Betty's
Pies offers world famous quality hand-made pies
from Two Harbors, MN. Our flavors include: Apple,
Strawberry, Cherry, Pecan, Blueberry, and More!
Bye
bye Miss American Pie", said the little handwritten
sign in the window, just before a sort-of backhoe with a
claw smashed the glass and rolled over the old Betty's Pies
building like a Sherman tank.
The shack where Betty Lessard made hundreds of thousands
of pies between 1956 and 1984 was pummled to splinters and
shingles in about 20 minutes Wednesday, while wicked wind
gusts threw up sheep-sized whitecaps on Lake Superior and
buffeted 150 onlookers who came to watch an era end. Full Story
TWO
HARBORS- A new temple of temptation,
a new shrine to sweetness, oh yes, a new Betty's Pies.
It's being pounded together and carved from a wooded hillside
just up the North Shore from here and just inland from the
landmark blue restaurant that has been stopping sweet-toothed
tourists for four tasty decades.
The new Betty's - "Pie-llenium," the
sign out front boasts- will feature
more than twice the seating,
plenty
of parking, spectacular views of Lake Superior, a full menu
and a return to the pie recipes that made Betty's famous. Full Story
Asurprise
awaits if you haven't made it up the shore in awhile. Betty's
Pies' old, dinky little
restaurant still sits too close to the highway, but a bit
further back, set atop a small hill, the new and improved
betty's Pies
resides amongst the trees. Along with the new building is
a huge parking lot. Gone are the frustrating days of trying
to
get close enough to sample even a bite of pie- ample seating
and parking are now available.
Despite the cool weather the first week of July, the restaurant's
lot contained a quite a lot of cars. As we strolled up to the
doors, we read the "Please seat yourself" sign and immediately
started to cruise the place looking for a good spot. Initially,
I was surprised that they did not have a host to handle the
crowds. We were there on a fairly busy night, but I bet that
on Friday and Saturday the place gets downright unruly. The
wait staff must have to fight a lot of traffic to work their
tables as the natural inclination of hungry customers is to
hover for a table until they find one- particularly if there
is a shortage. Full Story
1956: Betty Lessard and her husband,
Lloyd, take over Andy's Fish Shack near Two Harbors.
1958: The place, now
called Betty's Cafe, begins selling pies.
1961: The shack, now
bigger, gets cold running water.
1974: The name is changed
to Betty's Pies.
1975: Lloyd, the cafe's "front
man" dies.
1984: After 28 years
in business, Betty sells to Janine Bjerklie of Duluth.
1993: Transportation
Deptartment buys building and leases it back to Bjerklie.
1998: Carl Ehlenz and
Martha Sieber buy business from Bjerklie, who said she'd
close if no buyer was found.
2000: Betty's Pies
moves into it's new, 3,000-square-foot "Pie-2K" building
and goes from seasonal to year-round business.
Ask
anybody who has toured Lake Superior's North shore to recount their favorite
spots and they're apt to tick off Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock lighthouse,
the towering Palisade Head rock cliffs and any view that shows the awesome
beauty of the lake itself.
Many will pause, however, and add Betty's Pies to their list of unforgettables.
Betty's Pies?
"If you're on the North Shore you have to stop in," said Harland Nasvik,
a Minnetonka photographer who savored a huge piece of pie last week at Betty's.
It's a regional claim that Betty's has the best pie in the world. This year
tourists from Germany, Spain, Mexico, Japan and every state in the union
tasted Betty's pie.
Betty is not the brainchild of a corporate giant. She is Betty Lessard, 56,
a lifelong resident of northeastern Minnesota, who is in her kitchen six
days a week at 5 a.m. from April into October making pies, doughnuts, breads
and other tasty pastries. Full Story
surprise
awaits if you haven't made it up the shore in awhile. Betty's
Pies' old, dinky little
restaurant still sits too close to the highway, but a bit
further back, set atop a small hill, the new and improved
betty's Pies
resides amongst the trees. Along with the new building is
a huge parking lot. Gone are the frustrating days of trying
to
get close enough to sample even a bite of pie- ample seating
and parking are now available.
