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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