Late night revelers, pie fans and diner devotees got good news Wednesday night when House of Pies reopened its location on Kirby Drive. Five months ago, an electrical fire in the roof damaged the restaurant and the anticipated three-week rebuilding process stretched out longer than initially planned.
"We couldn't just patch it up," co-owner Chick Ganim tells CultureMap. "We had to make sure everything was up to code, so it doesn't happen again."
Once the process began, the owners decided to perform a full renovation. "We pretty much gutted the place," Ganim says. The bathrooms, walls and ceiling are all new. The newly expanded kitchen has all-new equipment. In addition, the secondary dining room has been expanded, and a patio has been added that looks over Kirby.
Ganim describes the changes as helping the restaurant feel "fresher, more up to date. We've got to keep up with the times." They're contemplating similar changes for the Westheimer location but haven't set a timeline.
Thankfully, the recipes and 90-percent of the staff are the same. "That's what makes us who we are," Ganim says.
After the fire, tributes poured in. Ganim recalls reading comparissons between House of Pies and other iconic Houston destinations like the Astrodome. "It made us realize how big we are," he recalls.
"You don't realize what you have until something drastic like this happens." Thanks to the new look, this is one institution that should be on solid footing for years to come.
The sign out front says it all.
