© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WATCH: Pie Makers in East Hartford are living their American Dream

Connecticut Public Radio | By David Wurtzel
Published December 23, 2024 at 11:35 AM EST

Making pies has been a tradition in the Harovas family for five decades. Granny’s Pie Factory, in East Hartford, is a family-owned business that is best known for its quaint charm and fresh homemade pies. Around the holidays people throughout Connecticut travel to their shop and wait in lines to purchase their favorite pie flavors. Tens of thousands of pies sold each season. Behind each one is a team of immigrant bakers making the pies from scratch and helping to fulfill family traditions year after year. Sandra Lopez and Raul Rodriguez met at Granny’s in the early 2000s. Today, they are married and have children of their own. All of that was possible, they say, thanks to the Harovas family and Granny’s Pie Factory.

Raul Rodriquez (right) and his wife Sandra Lopez (left) at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Raul Rodriquez (right) and his wife Sandra Lopez (left) at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Fresh pies on a rack at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Fresh pies on a rack at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Rosa Medina presses at heats dough to create pie shells. Then transfers them to the oven to be filled at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Rosa Medina presses at heats dough to create pie shells. Then transfers them to the oven to be filled at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
The line forms outside of Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Mark Mirko
/
Connecticut Public
The line forms outside of Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Tony Harovas (right) and Joan Harovas (left) have passed down the tradition of pie making to their son, Niko, at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Tony Harovas (right) and Joan Harovas (left) have passed down the tradition of pie making to their son, Niko, at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
David Wurtzel
Dave Wurtzel is an award winning Visuals Journalist at Connecticut Public.
See stories by David Wurtzel

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Donate