The Original House of Pies is an American

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

, started c. 1969 by Al Lapin Jr., an early franchise system designer and founder of International Industries Inc. who was also responsible for International House of Pancakes, Copper Penny Coffee Shops,

Orange Julius Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...

, and others. Specializing in many different flavors of pie available for dessert, the chain was popular up through 1976 when it was sold by

IHOP Corporation Dine Brands Global Inc. is a publicly traded food and beverage company based in Glendale, California. Founded in 1958 as IHOP, it operates franchised and corporate owned full-service restaurants including two restaurant concepts, Applebee's Ne ...

(International Industries successor), to Robert Herndon, who eventually downsized the chain's locations. By c. 1986 the franchise chain filed for bankruptcy and closed most of its locations. Some individually owned and operated restaurants remain in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and have kept the House of Pies name and logo.

Cultural impact

Original House of Pies is mentioned in the episode "Cowboys and Iranians" during Will & Grace's eighth season in 2006. While reading the resume of a prospective employee from Iran, Grace Adler comments that she had "no idea they had House of Pies in Tehran". The founders of

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

are reported to have made initial plans on a placemat in an Original House of Pies coffee shop in Houston.

References

External links

House of Pies Houston

House of Pies Los Angeles
Economy of Los Angeles Economy of Houston Restaurants established in 1965 Restaurants in California Restaurants in Texas Defunct restaurant chains in the United States {{US-restaurant-stub