Crustees

This South LA Shop Dishes Up Satisfying Peach Cobblers and Pot Pies | Eater LA

"In View Park–Windsor Hills I found a small, bright quick-service bakery on Slauson that has built a strong reputation since 2014: Crustees. What began as Sharon’s Heavenly Cobblers, a cottage-food business selling fruit cobblers at farmers markets and festivals, became a brick-and-mortar in 2019 after a name change for branding; co-owner Steven Washington says his mother’s peach cobbler—made for more than 30 years and “required at every party”—is the dish the business is built on. Their peach cobbler isn’t a strict Southern cobbler (it isn’t topped with biscuit or dumpling batter) but instead stuffs big, sugar-and-spice–bathed peach slices between two layers of flaky pie crust whose namesake crust is made with vegetable shortening rather than butter or lard. The shop’s succinct menu highlights single-serving pies and the much-praised pot pies—flaky, rich, sized for one—with three chicken pot-pie varieties (classic, curry, and Buffalo) and popular chilis (white chicken and classic). Other standouts include a seafood gumbo with shrimp, crab, sausage, and chicken; a shepherd’s pie with lamb and turkey topped with mashed potatoes and a pie-crust bottom; and a sweet potato pie that balances warming spices in the same tender, toasty crust. The owners guard a few baking secrets—“might be a little bit of technique involved,” as Steven puts it—but extend their warmth through community outreach, wholesale partnerships (several markets and holiday outlets), and by featuring a locally baked pound cake from Catrina Smith. The shop celebrated five years in the neighborhood with a block-party–style gathering in November 2023, and it remains open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m." - Katherine Spiers