The Pie Guys Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Port Colborne

TLDR: Pie Guys has such an amazing atmosphere, with treats so good you wish you had more. The staff are also excellent in their customer service. Overall, I will definitely be coming back to this place.

I live just down the street from Pie guys, and my mother and I walked there. This was our first time entering the place after watching the place be built.

Immediately, the atmosphere took over. It was like being in a big city urban café without the hustle and bustle of the big city.

The lighting was slightly dim, making for a relaxing and intimate venue.

They played calming music loud enough to fill silence but quiet enough to hear anyone you need to.

They have large tinted windows that open up to the canal and bridge. They also have art and detailing on the walls for the seats that don't have eat widow acess.

There is a great balance between natural and artificial light. I can only imagine the venue during nighttime.

When we entered, my mother and I were greeted before we could find the owner of the voice. The personable worker, Ms. Lauren politely greeted us and assisted us in making our choice of what to get there.

She told us that they usually sell out of sweets at 12:00 pm, so it's best to get there early!

Even when the place was starting to get busy, Ms. Lauren was still polite with us and still managed to cater to the other patrons' needs as well.

I ordered a blackforest mini cheesecake and a hot chocolate (see photo).

Now, I've always been hesitant to try cheesecake, but the presentation was so good I had to give it a go, and I am glad I did. I took a bite and instantly fell in love with the creamy cheesecake. They also had a nice crumble base supporting it, which balanced out the rich and creamy cheesecake. The whipped cream/mouse on top was delectable with the cherry jam in the middle.

In fact, the mini cheese cake was so good that the hot chocolate didn't taste as good immediately after having a bite of the mini blackforest cheesecake. However, after sipping on the hot chocolate for a few seconds, the rich dark taste pleasantly filled my senses.

Later on, my mother was checking out the front cash, and Ms. Lauren had just found more of the black forest mini cheesecakes in the back. My mom had expressed how she actually wanted to order a black forest cheesecake, but let me have it (thank you, Mom). Ms. Lauren asked if she wanted one, and my mother decided to get her purse. However, Ms. Lauren gave it to her on the house since that was what Mom really wanted.

As we were preparing to leave, a few more workers appeared, and they were patient with me as I took the photos you see here.

I'd recommend this as a nice place to meet up with a couple of friends or a date.

Overall, I believe the venue/ambiance is the best part of this place, while the customer service and food are...

There were some exceptional dishes among some total misses. Starting with the highlights:

Each bite of the house salad packed flavor and dimension. The salad's fresh ingredients came together so beautifully and were complemented fabulously by the raspberry vinaigrette. Then there was the lobster roll - absolutely delicious! Served on a bun that was neither soggy nor overly crisp and accented by hints of dill. The lobster roll is clear standout menu item well worth ordering again and again. The final menu item which hit the mark were the chicken Japanese gyoza.

A note on the drink selection - there's a nice range of cocktails that are quite good showcasing knowledge in this space. Few establishments have a killer drink menu featuring variety and showcasing mixology. It's another reason to hit up The Pie Guys' patio this summer.

Unfortunately this is where our taste buds hit a devastating turn. Next up were bland fish tacos followed by a shortbread covered in an overly sweet pear jam and chicken duo. The duett was a total miss with flavors comparable to a Hawaiian pizza only sweeter and with a very different texture.

In any event, this is where we decided to hit the pause button. I'm not sure who is tasting the eclectic menu but there are some clear winners. To extend a more well rounded experience and that WoW factor, my recommendation would be to hone in on those exceptional items and drop the oddbird jam/chicken combos. There's also room to reinvent. The very sweet jam, for example, would pear well (pun intended) with a charcuterie. In fact, lacking fresh honeycomb, it would probably elevate your standard board.

Shout out to our server who had a packed house. Although service on the patio yesterday evening was very slow, our waiter was...

Decided to try this place out for the first time. It was fairly busy on a Monday afternoon but not slammed. First thing noticed is no indication of where to go if your sitting in, so we stood at the main counter. 1 lady was in front of us and it took a good 5 plus minutes for someone to take care of her. After she paid we were promptly told she would be right back. At least another 5 minutes later she returned and we ask if we ordered at the counter for lunch. We were then told to sit somewhere and wave down a server with red hair. Really? OK so we sat down, something we could have done 10 minutes before. Of course the lady behind the counter offered no menus. After a couple minutes a server with Brown hair said she would be right with us and came back fairly quickly with menus and sat them down and immediately asked if we wanted to order? We litterly had the menu for 10 sec. No idea what drinks or food options are available so we said we needed a couple minutes. Another 5 minutes later, no one came back so we just got up and left. Unfortunately we can't review anything on drinks or food. But the service was very poor and staff seemed completely unorganized. Having whomever is behind the main counter, stay there and deal with people coming in would be a start. If that's not possible and simple seat yourself and having menus for people to take themselves would move things along much smoother. The building itself very new, nicely decorated but very loud as it has minimal in it to absorb the conversations...