The Burlington weight gain center
The only Betty Crocker Pie Shop in Massachusetts landed in Burlington in 1973. It was across from MITRE Field, at the corner of Bedford Street and the Turnpike, where Citizens Bank is now. Besides the Burlington location, there were two in Connecticut and five in Minneapolis. That’s all. Just eight of them, and they were all gone within 10 years. The brick-and-mortar “experiment” was over, says Betty Crocker archivist Natasha Bruns. She was kind enough to dig up the material for this post. The world needs more people like her.
Thanks to Paul Girouard for the menu above. And thanks to Mark MacNeil for the 1983 training manuals below.
An exterior shot! — Ah, but it’s in Minneapolis, not Burlington. If you have a Burlington one, call Robert Fahey, editor, at 781-718-9872.
Burlington people definitely remember the place. They can probably smell it and taste it too.
Kathleen Connors — “I remember when they opened, the town became pie-obsessed. So many choices. Also, you paid a five-cent deposit on the pans. Well, everyone thought five cents was a good price for a pie pan. Within a few weeks, everyone had all the pie pans they could use and finally started returning them.”
Bill Shields — “Pumpkin cream. Nowhere on earth did they make a pie so scrumptious. I worked for a food service distributor at the time, so I sold them their pie shells for years. They were the largest single-restaurant customer for sales volume in the USA.”
Kevin J. Miller — “Our family was able to attend the ‘soft’ opening as both my sisters, Marybeth and Judy, were employed as servers when it opened.”
Anthony Grace — “I worked at what used to be Star Market, which shared a parking lot with the pie shop. I used to love to go in there for their banana cream pie.”
Kevin Nyren — “I worked there in 1980 as a busboy and dish washer, when I was 14 and a half. I walked to work from my house on Lexington Street. Used to carry pies home every night.”
Nancy Thomas Gouveia — “When my mom passed away, I found a small collection of Betty Crocker and Table Talk pie pans. My son is the lucky owner now!”
Ken Knowles — “Best fresh fruit blueberry pie and banana cream pie ever!”
Terri Grover-Miller — “English muffins served with THREE halves!”
Diana Brown — “Chocolate cream pie and sky-high lemon meringue pie!”
Brian Brook — “Could never understand why they went out of business. They were always packed when I went there!”
Ann Oliveira — “After mass at Saint Malachy’s, Sunday morning breakfast.”
Anne-Marie McCormick — “I worked there in the 1980s. Great group of people and fun place to work! Just before Thanksgiving every year, we had to close the restaurant down for days because we had sold so many pies, they’d fill the booths!”
Marcia Petersen — “My older sister had us calling the place the Cruddy Bopper Shmy Pop (no typos), and I still do to this day. Our dog would constantly get away and go there. They’d kindly let him in, so then poor Mom would have to go in and calm a hyperactive terrier and some annoyed patrons while untangling his chain from the chairs, to the amusement of most.”
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Love this! I remember going here when I was really little with my family and seeing the pies displayed in glass. Thanks for posting!
Was this the place that happy apple pancakes?
Miss the pie shop!
They made the best grilled ham and cheese sandwiches when I was a little kid, remembered eating there like it was yesterday.
I remember standing in line to get my pies for Thanksgiving. Best chocolate cream and banana cream.
Still use it as a reference when giving directions to long time residents.
I was so disappointed when the pie shop closed. Best raspberry cream pie ever
What a cool blast from the past I stumbled upon. I worked at the pie shop. Lots of memories. That sour cream raspberry pie though.
Any photos? Or do you know anyone else who worked there and might have a photo?
Great work researching and putting this together on a time capsule type adventure, thank you.
My good friend John N worked there . He told me he peeled too many bananas one morning for the banana crème pies and the boss would have been furious so he had to eat the extras before the boss arrived !
I recall vividly picking up a lemon meringue w my grandmother. I had to be abt 4-5 yrs old
Loved the Pie Shop. Best banana creme pie, and apple too!
I worked there my last year of high school in 1975. Went back part time after four years in the navy for 8 years until it closed in 1988. I made many friends while working there and still see many of them today. Great place to work. Great people that worked there and some great regular customers. I have all the pie recipes. Place was constantly busy.
If you want to send pics of the recipes to me, I’ll add them to the article.
Robert Fahey
Creator and editor
781-718-9872
If you have the banana cream pie recipe, I would be forever grateful.
Pjmiele@aol.com
Does anyone have a lead on how to obtain the recipe for the banana
cream pie ? An email to the General Mills customer service site only
produced a link to a recipe from one of the cookbooks. I was hoping to find the recipe the restaurant used.
I would be over the moon to receive the Betty Crocker Pie Shop
Banana Cream Pie recipe.
pjmiele@aol.com