Bang Bang Pie, Chicago IL

The Gist: http://www.bangbangpie.com/

The Why: They serve pie, biscuits baked fresh all day, and coffee at 7:00am. Add in the fact that everything is natural – the pumpkins for the pumpkin pie literally being roasted and seeded while you watch – and the question should be “why not?”

The Setting: Great service, friendly but busy people, and an industrial chic design with a wide open kitchen, smiling employees, and surprisingly cozy/comfy tables and chairs. Taking into the account the area you can rest assured that the facial hair, flannel, and skinny jean contingent will be high but just try to ignore them – it’s better that way.

The food: 2 Biscuits ($2.50 each), 2 slices of Pie ($5 each).

Biscuits – Big, Buttery, and fluffy as a cloud the biscuits are awesome, but what really puts them over the edge is the half dozen accoutrements; 2 jams and 4 butters – the former featuring delicately scented Cherry Rose and intense Cranberry Ginger Jams while the later including chive, salted, tomato, and outstanding black pepper honey butters. With a substantial eating agenda for the day we limited ourselves to one a piece, but I’d have happily eaten a half dozen.

Sweet Potato Pie – Beginning first with the crust, crisp and flaky with plenty of butter and lard this is without a doubt one serious pie and yet moving on to the filling is where things got even better as the interior itself featured a savory custard rife with cinnamon and spice balanced by a hefty dollop of house whipped cream. Sweet but not overly so and smooth as Robuchon’s potatoes in texture I’ve not had a better version anywhere.

Pumpkin Pie – While some may say this is essentially the same as sweet potato pie I wholeheartedly disagree, particularly in this case where the never-canned and roasted-in-house filling is vastly less sweet than that what many are used to while smoky top notes greet the palate point and counterpoint with a light dusting of sweetened pumpkin seed brittle. Good, and quickly devoured by my sister this definitely isn’t your local grocery store pie, though I imagine some traditionalists might be disappointed.

The Verdict: A nice location with great ethics and top quality ingredients I’d definitely return to Bang Bang Pie for either the biscuits or the pies but in a city with such dynamic dining options I cannot say I’d go out of my way for it. Great for the area and clearly embraced by the local hipster culture I’m glad to see them doing well, but compared to a place like Pies n’ Thighs in Brooklyn the menu needs a bit more to it to make this place ‘destination dessert’ worthy given the price.