Not Just Pie — Restaurant in Monroe

Up to Upper 18th for dessert! Family friendly establishment! I could tell that by the families I saw seated around tables and enjoying the fare for the day. One large group was having a ball, and there were several smaller family units. Couples. Saw newborns to grandmas! Perfect! But even with the sounds of conversation and laughter, as I walked through the entrance, I was able to hear a pleasant voice saying," Welcome to Not Just Pies." Looked up and saw the lovliest smile from a staff member whose post was near the door. How very, very nice! Like knowledge and prayer, a kindness is never lost.

Now, let's talk food! The name says it all. NJP has a full menu that looked quite tempting. Plus, I could see a bit of the selections that had been made by those dining in. Looked delectable! And on the counter were three chocolate sheet cakes. One with nuts mixed into the frosting! Oh my! But, having had a late breakfast, I set my boundaries and ordered just pie---their choice!

I was served a large slice of the most delicious apple pie, still warm from the oven. The apples were slightly tart and balanced with just the right amount of sweet. And the crust rose to the level of the filling. Firm and flakey on the bottom, and layered around the edges. The lattice top was a gleaming golden brown. As I allowed my fork to gently pull away the layered edges, I thought: Move over Martha Stewart!

The pie had been boxed to go. So after savoring about two or three initial bites in the car, I closed the box and headed to the Downtown Riverfront.... to finish my treat while watching the waters of the Ouachita. A most enjoyable Saturday...

I never leave reviews but felt I needed to leave one. Staff is nice enough. Pies are absolutely wonderful and worth the price! However, the food is not worth the price. My husband and I recently went with our 2 toddlers. We ordered 2 grilled cheeses, a BLT and a turkey and Swiss sandwich. The grilled cheeses were a small amount of shredded cheddar between two pieces of grilled wheat bread. Those were $11 each. My turkey sandwich had 2 pieces of thin deli meat and a few pieces of SHREDDED SWISS from a bag….. not even a slice of Swiss…. Just a few shreds of cheese. In a styrofoam cup I got a few pieces of shredded lettuce and ONE tiny tomato slice. The bread was toasted and dry. All you could taste was the bread. That was $12. My husbands BLT had one slice of bacon, some shreds of lettuce and one little tomato slice. All sandwiches were served with generic Lays chips. We had water (free thank goodness) and 2 slices of pie. Our total was $90. NINETY. I was shocked. Definitely not worth the price for the tiny, mediocre servings. I could’ve made a better sandwich at home for 1/4 the price. Not impressed at all. You’re better off going to chick fil a and picking up a slice of pie on your way home. Be warned- their food is not worth the price....

I visited this restaurant in March and had no intention of writing a review. But, in the last week my wife and I have had two amazing lunches at different delis in our home town of Tacoma for under $20 total. As we finished lunch today, amazed by the food, I thought back to our visit to Not Just Pie and literally got angry that I had paid so much for such basic food. So, I here’s my review:

I recently had lunch at Not Just Pie when visiting Monroe. All I can say is...Not worth it! The food is okay but it is very overpriced for what it is. I had the Chef Salad and it was basically iceberg lettuce shredded lunch meat and cheese with some canned olives. It’s was not terrible but it was not worth the $10 price. A friend we were with had the quiche which was $7 for a very modest sized piece. She ended up ordering some chili since the quiche was so small and I believe it was another $7. With desert, her check was close to $25. We also bought a pie to take home which cost us $33! I thought there must be something magical about them for them to cost so much... not the case! It was a fine pie but not worth $33. I’m not sure what people get out of this place. It’s not worth the cost. I won’t be back next time...