About Us
JULIAN PIE COMPANY
Serving delicious pies for over 30 years!
Before 1986
Being the youngest of eight children, Liz Smothers attributes the love of pie making to her mother.
"One of my fondest memories is standing on a box beside my mother, and putting leftover pie dough into a metal jar lid to make a pie."
September 1986
The Julian Pie Company became a reality for Liz Smothers in September of 1986. It all started when she and a neighbor began peeling apples for a local pie shop, where she was soon employed to bake and sell pies. Tim, one of her sons, worked after school rolling dough as well.
Recognizing her expertise, two other pie shops hired her to bake for them. While Liz enjoyed the activity of baking for the pie shops, she had a desire to be creative on her own, and to not merely bake someone else's pie.
With the assistance of a friend, and emphasis on quality-control and clean, neat surroundings, the Julian Pie Company began.
Apple Orchard 1989
In 1989, Liz and her husband Keith purchased an apple farm. With the help of son Dan, 17,000 trees were planted to supply fresh apples for the pie shop.
While the orchard occupied much of Keith’s time, Liz’s expertise was in the kitchen, ensuring quality-control. Her goal was to produce a pie that would capture the essence of the small mountain town of Julian.
Liz, and her granddaughters: Journey, Cierra, Lyric and Rayven
While still participating in her love of pie making, Liz leaves much of the overall operations to son Tim. Today, she continues to oversee quality control and customer satisfaction, and in addition serves as a consultant and primary resource for start-up businesses. Her husband Keith passed away on March 15, 2010.
Dave Smothers
On any given day, you will find Dave, the oldest son, managing the Julian shop.
Tim Smothers
Tim, the youngest son, heads up operations at the Santa Ysabel location. Tim's daughters (pictured above) are also involved in the family business.
Santa Ysabel 1992
With a growing demand for our pies in local markets, the need to expand the production resulted in the opening of the Santa Ysabel facility in 1992. Pies are also shipped from this location to homes and businesses across the United States.
TRADITION
Though times have changed, our goals still remain the same. When you visit, you will notice that the pie company has retained the basic traditions that have made it a favorite for over thirty years.
TODAY
We truly appreciate your business, and are constantly at work to provide you with a relaxing and enjoyable pie-eating experience. If this is your first time visiting with us, or you are one of our valued long-time customers, we hope you will find our pies, service, and surroundings to be to your complete satisfaction.