Banning's Restaurant & Pie House — Restaurant in Tigard

This rating is based only on ordering pies for Thanksgiving and a couple slices I bought to sample. I haven't eaten in the restaurant.

TLDR Pumpkin & apple pies are good, but not mind-blowing, mostly because the crust is lackluster. Skip the cream pies.

I'm a decent baker, so I usually bake my own pies. This year brought some different challenges, however, so I decided to order Thanksgiving pies instead. I would have normally relied on Shari's, but since they've closed, I needed an alternative. All the community banter pointed to Bannings. I placed an order for pumpkin and Dutch apple over the phone. The ordering process was easy enough (be prepared with your credit card for prepayment, have a way to write down an order #, and pick a time for pickup not just a date). It was about $45 for 2 pies, which I find expensive, but I knew I was making a choice to relieve my own stress so that was ok. After a big holiday meal, I think each pie easily serves 8 people (10 if people are sugar-conscioud and/or sampling several desserts) so there's good mileage from each pie.

I didn't want to risk Thanksgiving without sampling, though, so I asked my husband to swing by and pick up a couple slices for us to try. I figured that if the pie was hideous, I would cancel my order. He picked up a slice of pumpkin and banana cream (his personal favorite). Thankfully, we found the pumpkin pie was good--filling a tad softer than ideal but tasty with pronounced spices, lackluster crust; overall enjoyable. The banana cream was disgusting. We threw it in the trash. The cream part was all wrong--flavorless and stiff vs. creamy. Interestingly, the crust on that pie seemed better than what came with the pumpkin pie, but I doubt they were different crust recipes. I tried the Dutch apple on Thanksgiving, and it was good. The cinnamon is light so you really taste the apples, and there's a good ratio of filling to streusel. Same bland crust, but it didn't take away from the apple pie since it's just a single crust on a Dutch apple.

Service at pick-up was efficient and pleasant. I picked up at 7pm the day before Thanksgiving, and there was no line. I walked up to the window. It took a few minutes for an employee to come around, but then she was pleasant. I have her my order number and she got my pies quickly. Easy peasy! The atmosphere seems like a pleasantly old-school diner, and one of these days, I'll try the restaurant.

I wish they'd improve that pie crust, but I'd buy a fruit pie from them again if I wasn't in a position to make my own. I'm staying away from their cream...

Quaint. Friendly staff, good service. Surprisingly, pleasantly aromatic bathrooms with MOOD lighting.

Sure, sure, sure, the food was great. But there's no amount of care they could put into it that would make it anything more than a obligatory prerequisite to what we really came here for: The dessert.

I treated myself to a light sampling (massive servings, don't @me) of: Fresh Strawberry, Elvis pie, Carrot Cake, and the Marionberry Poppy Seed.

TL;DR my shoes aren't going to fit tomorrow.

Fresh Strawberry: 10/10. Didn't know you could make a simple strawberry treat so lovely. Light, tasty, leaves you feeling unburdened by your choices (unless you make 3 other choices, which you should. Bad ones)

Elvis Pie: SeductiveHipWiggle/10. Chocolate, banana, peanutbutter, whipped topping, had me howling like a hound dog who's shoes fit too tight (from the diabetes. This pup needs a rescue)

Carrot Cake: 24k/10. Get it? Like gold? Because that's where this bad boy is on the podium. Selflessly sharing space with his 3 friends. Heartwarming. Moist.

Marionberry Poppyseed: (forward by the author): My coworker, Emma, once told me, "You've got a try the Marionberry Poppyseed cake at Bannings!" To which I replied, "Emma, Emma. If you're going to say something so foolish, just don't talk." I say 'coworker' to be humble, but I'm her boss, so it's fine to speak to her this way. "If you think I'm going to eschew my phallic fixation and bypass banana and carrot to get to... Marionberry Poppy Seed? Listen, most of the those words aren't even in the Bible, and I received my formal education in the state of Tennessee, so your hippy Portland sentiments are lost on me. You probably like kale. And equality." But by God.... 1,000,000/10. Best cake I've ever experienced? Who knows. I'm frequently intoxicated when I misbehave (or write reviews). But most highly exceeding expectations of all time? Absolutely.

I've never done heroin (but hey, when in Portland!) but I feel like I've been given a peek behind the veil, based on the nirvana this Poppy Seed delight made me feel.

Go to Oregon. Go to Portland. Go to Banning's. Eat the Marionberry Poppyseed Cake. Thank me later. Not Emma. She's got work to do. I've got a afford these...

Just visited again this week, and was very happy with my solo visit for comfort food in a quiet corner. I know it's a busy spot for brunch, but I arrived shortly after 5 PM on a Monday and was seated in a back booth which was perfect for the peaceful meal I was looking for. I ordered the meatloaf, with mashed potatoes and gravy and vegetables from the "honored guests" menu (sorry kids, this menu is for the elite 60+ crowd). Because it's from that menu and very reasonably priced (at $11..49), I expected smaller portions of everything, and so was surprised when served two good sized slices of perfectly seasoned traditional juicy but not greasy meatloaf, at least two big scoops of creamy buttery perfectly smooth whipped (?) mashed potatoes topped with a delicious homemade gravy, along with a good serving of fresh, lightly steamed bright green naked broccoli. This was truly down home comfort food and I couldn't have been happier with it. Satisfied with half of it, the rest went home with me for dinner the next day, and I had to save room for their famous pie.

I asked about the "seasonal pie" and when my sweet server said Peach, I had to order it. This is what made me have to write this review: I was shocked to see that another reviewer didn't like it! Ha! Of course we all have different tastes, but here's another POV from a long time peach pie lover. She mentioned the vanilla cream layer, but it was a small part of this pie (see that you can’t even see it in my photo, taken after one big bite. Yes, it was a surprise but IMHO it was creamy, not too sweet and it worked, by just adding a little something to the flavor profile of the peaches. I agree that the crust was perfect, but for me that means not only light and flaky, but also restrained, as in thin, and not at all tough. The juicy peaches were perfectly ripe, and baked lightly with only enough sugar to bring out their fresh goodness. As you can see, the pie portion size was generous as was the real whipped cream topping. I just can't find anything to improve upon... OK, maybe that my table service didn't include a knife. I love clean, fresh, local ingredients and a light hand with seasonings, fats and sugars, and Bannings was a...