In search of LA's best pumpkin pie

My son and I are on a quest to find LA’s best pumpkin pie. So far we’ve tried everything from Urth Caffé to Costco.

I found a few decent roundups online at TimeOut, Zagat (1, 2) and from 2012: CH and J’ Gold.

My spreadsheet tops 50, of which we’ve tried nine so far. I don’t think we will be able to try all 50 before Thanksgiving, would you please share your favorite not-to-miss LA pumpkin pies?

Here are a few of our winners so far:
Urth Caffé, Arts District/Multiple locations (slice to go):

Urth Caffe (Arts District)
451 S Hewitt Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 797-4534
(Additional locations: West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Laguna Beach and Orange)
https://urthcaffe.com/

SusieCakes, Marina del Rey/Multiple locations (6" person pie, to go):

SusieCakes
Marina Square Shopping Center
4714 Lincoln Boulevard
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 742-2253
(Additional locations throughout Southern California)
http://susiecakes.com/

The Trails, Griffith Park (slice, eaten at cafe’s outdoor picnic tables):

The Trails Cafe
2333 Fern Dell Dr.
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 871-2102
https://www.facebook.com/TheTrailsCafe

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I recently had a very enjoyable slice of pumpkin pie at Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose.

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The pumpkin pie at Urth is a strangely good one. Thanks for reminding me of that. For some reason I haven’t had it in years, but I always recall it being particularly pleasant, especially because of the unique crust.

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The one that Nicole Rucker has on Sundays at Smorgasburg is great. Not too sweet, which I like.

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We had a slice at the Montana Ave. branch of Sweet Lady Jane. It was very good, though my wife thought it tasted more of sweet potato then pumpkin. Was yours similar?

yes, I agree the graham cracker crust made it memorable.

thanks @matthewkang We’ve been wanting to go to Smorgasburg. Hopefully this weekend. Do you know if Nicole sells her pies anywhere else or only there?

My current favorite is the one at Ugo. Several Locations including Culver City and Downtown.

–Dommy!

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2nd for Sweet Lady Jane for punkin pie… i favor sweet potato pies myself and make mine out of japanese white sweet potato… nom nom

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Nicole Rucker has a good looking one, I have not had it. Hof’s Hut is my go to for pies, I love the boysenberry, banana cream, cherry, strawberry, fresh peach and chocolate cream, and they have great crust.

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The rockets is good.

Rucker

Apple Pan is wonderful and has the benefit of whipped cream under 25 dollars.

maybe you can persuasion the lady from Here’s looking at whatever to make it for you. Pricey: $45 or more.

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The filling station in orange.

Or Jongewardish

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Now that you mention it, I do recall its having more texture like a sweet potato pie. But I chalked that up to their using real roasted pumpkins (or squash) instead of the custardy canned filling most places use.

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@Chowseeker1999 had a Marie de Choirga Pumpkin Pie at Gjusta. Don’t I sound knowledgeable? I just learned the name from Chowseeker :wink:. I thought it was a person.

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Posted in the Gjusta thread, but we just recently had a great Pumpkin Pie:

Marie de Choirga Pumpkin Pie:

Their Marie de Choirga Pumpkin Pie was quite tasty! :slight_smile: One of the best Pumpkin Pies we’ve had in recent memory, but note that we don’t really eat Pumpkin Pie that often.

It was creamy, nice Pumpkin flavor, Cloves and a balanced sweetness. I love their Carrot Cake more, but that is legendary. :wink: Still a great Pumpkin Pie.

Gjusta
320 Sunset Ave.
Venice, CA 90291
Tel: (310) 314-0320

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Thank you @TheCookie and @Chowseeker1999 for the photo encouragement - it looks amazing and will visit today (and also pick up a carrot cake).

I’m curious about the origin/meaning of the name"Marie de Choirga." No results from google search.

Hi @VeniceRunner -

Chowseeker1999 wrote this in the November DOTM thread - “As for Marie de Choirga? It’s the name of a local farmer’s varietal of the Pumpkin being used.” He/she is our resident Farmers Market expert… well, practically our resident everything expert. A real food researcher :relaxed:.

Happy pumpkin pie eating!

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You can pre-order Evan Kleiman’s pies at Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana. Unfortunately, she’s not making pumpkin pie, but there’s Espresso Chocolate Pecan, Brown Butter Maple Sweet Potato with Gingersnap Crust, and Double Crust Apple. Alta Baja’s number is 714-783-2252.

The photo is from Evan’s Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM64DZSDFmZ/?taken-by=kcrwevan

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