Pieminister

Pieminister are a bit of a media creation if you ask me. They’re never out of the papers but when you go past the shop there’s usually nobody much in there. If you do happen to venture in they’ve nearly always just run out of the pie you want, and if you get one you’ll have a job cutting through the wooden crust with their disposable knives and forks. A mate of mine says he always comes out of there with indigestion. Staff are mainly the all-year-round Glastonbury festival types, and the shop shuts before evening meal time when they might do their best trade if they weren’t just eco-yuppies playing at it. Probably just as well though; in dog-on-a-string Stokes Croft they’d probably get their windows put through for daring to try and turn a profit on their pies.

Was dissapointed by Pie Minister on Stokes Croft. The pies were good but they had ran out of proper cutlery and only had wooden cutlery which wouldnt cut through the pastry. At 1pm they had run out of the pie i wanted and it wasnt particularly busy. How hard can it be for a pie shop to put enough pies in the oven? Staff weren't very friendly.

Yummiest pies ever! I am a vegetarian so it is difficult to find decent pies pretty much! But I love the wild mushroom pie it is sooo delicious :D And the heidi pie is pretty good too. Lovely atmosphere, you can take away or eat in. Locally sourced and free range also! I usually have pie, mash, peas and gravy..mmm! Defo worth a visit if you are in Bristol!

MMMMMmmmmmmmn pie. Lurvely. They pack in a lot of flavour and you can have mash / peas / gravy in the box too. Reasonable prices, though if you're a strapping bloke you'll need to buy two pies, for a decent lunch.

All-time faves have to be Chicken of Aragon pie and Heidi pie. The comedy club down the road has chosen them as the supplier for their dinners. Cos they're that good.

I love pieminister.. they never fail to impress me with their great food, friendly service, strong ethics.. All simple stuff really, just done very well. I wish there were more shops to feed my pieminister fetish.

Just popped into my local Pieminister Shop on Stokes Croft for lunch. It's an absolutely miserable day weather-wise (there be drizzle in Brizzle!) but I'm completely made up now!

Just had a Heidi pie, covered in mash, gravy, and mushy peas. Properly hit the spot!

Definite thumbs up for this pie - the pastry was lovely and moist and gravy superb.

Pieminister makes some of the nicest pies I’ve had in a variety of flavours. For example lamb & mint, Thai chicken green curry or the Heidi pie with goats cheese & sweet potato. All served with optional mash potato, minty mushy peas & gravy.

Served no frills in a cardbox box with a wooden fork (which admittedly I find useless for eating pies with) this is a hearty stop over for the pie lover in al of us!

Not as good as they were. Just had a moo pie - overheated, dry and hard. Such a pity, especially at £3.60. For that price I expect a fresh juicy pie. Perhaps its just a Monday thing!
This place was brilliant when it first opened - then the pies were always fresh & juicy!
I recommend this place all the time, a big fan, not given to complaining, but this is not the only disappointment recently.

Bristol’s most famous local pie shop. Rumour has it that the owners of this shop were on holiday together when they came up with the jokey idea of calling a shop “pie minister”, so when they got back to Bristol they taught themselves how to make pies and opened the shop. I don’t know if it’s true, but they make very good pies so I think maybe it’s not an entirely true story.

Pie Minister sticks to what it does best- it tends to have a range of only about six to eight different pie varieties, some of them regulars (such as the 'heidi pie’, one of my favourites), with the occasional seasonal variation. Within the shop you’re not overloaded with decisions to make- which pie do you want? do you want mash? erm… that’s it really, no further questions. They stick to the point, and always seem happy to sell you their pies. Their principal business is takeaway (they put the pies in special boxes). There isn’t a restaurant to speak of, though there is a place you can sit inside their shop and eat their pies then and there. They sell a lot of their pies to other nearby restaurants, or they certainly used to, they don’t seem to do that so much any more.

Now this might be seen as almost sacriligous by certain Bristolians but I have to say, the pies aren’t perfect. They’ve got a good reputation because they look very authentic and they make sure there’s plenty of taste in the filling, but the filling-to-pastry ratio isn’t quite what you’d want it to be, and the shape is wrong because it’s not perfectly suited either to the hand-held picnic approach, or to the fork-and-plate approach either. They are very tasty and lovingly created but (and I say this in hushed tones) I’ve had better pies.

Also, I’ve had cheaper ones as well.

YUMMY! Staff are helpful and happy to give suggestions about what pie you might like to try. If you get a takeaway they come in a nice box, which make perfect gifts for people!

This place is so good it’s famous with locals. YOu need to try one

Pie minister make great pies which are famous around Bristol and they have loads of delicious fillings to choose from. The restaurant is a great place to stop for a hearty lunch if you’re over that way. The food is reasonably priced and pretty good.

Pies, all weird and wonderful. Although usually based in St Nics market, they have operated by the waterside and near the galleries on special occasions. Although the price tag is a bit high for a pie (no rhyme intended), where else would you find a pie with such unfathomable names which don’t seem to indicate what the contents are? The undeniable aspect is that the pies are delicious and frankly, as long as they have chorizo in, what do I care about the names!

Popped in for a pie, not so long ago as my sister recommended the place to me and I was very, very, hungry. A lovely smell greats you and I was salivating like pavlov’s dogs. Some of the pies can’t be reheated so had to have a few goes before I managed to choose one and then it was quite bland. May have to try again to see if the other flavours are any better.

Award winning pie shop! Hot delicious pies with mash and gravy to take away. All ingredients for their handmade pies are sourced from the West. Only free range eggs are used in the pastry. Beef comes from 6 farms in Somerset, and their free range chicken from Gloucestershire. This is a must go to place! Open Monday to Fridays til 8pm.

Now, I understand that Pieminister is supposed to provide the best pies in Bristol. While its true that the smell of the place will make you foam at the mouth, the pies themselves are great - but not divine. They’re a little on the small side, and I’ve always figured that a good pastry is thin enough to cut easily with a knife and soft enough to take in a little gravy. The pastry can be a little tough and chalky at times, which given thier reputation shouldn’t be a problem to figure out.

However, the various pies you can get and the contents inside are absolute genius, and if there were ever pioneers of great pie fillings, pie minister is up there with the best of them.

After such a glowing review on Qype about the Pieminister shop, I had to go check it out. On entering the shop, you're greeted with such a delicious, mouth watering aroma of fresh pastry that your nose is having an ofalctory orgasm. The staff was friendly and helpful and recommended the Heidi pie for my first experience. I was impressed with the range of pies, all with scrummy sounding ingredients and made using only the best quality food with a strong ethic on supporting local businesses and reducing food miles.

The pastry on my pie was perfect, not too hard, not too crumbly and golden like a sunny afternoon. The Heidi has goats cheese, sweet potato, spinach, red onion and garlic. It tasted as good all the publicity has been boasting about but I did think there was far, far more sweet potato in it that any other ingredient. A bit more goats cheese would've been nice. Still, can't wait to go back and check out the next one!

If I could, I would sing you a song about Pie Minister. It would be a gregorian chant, and it would bring you closer to the divine. This place makes me thank the lord for tastebuds. It will almost certainly do the same for you, even if you are vegetarian. I usually go for the vegetarian anyway because they're all so delicious...and you know you're onto a good thing if you don't need to eat meat to feel that you've had a satisfying meal!

Please don't forget to have mash and peas with your pie. It is a holy combination.