The Story of Proud Pie: Handcrafted Artisan Pies Born in Katy, Texas
A Texas Pie Story That Started in a Childhood Kitchen
Before Proud Pie became a beloved Katy bakery, before thousands of pies left the kitchen for family dinners, birthdays, and holiday tables, and long before its recipes made their way to Dish Society restaurants across Texas, there was an eight-year-old boy with a rolling pin and a chocolate pie recipe.
For Proud Pie founder Scott R. Chapman, pie has never been simply dessert.
It represents family, hospitality, tradition, and the memories created when people gather around a table.
Scott's love of baking began during his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. Some of his earliest memories were made in the kitchen, working with pastry dough and learning the satisfaction that comes from making something completely by hand.
One of the first pies he remembers making was Miss Daisy's Rich Fudge Pie, from a cookbook connected to Miss Daisy's Tea Room in Tennessee. It was a simple chocolate pie, but it sparked a fascination with baking that would follow Scott for decades.
What started as a childhood hobby would eventually become a culinary career—and later, Proud Pie.
From Culinary School to a Career in Hospitality
Scott's passion for food led him to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he trained as a professional chef.
After culinary school, he built a career in the hotel, restaurant and hospitality industries, progressing from sous chef to executive chef and eventually moving into food-andbeverage leadership.
His career included experience with major hospitality companies such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, DoubleTree and Hilton, as well as time in the country club industry in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Those years taught Scott much more than how to develop recipes.
They taught him how food, service and hospitality work together to create an experience.
Through every position, city and chapter of his career, however, pie remained a constant.
There was something about the simplicity of flour, butter, a rolling pin and a great filling that kept pulling him back.
Eventually, Scott began asking himself a bigger question:
What if the traditional American pie shop could be reinvented for a new generation?
Creating a Bakery Where Pie Was the Star
Scott didn't want to create another bakery where pie occupied a small corner of the dessert case.
He wanted to build a place where pie was the reason you came.
A place that celebrated everything people already loved about traditional American pie—the nostalgia, the handmade crusts, the familiar aromas and the connection to family traditions—while introducing bold flavors and a more modern personality.
That idea became Proud Pie, Inc., incorporated in Texas in April 2015.
Scott drew on decades of culinary and hospitality experience to develop the concept, recipes and experience behind the brand.
After more than a year of planning, development, recipe testing and preparation, Proud Pie opened its doors in Katy, Texas, in November 2016.
And what started as a pie shop quickly became something much bigger.
Proud Pie Becomes Part of the Katy Community
For eight memorable years, Proud Pie served handcrafted artisan pies to the Katy and greater Houston community
The bakery became known for creative recipes, buttery handmade crusts and flavors that could feel nostalgic and completely new at the same time.
But Proud Pie's story was never just about what came out of the oven
It was about what happened around the pie.
Families celebrated birthdays over slices. Friends met for coffee and dessert. Customers stopped in for a favorite flavor after dinner. During Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, boxes of whole pies left the bakery to become part of celebrations in homes throughout Houston.
Scott understood something important about pie: very few desserts carry the same emotional connection.
Pie can remind you of your grandmother's kitchen.
A Thanksgiving table.
A handwritten recipe card.
Sunday dinner.
A family reunion.
A celebration you still remember years later.
Proud Pie's mission was, in many ways, to bring pie back into the spotlight— respecting its history while showing that a classic American dessert could still surprise you.
Handcrafted Pies With Personality
Over the years, Proud Pie became known for flavors with distinctive names, bold combinations and plenty of personality.
Today, guests can find Proud Pie favorites such as State Fair Caramel Apple, Key Lime, Ghirardelli Chocolate Silk, Coconut Cream, Michigan Cherry, Wobbly Turtle, Big Texas Bourbon Pecan and Big Texas Muddy Bottom Pecan, with slices and whole pies currently represented on the Dish Society menu. Availability and seasonal offerings may vary.
The philosophy remains the same as it was in Scott's original kitchen: make pie with care, start with a great crust, use quality ingredients and create something worth sharing.
Whether you're searching for a whole pie for Thanksgiving, dessert for Christmas dinner, a birthday pie, a host gift, office catering or simply a really great slice of pie after lunch, Proud Pie continues to offer something that feels both special and familiar.
A New Chapter: Proud Pie + Dish Society
Eventually, the original Proud Pie storefront closed its doors.
It marked the end of an extraordinary chapter in Katy—but it did not mark the end of Proud Pie.
Instead, the brand found a new way forward.
In 2024, Scott partnered with the team behind Dish Society, helping ensure that the recipes and Proud Pie name he had spent years building would continue reaching customers. The partnership initially introduced Proud Pie at Dish Society's Katy location before expanding the brand's presence.
The partnership was a natural fit.
Dish Society has built its own Texas following around thoughtfully crafted food, local sourcing, community and hospitality. Today, its restaurants operate across Houston and Austin, and Proud Pie has become part of the Dish Society menu.
Dish Society now oversees the Proud Pie brand and recipes, carrying forward the foundation Scott created while making those pies accessible to an even wider Texas audience.
For longtime Proud Pie guests, it means favorite recipes can continue to be part of celebrations.
For new guests, it means discovering Proud Pie for the first time
Where to Find Proud Pie in Houston and Austin
Today, Proud Pie's story stretches beyond Katy.
Guests can enjoy Proud Pie through Dish Society's six neighborhood restaurants across Houston and Austin, making it easier to pick up a slice for dessert or order a whole pie for a gathering, celebration or holiday. Dish Society currently operates four Houston-area restaurants and two Austin restaurants.
- Dish Society Katy / Cinco Ranch — 2643 Commercial Center Blvd., Suite B350, Katy, TX 77494
- Dish Society Heights — 1050 Yale St. #100, Houston, TX 77008
- Dish Society Memorial — 12525 Memorial Dr. #145, Houston, TX 77024
- Dish Society West U / Bellaire — 4191 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77025
- Dish Society Mueller — 1900 Aldrich St. #130, Austin, TX 78723
- Dish Society South First — 1600 S. 1st St., Suite 110, Austin, TX 78704
Proud Pie also offers options for pickup and delivery across Houston and Austin, including availability through delivery platforms, making it easier than ever to bring a Proud Pie home.
Whole Pies for Holidays, Celebrations and Everyday Cravings
Some occasions simply call for pie.
Thanksgiving may be the most obvious one, but Proud Pie has always believed pie belongs at far more than one holiday table.
Christmas dinners, birthdays, office celebrations, family reunions, showers, dinner parties, game days—or a random Tuesday when Key Lime Pie sounds particularly good—all qualify.
Whole Proud Pies can be ordered through Dish Society, while slices make it easy to discover a new favorite before committing to the whole thing. Current whole-pie offerings include fruit, cream, chocolate and pecan varieties, giving guests plenty of options whether they prefer something bright and tart, rich and chocolatey or unapologetically Texas.
And during the holiday season, ordering your pies ahead of time means one less thing to bake—and one very important thing to check off the list.
Keeping the Proud Pie Legacy Alive
There is something beautifully full-circle about the story of Proud Pie.
It began with an eight-year-old boy in Tennessee learning to make a chocolate fudge pie.
That boy went to culinary school.
He became a chef.
He spent decades in hospitality.
He eventually took the leap so many entrepreneurs dream about and transformed a lifelong passion into a business of his own.
Proud Pie became part of the Katy community, and its pies became part of thousands of other people's memories.
Today, through its partnership with Dish Society, that story continues across Houston and Austin.
The storefront may have changed.
The mission hasn't.
Make great pie. Make it by hand. Give people a reason to gather.
Because at its best, pie is about much more than dessert.
It's the box someone carries through the front door on Thanksgiving.
It's the last slice everyone secretly wants.
It's the recipe that reminds you of home.
It's a reason to sit at the table a little longer.
Scott R. Chapman created Proud Pie because he believed pie deserved another moment in the spotlight.
Years later, we're still proud to give it one.
One handmade crust, one box and one slice at a time.
Ready for a Slice?
Discover Proud Pie by the slice or order a whole pie for your next gathering, holiday or celebration at participating Dish Society locations throughout Houston and Austin.
Order Proud Pie today and bring something worth gathering around to your table.