Pie Haven or Pie Heaven?

Over the hills and through the woods, there's a precious small town with a restaurant that serves the greatest fried chicken of all time every Sunday. The restaurant is Royers, and the small town is Round Top. Put 'em together, and it's Royers Round Top Cafe.

I think it was a few years ago when my friend Thomas discovered Royers. He stopped there for a meal on a work trip between Austin and College Station and he basically drooled whenever he retold his culinary experience in Round Top. Since it's about two hours to Round Top from Austin and it was difficult to coordinate schedules, we couldn't make it to Royers unless it was a Sunday. Upon some Googling, it came to our attention that Sunday's are fried chicken days at Royers ... Sunday suddenly couldn't come soon enough.

This all happened in the spring of 2011. Since then, there's been a group of us that have convened in Round Top once every few months to catch up while indulging in fried chicken and amazing homemade pie.

Beginning Sunday, we'll no longer need to drive to Round Top for the pie portion of these extravaganzas. This weekend, the doors to Royers Pie Haven open here in Austin, and I suggest you start waiting in line immediately at 29th and Guadalupe. (Grand opening is Sunday at 11 a.m.)

Bud "the Pieman" Royer was kind enough to invite us to a secret pie opening party Sunday evening and it was an incredible time. The decor, the pies, the friendly service - everything felt just like Round Top. Their goal was to bring the country to the city and they definitely succeeded. 

Now's my turn to make you drool ... check out some pictures from the secret party below:

Here's a link to the menu. Pictured above is a slice of the Margherita Chicken Pizza Pie (fresh mozzarella, chicken, basil and yellow onion), the best Ding Dong I've ever tasted (seriously, I told Mr. Cush that I want it instead of a birthday cake next month!), and Sin-namon Rolls.