Where to Find the Best Pot Pies around Boston
There's a reason it's the ultimate comfort food. Bookmark these picks for gravy-drenched-chicken classics, plus a couple curveballs.
The lobster pot pie at Summer Shack. / Photo courtesy of Summer Shack
There’s a reason we call it comfort food. Certain forms of rib-sticking fare just have a way of saving even the grayest day—so with chilly fall days on the way, bookmark these picks for the Boston area’s best pot pies. There are plenty of gravy-drenched-chicken classics here, plus a couple of curveballs too.
This guide was last updated in December 2023. Check back for periodic updates.
A&B Kitchen & Bar
Steps from TD Garden, A&B is a reliable choice for a pre- or post-game meal, known especially for its burgers and boozy shakes. Jumping on the menu for fall 2022 are a variety of autumn-friendly specials (hello, alcohol-spiked pumpkin-spice milkshake), including a classic chicken pot pie. The crust, made in-house, is stuffed with pulled chicken, onion, potato, and peas.
115 Beverly St., Boston, 857-449-2251, anbkitchen.com.
Corner Pub
This neighborhood hang at the intersection of Chinatown and the Leather District is known for its super-inventive selection of egg rolls—say, the Fenway-inspired Ball Park roll filled with sausage, peppers, onion, and brown mustard, or the Thanksgiving roll of turkey and stuffing with a side of cranberry sauce for dipping. Guess what? There’s a chicken-pot-pie roll too, stuffed with slow-cooked chicken, gravy, peas, and carrots. Classic flavor, creative idea.
162 Lincoln St., Boston, 617-542-7080, cornerpubboston.net.
Doc’s chicken pot pie. / Photo by Christina Orso
Doc’s Pot Pies at the Winthrop Arms
You don’t need to be an overnight guest to dig into the popular chicken pot pies served by this operation at the Winthrop Arms hotel and restaurant; the restaurant is open to the public, and takeout is available, too, with convenient online ordering. (The pot pies are available cooked or uncooked, if you want to bake your own at home.) Since you’re double-tapping, add an order of the also-awesome six-cheese mac ‘n’ cheese to your cart for even more of Doc’s comfort-food medicine.
130 Grovers Ave., Winthrop, 617-846-4000, winthroparms.com.
Drive-By Pies
When you’re craving a slice of something sweet, you already know that this Brookline pie baker is one of the best around. But don’t overlook the spot’s savory side, especially its superlative chicken pot pie. The hearty and homemade 9-inch rounds are made fresh daily and just need to be tossed in your oven at home—to truly turn up the heat, though, you can also opt for its spicier sibling: the Buffalo chicken pie.
248 Cypress St., Brookline, 617-879-6210, drive-bypies.com.
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Emmets Irish Pub & Restaurant
This Beacon Hill pub goes all-in on hearty savory pies, including a traditional shepherd’s pie and a beef and Guinness pie. There’s chicken pot pie, too, embellished with mushrooms, peas, onions, and carrots. Cozy up at the long wooden bar for a pie and a pint.
6 Beacon St., Boston, 617-742-8565, emmetsirishpubandrestaurant.com.
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Harrows
Starting with its 1930s-founded original location in Reading, this chicken pot pie specialist has spawned six locations to become a true suburban legend. The pies range in size, from single-person portions to “jumbo” options fit for half a dozen. Just don’t forget to add fresh-baked rolls to an order—you’ll want them to swab up whatever gravy-loaded chicken misses your fork.
275 Mystic Ave., Medford, 781-306-0410; additional locations, chickenpie.com.
Vegan pot pie from Petsi Pies. / Photo courtesy of Petsi Pies
Petsi Pies
As the mercury drops and the desire to hunker down rises, we suggest stocking up on the frozen, ready-to-cook chicken pot pies from this beloved Somerville baker. Talk about handmade: Petsi even debones its chickens in-house (the hormone-free birds come from Boston’s own Mayflower Poultry.) The roasted result is the super-tender foundation for a pot pie flush with rich gravy, potatoes, peas, and carrots; there’s also a vegan version with lentils, roasted broccoli, and more. So clear out some freezer space—your winter-dinner winners have arrived. Delivery is available within Somerville and Cambridge.
285 Beacon St., Somerville, 617-661-7437, petsipies.com.
Rosebud Bar & Kitchen
The restaurant inside the distinctive old diner car in Davis Square has existed in various iterations over the decades. As of late 2023, it’s under new ownership again, and this time the menu has taken a diner-meets-Indian-cuisine spin, from tandoori steak frites to Kashmiri deviled eggs. (Chef Keith Sarasin consulted on the menu; he’s a longtime student of Indian cuisine and the founder of Aatma, a farm-to-table Indian pop-up.) What does this mean for the humble pot pie? Here, it’s made with butter chicken—that rich, spiced, just-a-little-spicy dish you’ll find (and love) on so many Indian restaurant menus, often under the name chicken makhani or murgh makhani. Throw some puff pastry crust on top, and voilà! Butter chicken pot pie.
381 Summer St., Davis Square, Somerville, 617-629-9500, rosebudkitchen.com.
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Seabiscuit
New name, new owners, same great Australian meat pies: Seabiscuit, which opened in the former KO Pies space in 2021, is keeping the old KO legacy alive, continuing to serve its tasty savory pies. They’re hand-sized eats that are fully enclosed by a shortbread base and a puff pastry top. Are they technically, then, a pot pie? Not exactly, no—but plunge your fork into steaming servings of stewed beef with garlic and onions in a red wine stock, or braised lamb shank with gravy, and we know you’ll still welcome these cousins from Oz with open arms and a wide mouth.
256 Marginal St. Building 16, East Boston, 617-418-5234, seabiscuitebo.com.
Summer Shack
With locations in Boston and Cambridge, as well as at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Summer Shack showcases New England seafood in many forms, including the restaurant’s popular lobster pot pie, which is sold frozen for pickup or shipping across the U.S. Big enough to serve six, the crustacean-anchored creation packs a pound of meat and a dry sherry-spiked cream base—plus potatoes, carrots, peas, and thyme—into a puff pastry.
149 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge, 617, 520-9500, summershackrestaurant.com.
