Bluebird Cafe - Hopland

13340 S Highway 101
Hopland, CA 95449
(707) 744-1633
Parking: street parking

Last Visited: Food sampled January 27, 2010

Food: 3 to 4 stars

Atmosphere: N/A (see below)

Service: N/A (see below)

Price: N/A (see below)

It's an unusual story. I've never been to the Bluebird Cafe, though I'm sure I've driven past it many times. It all started with my coworker Michael driving up north to visit his friend and stopping here for breakfast. He ended up bringing a blackberry pie back to work which many people raved about, and through that process, we started to discuss what makes a good pie.

Sharon, the woman who makes the pies for the cafe and also serves as a member of its waitstaff, makes over 50 pies a week. Michael, who is quite a conversationalist, shared that his coworker loves food tastings, and after a phone call from Michael, Sharon kindly came in to work on her day off to make some more pies. Four pies were sampled: apple pie, dutch apple pie, chocolate cream pie, and banana cream pie. Thanks to Michael, many coworkers were stuffed with pie.

- Apple Pie- The apple pie had a beautiful lattice and golden brown crust. This is apparent from the photo. I enjoyed how the crust had just the right texture. It was firm when cut and flaky, but not too flaky. It doesn’t fall apart and had the right amount of salt. The juicy filling contained sliced Granvenstein apples that remained intact and had a good mouth feel without being mushy.
The flavor is sweet, but not too sweet and there is a good amount of cinnamon without overwhelming the filling. Great!
$15.50

- Dutch Apple Pie – This pie is similar to the apple pie in flavor. Essentially, the filling appeared to be the same, but there were more apple pieces than the previous pie. The topping is made with a crumb topping containing oatmeal and it is golden brown in the center with less topping on the sides. Juice from the filling peeks through the edges near the outer crust. I prefer the regular apple pie, but this was also good. $15.50

- Chocolate Cream pie – From the looks of it, it is already very appetizing. Cutting into and tasting it, I found the texture to be smooth and silky. The chocolate cookie crust was thicker than I expected it to be, but it wasn't soggy. The crust and filling combination was good (not too much crust despite its thicker appearance. The filling was light in texture and rich in taste. It was also easy to get out of the pie pan. The only thing I would do different is pack a little less crust in the bottom edge of the pie pan, but overall, a good pie. $15.50

- Banana Cream Pie – The presentation of this pie was also very appetizing. A slice of banana at the top lets you know what to expect. There are small pieces of banana chopped into the banana cream filling which was nice for texture and for a uniform banana flavor throughout the filling. Unlike traditional banana cream pie, I didn't find slices of banana on the bottom and a graham cracker crust was used rather than a regular baked crust. The flavor of the crust and filling together are great. However, the graham cracker pie crust was a little too moist and dense, making it hard to get out of the pan. When my other coworkers had finished eating the pie, quite a bit of crust remained in the pan. I could probably just eat the filling on this one and still be a happy camper. $15.50

If you're in the mood for one, I hear Sharon also makes a coconut cream pie.

Bluebird Cafe makes great pies and from overheard conversations, they have a breakfast worth looking into as well. I'll probably stop in the next time I'm in Hopland.