FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Rymolene's Pies & More in Fayetteville serves their community with love as they head into a busy Thanksgiving week.
In a plaza just off Wedington and I-49, it can be easy to miss the store. But, word of mouth has created a stellar reputation among locals. Olin Ericksen was at Rymolene's buying six pies for his boss who got hooked on their desserts after trying them last year for her birthday.
"They are some of the best in the business," Ericksen said. "They're hometown favorites, and it will just help you kind of look like the star at any holiday meal that you have."
Rymolene's owner Margaret Burris treats her customers like family, and that sentiment starts with the origin of the name.
"It comes from my kids — Ryan, Morgan, and Ailene," Burris said. "They were born in the right order, and their nicknames are Ry, Mo, and Lene. So we put it together."
Longtime employee Karissa Crumby said many have often mistaken Burris for Rymolene.
Burris spent over 30 years in retail but picked up cooking and baking skills when meeting her ex-husband. She explained that his family was a family of farmers.
"His grandma had said, 'If you're going to marry a farmer, you got to cook,'" Burris said. "We called her Grandma Sugar, and she just started teaching me how to make food."
Burris said it grew from that into gardening, canning, and eventually a love for baking pies.
"I graduated from culinary school two months before I turned 50, but still stayed in retail. It paid the bills, put the kids through college, and then I met Larry, and he said, 'Let's do your pie shop,'" Burris explained.
The pie shop owner said her now-husband, Larry, helped her open despite some in her culinary school expressing the financial hardships it could bring. Her husband had recommended she make a set list of pies, but said she would be bored.
"I said, 'I just want to make pie.' You know, everybody has their own favorite pie, and so that's what I did," Burris said.
If you look at Burris' menu, pie flavors are not listed. She explains that it's because there's nearly a thousand flavors she's made. Some staples include Coconut Cream and Cherry, while her more unusual flavors include spicy chocolate cherry and jackfruit.
"Whatever you want, you just call me," Burris said.
From recreating treasured recipes to using ingredients from people's gardens, Burris can do it all.
"Pie means different things to different people, and different flavors bring back different memories," Burris said. "I've had people bring in their great aunts' recipes, and I'll make the pie for them. We have one gentleman that has an apple tree. He likes a pie made from his apple tree, and so we make him an apple pie. You know, it's nostalgic."
Crumby added that Burris' love and care continue past her desserts.
"She donates pie to schools, events, charities, you name it, church groups," Crumby said.
For Burris, her shop has created a bond with the community that's sweeter than pie.
"They got me through COVID. You know, my daughter had some medical issues last year, we did a raffle. I mean, the customers came through," Burris explained.
Burris is currently doing a raffle but with funds now benefitting Washington County Shop-With-A-Cop.
"It's just this is a family. When I did this, I wanted it to be where, when I grew up, you'd go into the diner, you'd have endless cups of coffee and pie and talk, and nobody rushed you out to get a seat,' she said. "That's what I've went for, and that's what we've got."
For Thanksgiving week, Burris asks that orders be placed soon but she expects a busy work week making extra pies for those last-minute customers. With the help of Crumby, they've developed a system to get pies out to customers fast.
Burris expressed that she'd like to find a bigger kitchen to accommodate her work, so they're looking to add another location.
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