The smell of butter, sugar and something heavenly baking in the on-site ovens fill the air at the new Hoosier Mama Pie Company and Dollop coffee shop, which opened last week at 749 Chicago Ave. in Evanston.
Since the new coffee shop and bakery opened in the AMLI Evanston apartment building, it's been a madhouse of customers, according to an employee. On a recent Friday, there were kids sampling slices of pie, students working on computers and several people ordering baked goods for Thanksgiving.
The new Evanston cafe and bakery is the third location for Dollop Coffee Company, which started in Buena Park and recently expanded to two other cafes in Streeterville and Lake View. It is the second outpost of baker Paula Haney's Hoosier Mama Pie Company, which operates another storefront at 1618 1/2 W. Chicago Ave. The new space has floor to ceiling windows and a long wooden coffee bar where customers can sit to watch bakers in white coats and hats make pies in house.
A recent selection included apple, pear, chocolate chess, coconut cream, cranberry chess, lemon chess, orange cream, Dutch pear, passionfruit meringue and ginger custard. The shop also sells savory pies by the slice, such as chicken pot pie and pork apple sage.
Asked for her verdict on the chocolate chess pie, Talia Berger-White said it "tastes like a brownie." Meanwhile, Jonah Swartzendruber described his lemon chess pie as comparable to a lemon bar.
Other offerings include a fell selection of espresso drinks, Metropolis coffee, tea, quiche and sandwiches.
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