Famous pie shops across America

Yes, the USA has a National Pie Day. Thanks to generations of forefathers (read: grandmothers), Americans have worked the dessert into a national, sweet treasure.

And god bless those Americans — some of the earliest pies, chiefly British, were mainly carriers of miscellaneous meats whose crusts were actually inedible. You’ll find these roots, and root words, acknowledged at Brooklyn’s Four & Twenty Blackbirds (the nursery rhyme rings true, as birds really were baked into pies) and at Philadelphia’s Magpie (named after a bird that European folklore suggested collects miscellaneous bits and pieces in its nest). From this unsavory recipe, early American settlers, spoiled by the fruitful terrains, slowly sweetened the pies. Today, our pie purveyors charm crusts with the fillings we now crave: sugary fruits, creamy custards and anything sweet.

Browse the gallery above for some of America's most famous bakeries and pie shops, and their sweet selections.