The Blue Owl Restaurant, House Springs

One foot across, and two-and-a-half feet tall. That’s an estimate of the dimensions of the mammoth Levee High Apple Pie. The pie—made with no fewer than 18 hand-sliced and hand-placed golden delicious apples—is something of a local celebrity: it was named one of Oprah’s “Favorite Things”, featured on the Today Show, profiled on the Food Network’s Paula’s Party, and honored with the Nobel Pie Prize. Tipping the scales at 10 pounds, the apple pie feeds eight and has become so popular, its creator, The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery, now ships frozen versions around the country to make stunning appearances at home tables year-round.

But anvil-sized desserts aren’t the only reason locals flock to The Blue Owl. A whole menu of casual comfort foods beckons with options such as biscuits and gravy, hot roast beef sandwiches, fried chicken, and fresh tossed strawberry salad. Yet homemade fruit pies, cream pies, cheesecakes, and wedding cakes are still the restaurant's biggest claim to fame, and have been since 1985. That's the year that local baker Mary Hostetter (whose homemade baked goods had taken area fairs and festivals by storm), blended her home-based business with that of the legendary Blue Owl Restaurant. And the rest, as they say, is history.