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American Pieways reviews

YOUR GUIDES TO GREAT PIE




John Forsyth is a book author and world traveler with discriminating tastes and a storyteller's heart. He and his wife, Jennifer, are traipsing along America's backroads and "pieways" in search of good desserts by the slice and sweet stories. You can find all of their reviews linked from the home page.  Here's to good eating and good reading.
"There are lots of jokes involving pies; they’re funnier than other foods, somehow."
-- The New York Times, June 15, 2009


OUR RATINGS





One slice: You’re in danger of suffering pie withdrawal, and no alternatives in sight.



Two slices: You used to think this was good pie, before American Pieways set you straight.




Three slices: If pies came out of your oven this tasty, you’d start a bakery.




Four slices: Buy another slice to go, ’cause this’ll still be good in the morning.



Five slices: Whoa! Redraw that vacation itinerary to include this pie.





Six slices: Member of the Holy Church of the Flaky Crust.

CONTACTS

 

J&S Cafeteria, Fletcher, NC

30 Airport Park Road
Fletcher, NC  28732
828-684-3418
Lunch and Dinner Monday-Thursday
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Friday-Sunday

Website: www.jandscafeteria.com
Map
You’re in the South now, and any aversion you might have to cafeterias is out of place here. Even if you’re not into the squares of fried fish and blocks of chicken pot pie that one typically finds in such an establishment, the cafeteria’s role as fresh pie provider is often unparalleled in a Southern town. J&S’s Web site even calls it a “coffee and dessert place.”

    Plus, the camaraderie is first-rate. As we took our place in the back of the line at this J&S near Asheville, we could see past the diners with trays moving along the food line in the other direction to examine the pies. “Dutch apple,” John called out to Jennifer, who was whipping out her notebook. “Millionaire pie, sweet potato….”
    A customer moving along the line in the other direction heard John calling out the pie names and smiled real big. “Don’t tell on us, now,” John whispered conspiratorially to the woman, who giggled and moved along the line. Then he continued calling out, “Chocolate ice box, lemon meringue.”
    We had Jennifer’s mother and uncle along for the ride on this taste test (see photograph), and those two can turn just about anything into fun. Uncle Glenn was pronouncing his lemon meringue “excellent” and Alice was telling us how good her millionaire pie was, when Jennifer called for us all to switch. John moved his sweet potato pie, which had the consistency of slightly lumpy sweet potatoes, to Glenn’s place and dug into the millionaire pie. That’s the pie that has everything: chocolate, coconut, cherries.
    Jennifer’s chocolate meringue moved before John next. He is a chocolate meringue kind of guy, and J&S’s did not disappointment. Uncle Glenn’s lemon meringue came around last. It was almost too lemony, but then John proposed combining a small piece of the chocolate with a bite of the lemon. Glenn tried that and proclaimed it a delicious marriage of flavors. Maybe there’s a new pie flavor in the idea stage there.
    There was much laughter and joking during the J&S pie tasting. That’s the great thing about pies. They make people happy. J&S’s entrée selections – roast beef, fried chicken, chicken pot pie, chopped steak, turkey and dressing, etc. – were typical cafeteria fare but excellent. It was the dessert, though, that made everyone smile.

Other J&S locations:

5835 Samet Drive
High Point, NC  27265
336-841-8192

601 Milner Court
Greensboro, NC  27410
336-855-8783

1940 13th Avenue Drive SE
Hickory, NC  28601
828-326-8926

800 Fairview Road
Asheville, NC  28803
828-298-1209
   

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