Atlanta, GAPie Shops

The Colonnade dates to 1927 and seats its crowd in a massive Morningside dining room, and while the crispy fried chicken often steals the show, the coconut cream pie is the slice to save room for. It is thick and creamy under generous flakes of sweet coconut, the kind of pie that brings back family gatherings, church potlucks and a slice at the counter with conversation. Order the fried chicken, then the coconut cream pie.

Busy Bee is the classic West End soul food restaurant, known for its fried chicken and peach cobbler, and its sweet potato pie holds its own beside them: silky and balanced between spice, potato and cream, with what tastes like a hint of lemon. Slices are always available. Order a slice after the fried chicken.

Southern Sweets has been baking in Decatur for more than twenty years, and while its cakes are better known, the pies are the case to watch. The lineup keeps to classics like apple, cherry, key lime and pumpkin, and the apple is the pick: tart green apples and a cinnamon spice mix in a rich, airy crust. Slices sit beside the whole pies, so order a few and start with the apple.

Oreatha's is a Cascade soul food restaurant that folds in international flavors, from Greek salad with collard greens to shrimp and grits with Thai flavors and oxtail lasagna, and its key lime pie gets the same treatment. Sicilian blood oranges make the custard sweeter, smoother and less tart, and a buttery shortbread cookie crust stands in for graham cracker. Order the blood orange key lime pie.

Smokehouse ATL is a Riverdale barbecue spot for rib tips, whole smoked wings and char-grilled salmon, but its sides and desserts set it apart, the sweet potato pie most of all. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves come through, with visible chunks of sweet potato as if mashed by hand; it runs a little sweet but tastes of real sweet potato rather than cream. It comes in an individual tin. Order one after the rib tips.