Mom’s Pie House

On our list of the best dessert spots in San Diego.

A single electric oven and a 10-by-20-foot room were what Anita Nichols had when she opened Mom's Pie House on Main Street in 1984; the front table from that original space is still on the floor, visible from the window. She initially hung curtains to hide the mess of pie-making, then took them down once passersby started following the smell in from the sidewalk. Cabin-style booths replaced that original counter as the bakery grew into a family-run operation that sells 700 to 800 pies some fall weekends, climbing into the thousands by Thanksgiving.