Serving up a slice of the North Shore

Twin Cities fans of the five-layer chocolate, lemon angel and other quintessential Betty's Pies creations have reason to celebrate.

After more than 50 years, the popular North Shore pie shop and cafe has opened its first metro branch.

Betty's Pies and Eatery opened quietly in June in a shopping center on Wildwood Road in Mahtomedi. A grand opening celebration is set for Oct. 4.

For years, co-owners Marti Sieber and Carl Ehlenz have talked about opening a metro branch. Originally, they planned to open one in Lino Lakes, but that deal fell through, Sieber said. So when another developer approached them about the Mahtomedi site, they jumped.

Their Twin Cities debut got off to a bumpy start, with some customers complaining about sub-par pies and poor service.

"We had a really rough opening," Sieber acknowledged. Some servers weren't being as attentive to customers as they needed to be, she said, and they were unfamiliar with some of the equipment.

"I think now our food is better and our pies are great," she said. "You're never going to please everybody but, by and large, people are satisfied."

Everything is made from scratch, she said, from homemade potato chips to fresh-baked breads. And she hired a pastry chef, who makes cakes as well as pies, scones and other treats.

Founder Betty Lessard is not there, but her watchful eyes peer from old photographs on the restaurant walls.

Sieber says they still use her recipes, and Lessard, who is in her 80s and lives near the Two Harbors restaurant, is expected to travel to Mahtomedi for next month's grand opening.

All around the new restaurant there are touches of Up North, from photographs of the North Shore to a large, pie-shaped "Betty's Pies" sign that used to hang off Hwy. 61. Restrooms are marked by an "Outhouses" sign, and the restaurant is decorated in the same diner style as the one in Two Harbors.

Although the restaurant may look and feel like the one Up North, the market in the metro area is different, Sieber said. Customers at the Two Harbors stop are mostly tourists who come in with a carefree attitude and a willingness to spend money. "People are on vacation and they're happy," she said. There's more competition in the Cities, and many of her customers are senior citizens who live nearby and are living on fixed incomes. "It's a little harder down here," she said.

Pat and Barb Padden have become regulars at Betty's Pies and Eatery.

They popped in for lunch recently with their granddaughters, Faith and Taylor.

The White Bear Township couple said they have many fond memories of visiting the North Shore and stopping at Betty's Pies on Hwy. 61.

Word spread quickly in their neighborhood that Betty's was opening in Mahtomedi. "Everybody was excited because they all know Betty's Pies," said Pat Padden.

Studying her menu, Barb Padden's eyes lit up as she recognized one of her favorite items. "This is what I always got Up North," she said excitedly, pointing at the "Betty's special" for $7.99.

She and her husband gave the pies mixed reviews.

"The food is the same, but the pies have got to come up a couple notches," Pat Padden said.

Barb Padden disagreed. She said at first the pies didn't taste the same as at the North Shore, but now they do.

"I had one two weeks ago and it was just the same," she said. Looking around the restaurant, she added: "The only thing it's missing is the lake."

Allie Shah • 651-298-1550.