Three Babes Will Bring Its Salty Honey-Walnut Pies to the Mission

Three Babes Bakeshop, a local bakery perhaps best known for its popular pie stand at the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, will open its first brick-and-mortar storefront next month, bringing slices and coffee to the Mission. The team is taking over the empty space at 2797 16th Street, formerly Grandma’s Deli and Cafe, which closed last year. Just one block from the new Dandelion Chocolate factory and four blocks from Tartine Manufactory, the pie shop is the latest addition to what seems to be becoming a micro pastry destination. It also helps fill the pie-shaped void left by Mission Pie’s departure last month.

The menu will include seasonal pies, featuring all-local produce. Fan favorites include a strawberry-rhubarb crumble in the spring, a peach-blackberry crumble featuring summer stonefruit, a California key lime pie during the winter citrus glut, and a salty honey-walnut pie that runs year round. The signature crust is all-butter and dark golden, shattering into flaky layers, but there are also vegan and gluten-free options.

Three Babes Bakeshop

Previously, customers could order whole pies and pick them up at Three Babes’ Bayview production kitchen, at the Ferry Building farmers’ market, or through online delivery options. Saturday mornings at the market was the only option to get slices, in addition to whole pies. But now, at the new shop, customers will have the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a slice and a cup of coffee.

Lenore Estrada

Located near the corner of 16th and Folsom, the new bakery is a generous 2,100 square feet, but more importantly, it will have triple the oven space, so the team can crank out several thousand pies for Thanksgiving. It’s currently undergoing extensive renovations, so expect a fresh look in the coming months. The plan is to put in a counter with three seats for a prime view of the pies, as well as a few benches in the front. For the first two months at the new location, the team will focus on whole pies and holiday orders, but Three Babes will open its doors to dine-in customers who’d like to sit down to enjoy to a slice starting in January.

Originally, Three Babes was literally a partnership between three friends who grew up in the Central Valley, a rich farming area. But Lenore Estrada is now the only babe left standing, as both of her partners have moved on. The trio founded the business in 2011, originally baking out of a shipping container, before subleasing and sharing various spaces over the years. Estrada is currently sharing a production kitchen in the Bayview with Nosh, a local catering company, but her volume has outgrown those ovens. In January, when the delivery startup Munchery went under and stiffed her $20,000, she feared that would delay plans to open her own space. But despite that setback, it’s finally happening.

“We’re so excited for the new space,” Estrada says. “We’ve always rented and shared kitchens with other people, which has been amazing, and allowed us to build up the business. But we’re looking forward to finally having our own home, and welcoming people in for a slice of pie and a cup of coffee.”

The shop is slated to open in November, starting with whole pies, available for pickup every day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The menu will be expanding in January, introducing slices and coffee.

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