I heard there was a bakery on the Big Island that made the best ever apple pie.
It was called Holy’s Bakery — and no one seemed to have a street address for it.
We knew it was in Kapaau on the Kohala Coast, about 60 miles from downtown Kona. We knew you could buy the frozen pies at the local KTA Superstore. But we knew the bakery makes more than just apple pies. (In fact, we got a request to bring back a fresh loaf of cinnamon bread.)
So I Googled the bakery and found a phone number.
“Hi, what time are you open tomorrow?” I asked the friendly woman who answered the phone.
“What time you want to come?”
“Well, we wanted to get there as early as possible.”
“OK, just come by and toot your horn. I live next door. I come out.”
And that was it.
So we set out at 7 a.m. on Saturday to see the bakery we had heard so much about.
12 Comments
Hello Cat!
I’m drooling looking at that pie!
What a find! What a cool place. What a righteously good looking apple pie!!! Going to add it to the bucket list. Next in line after MOVE BACK TO HAWAII. One track mind lately eh?
I’d like to toot my horn at Costco, Target or Wal Mart and see someone come out and open up for me.
There are some professional sports teams that schedule their games the same way: “What time can you get here?”
The pie looks amazing.
best pie ever!
Hey Cat … mmmmm … I love apple pie … but I actually prefer cold refrigerated apple pie … guess I’ve gotten used to eating it cold … can’t recall when or where I’ve had a slice of warm apple pie …
… I wonder how that pie looks like cold, though … all that butter would be pretty solid!!! …
YUM! My guess for the secret indredient was gonna be “bacon!” oh wells….
Holy’s Bakery pies are definitely the best! Growing up my mom made sure we always had a pie or two in the freezer. My favorite has always been the peach one. Soooooooo good!
Wow that looks amazing. and horribly unhealthy but who cares?
Hi Cat! I am a reader all the from cold NYC! Hawaii is our (hubs and I) favorite vacation spot! We went to the Big Island lain 2010 and I searched all over for a Holy’s bakery apple ple. Finally found one at the KTA in Hilo. I had no idea we could go directly to the bakery and toot our horn. That is great news as the pie was sooo delicious and crazy buttery but sometimes difficult to find (esp in apple). I’m excited to share this with my parents and sister as well when we visit Big Island again in June of this year.
Hi,
My friend, Al Quintana, told me about your blog since I was also born in Oahu, I just read this post and I’m kicking myself!!! I was parked right by here looking for a place to get breakfast. It’s close to Hawi, right? Since I’m a chef, I notice things like “Holy Bakery” and wondered what was there. I didn’t look, though. Oh man, oh man.
I guess next time we get back to the islands I’ll look for this place.
We fell in love with Sushi Rocks in Hawi, so we’ll be back in this area again.
Thanks!
Hey Cat, maybe you can confirm a story I heard about how they got their name, “Holy”.
The story I got says in the early days of the bakery, they need a sign. The owner’s surname was the Japanese name, “Hori” and his bakery was named, “Hori’s Bakery”. But as you know, the Japanese pronounce the sylable, “ri” with a rolling r making it sound somewhere between an “Ree” and “Lee”.
Anyway, the sign maker used the “Lee” sound so the sign read “Holy” rather than “Hori”. And, rather than change the sign they stuck with it and hence the name.
Any truth to this?
Wondering in Kailua