Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant & Winery puts a spin on family traditions

By Kelsey Smith

Fresh fruit, cider, wine, homemade pastries and baked goods all have one thing in common: Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant & Winery.

Built on more than 40 years of family recipes spanning three generations, Crane’s celebrates and shares Fennville’s rich agriculture industry. The Crane family’s 150-year-old barn houses the business, revealing a rustic, nostalgic feel with antiques and art lining the walls.

“It’s truly a family business, it has been since the beginning,” said Rob Hagger, wholesale and restaurant manager at Crane’s. “We use grandma’s recipes, so we want customers to feel invited and comfortable, and really get a taste of our region through the pies, cider and wine. The chili and sloppy joes have been the same since 1972; we want to stay trendy on what people want, but we also have to hang onto those traditions that came before us.”

To stay on top of those trends, Crane’s offers pie flights. Serving up four different flavors, the flights are the best way to sample Crane’s famous homemade pies.

Since launching in 2014, Crane’s winery has been a huge hit. Located near the lakeshore, the Fennville area is internationally recognized as a growing region. And last year, Crane’s Apple Cherry Hard Cider won “World’s Best Flavoured Cider” at the World Cider Awards in London.

“It really showcases what our region can do globally, and that’s producing world-caliber wine and hard cider,” said Eric Heavilin, winemaker at Crane’s.

Between homemade pies and treats, a restaurant, hard cider, wine, a pumpkin patch, corn maze, live music and U-pick orchards, Crane’s does it all.

As for its biggest claim to fame? The apple cider doughnuts.

“People will wait 45 minutes in the fall for those sometimes,” Hagger said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s almost like the New York Stock Exchange. It’s an amazing apple cider cake doughnut and people really enjoy those.”

Crane’s has two additional locations: Crane’s in the City in downtown Holland, and set to open later this month, a tasting room in downtown Saugatuck. n

Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant & Winery
Fennville
269-561-2297
cranespiepantry.com