Best Pies in Sydney
The pie takes on many forms in Australian culture. It's a football game staple, a midnight snack between bars, eating competition fodder and the source of an infinite number of burnt tongues.
Whether it comes from a bakery or a pub doesn't bother us too much, but there are a few "musts". A pie must be hot – almost too hot to eat straight away. The pastry must be flakey, the filling must be rich, and by damn that pastry should cover the whole pie. Stews with pastry roofs are just that. They're not pies.
Related Pages
Best Sausage Rolls in Sydney
Best Bakeries in Sydney
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Flour and Stone Annexe
It’s one of Sydney’s best bakeries, so of course the pies are phenomenal. Whether you get one with a classic filling or go for something with more panache (the ratatouille and feta pie is an absolute must, if it’s on the menu) you’ll be very, very satisfied. And you can buy them frozen, so you can enjoy them at home.
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AP House
Whether you visit Surry Hills or Newtown, every single baked creation at AP is like buttery manna from heaven: it’s the thing you never knew you needed until it appeared on the cooling racks. Pies include smoked brisket for the carnivores and warrigal greens and ricotta for the rest; encased in flaky layers of pastry perfection.
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Threefold Pastry
Threefold’s croissants are a thing of beauty, but this slick, subterranean bakery is no slouch in the pie department. Expect fillings such as beef, red wine, tomato rosemary and bay leaf; or chicken with pepperonata, roast tomatoes and marjoram.
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Banksia Bakehouse
As well as being a one-stop shop for eye-catching cakes and croissants, Banksia has your lunch break covered with its range of flaky, golden savoury pies. Through the big glass window, you can watch the bakers assembling pies filled with either beef brisket, mushroom stroganoff or Mexican-style chicken.
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Lode Pies and Pastries
Acolytes of Lumi Dining may know, but Lode’s hero pie once featured on that restaurant’s degustation menu. Despite the name, it’s not a pie, but a pithivier: an incredibly difficult-to-make French version of a pie filled with pork and shiitake that took chef Federico Zanellato months to perfect. But you can also grab classic Wagyu beef or chicken numbers.
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The Pie Tin Newtown
Ask anyone on King Street where to find the best pies on the strip and they’ll inevitably send you here. The fillings at the Pie Tin are wild – past ones include lentil and coconut curry, chicken boscaiola and a cheeseburger number – but there’s a lot of technique going on, too.
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Black Star Pastry Newtown
When Black Star first opened on Australia Street, it wasn’t just the watermelon cake that drew the crowds. It was the pies: available in rosemary, lamb and red wine or beef and beer. The shop has since moved around the corner, but the pies are just as good. These days you might also see a Japanese curry chicken pie on the menu.
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Bourke Street Bakery
Perhaps the best known – and loved – pies on this list. We love the brisket, red wine and mushroom number, but the vegan vegetable curry pie hits just as hard in the flavour department. Shout out to the sausage (and vegan) rolls, too.
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Rollers Bakehouse
A short menu of croissants and pastries is occasionally joined by a whopping beef pie with an explosively flaky inch-high lid. Available from the counter until sold out.
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Berkelo Manly
Past pie fillings at Berkelo have included organic beef; potato and miso; chicken, leek and mushroom; and pumpkin, lentil and harissa. There’s no real consistent cultural theme in the pies here, but if the bakers land on a flavour combination that tastes good, it’s likely to end up in a pie at some point. Flavours are also informed by the bakery’s organic vegetable garden in Terrey Hills.
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Infinity Bakery
These are pies you could stop a door with. Fillings such as spicy Mexican and butter chicken are the result of the bakery’s simple ethos: make sure they taste bloody good. More traditional flavours, such as beef and Guinness, have a surprisingly rich depth of flavour. Available at all three of Infinity Bakery’s locations.
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Sonoma Bakery
The staple at this bakery behemoth is a beef and beer pie that you’ll find at most of its locations across Sydney. Mushroom and country chicken are two other regular guest stars in the pie warmer.
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Baked by Keiran
This boulangerie’s moreish pies are almost as popular as the best-selling sourdough loaves, so that means a lunchtime pie will require some strategy. It’s worth ducking in for a pie here before noon – 11.45am should do the trick most days.
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The Grumpy Baker
A Grumpy Baker pie is never far away; the bakery chain just keeps opening great new locations. Pie flavours are pretty consistent – and hew towards the classic – regardless of which outpost you end up visiting. We recommend going for Moroccan lamb or creamy mushroom.
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François Artisan Baker
While we still mourn Dinky Di Bakery and its legendary meat pies, Francois, its successor (with the same ownership) has kept the flame alive. Baker Francois Galand is a former part-owner of the chain Pie Face, and he’s taking that Big Pie experience and combining it with his fastidious commitment to high-quality produce and technique.
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Wholegreen Bakery
No coeliac should be deprived of a good pie. This gluten-free bakery makes one with grass-fed beef cooked with onions and tomato, encased in short-crust pastry. It also comes in a family-sized version for a quick and easy dinner at home.
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Breadfern
There’s something about Redfern. Good bakeries just like it there. You’re never too far from a sensational croissant, sourdough loaf or a ripper pie. Breadfern’s pies stand out in a crowded field, though. And best of all, there are plenty of gluten-free options to choose from.
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Tuga Pastries Alexandria
Although it's best known for its phenomenal Portuguese tarts, this wildly popular bakery also has some of the best pies going. If you've got the room, be sure to add a Nutella doughnut to your order – both are available at the Alexandria mothership and the OG Clovelly location.
Honourable Mentions
Harry’s Café de Wheels, Woolloomooloo
If we didn’t include Harry’s somewhere on this guide, we’d have hell to pay. Is Harry’s just a celebrity photo op or tourist trap? Or is it a Sydney icon? Jury’s still out on that one. One thing is certain, though: Harry’s Tiger pie, which comes crowned with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy, is the most famous pie in Sydney. And it’s been that way since 1938. That’s something worth celebrating.
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