soup is also quite good.

Surprisingly, I have found the pie to be hit or miss. I tried the Lakeshore Berry pie, which is a mix of strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and apple. Despite the blend sounding so appealing, I didn’t really prefer it and found it to be really tart. On the other hand, my aunt loved the Strawberry Rhubarb pie. My sister and tried the chocolate cream pie but felt it was too thick and mousse-like. It was okay, but not what we would consider a good chocolate pie. I liked the lemon meringue, although it was extremely tart. The apple crumb was great, and the banana cream was fantastic.

Even though it opened recently, I think the Pie Company has already worked out a lot of the typical new restaurant kinks. The food is pretty good and has a lot of good ideas, although sometimes I think the quality of food could be bumped up a notch. Clearly, having eaten here a handful of times, I enjoy it. The menu is rather extensive and there is plenty to have something different to try each time.

The Grand Traverse Pie Company is located at 6245 Vogel Rd. (812) 477-7437. Mon-Thurs 7am-9pm, Fri & Sat 7am-10pm, Sun 8am-9pm.