Debbie’s Pies, Etc. is an offshoot of adjacent down-home restaurant, The Texan Cafe, established in 1996 by Bud Wheeler and Debbie Wheeler. The sister businesses are situated in “old downtown” Hutto, a shade north of Highway 79. According to the website, Debbie learned to bake from her Grandma, who learned to bake from her mother, Debbie’s Great-Grandma Cormier.
Enter Debbie’s pie shop through the adjacent Texan Cafe. Kind of hard to miss. Just look for the giant steer head.
The café featured plenty of charm, including tan brick walls, a pressed tin ceiling, and a sign that espoused sage wisdom: “Pie Fixes Everything.” Indeed.
The Texan Café side featured a corrugated tin wall and this Highway 79 road sign, plus plenty of other Texas memorabilia. There was even a hippo carpet, a tribute to Hutto High School, home to the Hutto Hippos.
The café’s motto: “Down home cooking with a smile.” As soon as we set our eyes on Debbie’s staggering display case, we sure were smiling. The multi-tiered display case featured options like chocolate fudge pie, coconut cream pie, turtle pie and pecan pie. Guess “Etc.” stands for cakes and cobblers, since there were plenty of both. There were only two of us, and we just treated Louie Mueller Barbecue like a trough, so we couldn’t do as much damage as we would have liked. With only two picks, my father wanted to try a cream pie and a fruit pie, so that was our criteria.
Surprisingly, our waitress revealed the person who bakes the pies is named Nita Hodge. Not Debbie. Oh well. Good pie is good pie, whoever bakes it. This slice of butterscotch cream pie came topped with butterscotch chips and a smattering of whipped cream. The pie was enormous, easily equal to two slices, and dense, like a thick pudding. It tasted good, but it was too intense.
Apple pie featured a terrific cinnamon-dusted crust and big chunks of apple.
Five bites into the ultra-rich butterscotch cream pie, it was obvious we couldn’t eat anymore. That’s when my father turned to me and said, “You want to try another one?” I said, “Of course.” I requested strawberry rhubarb, which was outstanding, featuring the same cinnamon-dusted crust as the apple pie, with the slightly bitter rhubarb balanced by the sweetness of the strawberries.
A take on Grant Wood’s “American Gothic,” advertised Pie Happy Hour. If you’re in Hutto between 3 PM and 5 PM, Tuesday through Saturday, it’s $2.99 for a slice of pie and a beverage.
While my father and I were gorging on pie, I became mesmerized by the list of tempting vegetables and sides on the blackboard. I took a copy of The Texan Cafe menu to go, and realized that since it was Friday, we could have eaten blue plate specials like meatloaf, chicken fried steak, or catfish – fried, grilled or blackened. We reserve at least one meal per Austin trip for something other than barbecue. I could easily see Texan Cafe being our non-’cue stop when we return in 2008. Which would have to conclude with a stroll next door to Debbie’s Pies, Etc.
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Debbie has left and the Texan Cafe will not tell where she is!! Can somebody help!
Bud, I have been thinking of you’ll and wondering how your doing scence Frameswitch. I here that the Texan Cafe may have someone I knew years ago, Ron Yantes? Please e=mail me.
Chip from the CTC ACF in the 1980′s