Downtown McKinney, Texas. Idyllic Southern small town square, with antique furniture stores on every corner and one-way streets. The other side is home to a haunted jailhouse and lacey boutiques.

It’s the perfect blend of charming and curious. And pie.

The space inside Emporium Pies is cozy, chic and inviting. Grey walls, a gold-framed mirror with the menu scrawled over it, botanical wall prints, tea kettles wearing crocheted cozies. The place is always humming, and the friendly staff wear bows in their hair.

The Lord of the Pies is the deep-dish apple pie topped with a cinnamon streusel inside a classic pie crust. The gooey filling is like nectar. The apples are as sweet and tart as candy. If you’re not a total sweet tooth, it might be a little too sweet, but what’s the fun in that? It would be prefect served warm and paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a friend to share with.

The Drunken Nut. My love. Bourbon pecan pie with a shortbread crust. Need I say more? Obviously I must. This is a food blog. The pecans – perfectly roasted and roughly chopped – taste like real Texas farm-fresh ones, buttery, slightly bitter with a nutty, almost woody flavor. Then there’s the delicious bourbon syrup. Gloriously sticky, sweet. Perhaps a hint of something like caramel or vanilla.

The Cherry Bomb is the summer special, because cherries. Bing cherries. Deliciously tart, plump and juicy inside a flaky crust.

Emporium Pies is perfectly at home on the McKinney Historic Square. Open at 10 a.m. daily, because pie is good for breakfast, lunch or (and) dinner.