Our First Taste of the Newly Open Pie Face

I like to think New York is one of the most diverse food meccas in the world. With so many options these days, it’s hard to believe that there are unexplored cuisines in Midtown. Yet, until Monday, I could not direct you to an Australian meat pie establishment. (Unless you have a time machine back to when Tuck Shop briefly occupied the Cyber Cycle Cafe on 49th Street.) Enter Pie Face, a meat pie takeout chain straight from down under that opened its first US shop on the corner of 53rd and Broadway this week.

Of the seven savory meat pie options (chunky steak, mince beef + tomato, chicken + mushroom, tandoori vegetable, Thai chicken curry, Mexican and bacon + egg + cheese), I ordered a regular-sized Thai chicken curry pie ($5.95), which I upgraded to a stack (topped with mash potatoes, peas and gravy), making it $7.95. I think the pie probably had a diameter of around 4-inches, and they also sell minis of each flavor ($2.95 each). Since my pie is covered in stuff, you can’t see that there are, in fact, faces on the pie crust. Each kind of pie has a different face, which all look at you from the glass case as you enter the store. Cute gimmick.

I have to admit, at first I was skeptical about the meat pie, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The pie was filled with large chunks of chicken, carrots and other veggies, and it did have a curry taste to it, although it is mild — almost sweet — and I’m not sure I’d have thought Thai if it hadn’t been called that. Topped with “smash” (mashed potatoes and peas) and gravy, this is a hearty lunch, but definitely not as much food as a container of street meat. I have a feeling it would be difficult to order multiple items, stay under $10 and be satiated until dinner.

A couple Midtown Lunch’ers have also been and were nice enough to comment on Monday’s Pie Face post. Lunch’er eknick mentioned spotty service, which makes sense for any establishment’s first week. But more importantly they liked the food, calling it “delicious” and “a slice of home,” although they use “a lot more butter on the crust” than Australian pies you may be used to. Lunch’er hightemp commented on both sweet and savory pies, as well as the breakfast pie option, which according to him was the best one.

And, don’t forget, tomorrow’s Australia Day, and they’re giving away free pies all day long!

The + (What someone who likes this place would say)

  • Something new! Welcome to the neighborhood, Australian meat pies!
  • The smiley faces are adorable.
  • Lots of options and combos within the ML price range.
  • I was really bummed when Tuck Shop left Midtown.  Glad to finally have Aussie meat pies back.

The – (What someone who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Trying multiple items will push me over $10.
  • They’re still working out the kinks, so service can be spotty.

Pie Face, 1691 Broadway (btw 53+54th), 212-247-9065

20 Comments

  • a full review during the grand opening week, well done Rachel! keep up the good work.

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    I tried the chunky steak (pretty tasty, and the steak was tender, but way more gravy than meat) and the mince beef (surprisingly, I preferred this one) which is very finely ground beef with some spices in a tomatoe sauce. Wanted to try the chicken & bacon roll, but they were out. They gave me about 5 of the free coffee cards.

  • I’m going to attempt to get there this weekend. Hey, I like pie, and savory is waaaaay better than sweet. (CheeeeEEEEse’s opinions are his own, however feel free to comment. He may call you an imbecile for yours without cause though.)

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    I’m sure it’s good, but that first picture looks like Kermit threw up.

  • I would suggest they lower the volume of the blaring music, make the credit card swipe machines not swivelable, make the pie faces all happy or variation of happy, not sad, confused or dead, and give the staff some damn step stools.

  • Ok, just went. took about 15 min. from when i got in line to out the door, so, not bad. Ordered a Mexican pie, and i liked it and was tasty, but way small. I’m now searching for lunch #2. I wanted it “stacked”, but they ran out of mashed potatoes (it was 12:45 for goodness sake!!). so i passed. got a medium coffee with it, and i guess their sizes are smaller in Australia, as its the equivalent of a small anywhere else. I paid $9.15 for the coffee and pie (unstacked). Way too much for such little food. Overall, everything seems overpriced, especially the pastries. $3.25 for an almond stick? c’mon!

    And i agree with nailz about the faces, and step stools.

  • I resisted commenting on the sad, confused, scared and dead faces on my earlier comment….but yes…the scared one and the dead one in particular are disturbing. That being said the use of faces for pie identification is fun.

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    There is an Austrailian meat pie joint called “Tuck Shop” in Chelsea Market (I know, not midtown), but didn’t know if it was any good. Anyone been?

    • Yes, it’s pretty decent, but seems to be dead most of the time. I wonder if it can survive among all the standout restaurants on that street.

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    I went today & got 3 savory mini-pies for around $9. I agree about the Thai curry chicken, tasty but very mild & not obviously Thai. Least favorite was the mince beef & tomato. Nothing bad about it, just not exciting. My fave was the Tandoori veggie. Very flavorful! I would go back & try mini versions of the others. Although I love mashed potatoes & peas so I think a ‘smash’ is in my future! Oh and they have sweet mini pies, too.

  • I am a Tuck Shop fan, and I want to see how Pieface compares…. but you can sit _down_ and have a loaded meat pie with mash and gravy. I stopped outside Pieface and took a look inside (on my way to try out SteaknShake) and there is no place to sit! Unless you can bring your meal back to your office or backstage, you’re out of luck if you want a “stack” – I don’t know if it will survive a commute and a reheat.

  • I had the mini steak pie a couple days ago. It was OK. The steak in this small pie was chunky which is good. It was both tender and chewy at times.

    I think this place is very gimmicky and I have doubts about it’s survival. They have many different kinds of pies that I think they will have a hard time keeping fresh.

    Meat pie lovers will like this place. I’m not sure about other every day lunchers. My doubts are not about flavor or quality. They are about my impression about the market for meat pies in NYC.

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