WTF? Marie Callender's messes with their famous Chicken Pot Pie recipe? DUMB!

[Overmind One]

OMG, I just had the most horrible experience. I went to Marie Callender's for lunch with a colleague and I had a very eye-opening experience which may have destroyed a lifelong love for this establishment: They served me a FAUX "chicken pot pie" How so? A chicken pot pie, in case you dont know, is a crust lined bowl or pieplate filled with a creamy chicken filling made of cubed chicken breast, peas and seasonings in a cream-based sauce. The pie is baked until the top crust is golden brown. It is the most popular menu item at Marie Callender's behind the pies. So, why the angst?

What I was served was a bowl of creamy chicken stew with a "cookie" on top.:icon_eek: Yep. The bowl was the same, but it was filled with creamy chicken stew, and there was a "cookie" made of the same crust material laid on top of the bowl, so it LOOKED like a pot pie but was not. No crust in the bowl at all, which means that they simply ladled in the creamy stew, and then heated it up and laid the cookie on top. 10 whole minutes of work. I get it, they have saved 40min prep time, but they are still charging me the SAME PRICE. It pissed me off enough to call the headquarters office.

I will never eat there again.

But it does not end here. I will be ranting all over the place with this.

 

[SciphonicStranger]

A pot pie without crust all around is no pot pie.

 

[Rac80]

I'm baaaaaaaaaack!!!

CRIMINAL!!!! I remember Marie Callendar's fondly from my time at BYU (their restaurants never made it past the mississippi!) their pies (even the frozen ones) are OMG GOOD! the fresh coconut cream pie is worth killing for. heck even their frozen pot pies (bought in bulk at costco...home of good deals ) have a FULL crust. (coincidentily just had one today...always baked never (ever!) microwaved!)

 

[Gatefan1976]

You should find somewhere that sells Aussie meat pies, I believe there is a store in Boston (for Rac) that does and they were expanding........

 

[Overmind One]

You should find somewhere that sells Aussie meat pies, I believe there is a store in Boston (for Rac) that does and they were expanding........

Boston Market is the Marie Callender competitor on the WC. Coincidence? I will be checking them out. :icon_e_wink: When I called the Marie Callender headquarters office, I asked if they had made this recipe change for the whole chain and she told me that she did not know. I told her that they had better find out because others in this same Marie Callendars were commenting on their "pies" as well. Imagine getting an apple "pie" which was no more than apples and syrup with cinnamon scooped into a pie tin and then a large pie tin sized "cookie" was placed on top. That is NOT a pie!

 

[SciphonicStranger]

It's too bad you didn't record it like the trip to In-n-Out Burger. But then I guess there would be no way to filter the profanity.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Boston Market is the Marie Callendar competitor on the WC. Coincidence? I will be checking them out. :icon_e_wink: When I called the Marie Callendar headquarters office, I asked if they had made this recipe change for the whole chain and she told me that she did not know. I told her that they had better find out because others in this same Marie Callendars were commenting on their "pies" as well. Imagine getting an apple "pie" which was no more than apples and syrup with cinnamon scooped into a pie tin and then a large pie tin sized "cookie" was placed on top. That is NOT a pie!

Yeah, but the US and Us have very different idea's on "pie" dude, for us it's more like the pot pie you originally went there for, except there is no "cookie" or whatever, it's all puff pastery base and "lid" filled with beef. Of course then you get other pies such as chicken, egg and bacon (love that one) steak and mushroom, vegetable one's, all kinds really.

I dunno about Boston market (have heard of it before however) What I was talking about was like a one of specialty store like a cafe that apparently became really popular in Boston.

 

[Overmind One]

It's too bad you didn't record it like the trip to In-n-Out Burger. But then I guess there would be no way to filter the profanity.

OH YEAH......this could be fun! Order it, then take a picture of the creature and capture me telling them "I aint payin for this POS! What the hell is it?" Then flip the "cookie" off the top and say it again: "You call this a chicken pot pie? I call it a TRAVESTY in a bowl!" I feel so....tricked.

 

[Overmind One]

Yeah, but the US and Us have very different idea's on "pie" dude, for us it's more like the pot pie you originally went there for, except there is no "cookie" or whatever, it's all puff pastery base and "lid" filled with beef. Of course then you get other pies such as chicken, egg and bacon (love that one) steak and mushroom, vegetable one's, all kinds really.

I dunno about Boston market (have heard of it before however) What I was talking about was like a one of specialty store like a cafe that apparently became really popular in Boston.

http://www.bostonmarket.com/home

They are adding pies. Marie is done. She is now a spinster and she has gotten crotchety and lazy and she is serving gruel in a bowl with a cookie on top and calling it her "famous" chicken pot pie! The beyatch! How dare she charge me the same price as for a lovingly prepared genuine chicken pot pie. I am so not over this! It is as bad as being told that Santa does not exist. For weeks, I asked my dad who ate all the cookies and who drank the milk I left out for Santa. I asked him if he REALLY climbed on the roof when I was 6 years old just to come down with that huge burlap bag (empty of course). I asked him if he had fun lying to me! I was a precocious kid.

 

[Rac80]

I love Boston market...it's been around here for ages....they are good, but I still miss the pies!

 

[Gatefan1976]

http://www.bostonmarket.com/home

They are adding pies. Marie is done. She is now a spinster and she has gotten crotchety and lazy and she is serving gruel in a bowl with a cookie on top and calling it her "famous" chicken pot pie! The beyatch! How dare she charge me the same price as for a lovingly prepared genuine chicken pot pie. I am so not over this! It is as bad as being told that Santa does not exist. For weeks, I asked my dad who ate all the cookies and who drank the milk I left out for Santa. I asked him if he REALLY climbed on the roof when I was 6 years old just to come down with that huge burlap bag (empty of course). I asked him if he had fun lying to me! I was a precocious kid.

Your kinda pies, or my kind?

 

[Overmind One]

Your kinda pies, or my kind?

My kinda pie:

Crust ALL AROUND (favorite is graham cracker crust/apple pie). The crust needs to be COMPLETELY covering the pie tin inside, but the top crust can be many different ways. A favorite American way is to do crosshatch style like this:



And the "traditional" or "classic" apple pie/meat pie has a full top crust like this:



I have never seen a meat pie with a crosshatch crust, but they can have slits in it like this mincemeat pie:



At the very least, a real pie MUST have crust all around, and it MUST be baked. It does not necessarily need to have a top crust at all, and it does not necessarily need to be made in a pie tin. A good example is Piroski which is a Russian pie made without a pie tin and is more like a stuffed pastry, but is technically a pie.



Are your pies like these?

 

[SciphonicStranger]

A Marie Callender one should look something like this...

 

[Overmind One]

A Marie Callender one should look something like this...

View attachment 7008

THAT, my friend, is a genu-wine Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie. THAT is what was being served at the particular Marie Callender's restaurant I went to this afternoon and not more than a month ago, so to be served essentially a "soup with a huge cracker" was an insult I took personally. The server was the same one I always get, and she could have told me.

UPDATE:

I just received an email from them. Wow...



BOTS much???? That picture of that pie looks NOTHING like what I was served today. I am furious! Imagine paying $9.99 for a freakin bowl of chicken chunk soup with a huge freakin cracker on top??? Isnt that just soup and a cracker?

 

[Overmind One]

Yeah, but the US and Us have very different idea's on "pie" dude, for us it's more like the pot pie you originally went there for, except there is no "cookie" or whatever, it's all puff pastery base and "lid" filled with beef. Of course then you get other pies such as chicken, egg and bacon (love that one) steak and mushroom, vegetable one's, all kinds really.

I dunno about Boston market (have heard of it before however) What I was talking about was like a one of specialty store like a cafe that apparently became really popular in Boston.

Sounds like pie to me dude! :beckettu:

What I got today...okay, imagine a bowl of soup in a soup bowl. Now, imagine a round cracker like a Ritz or other round cracker. Now, imagine a cracker large enough to fit on top of the bowl, only the cracker had irregular edges to make it look like a crust but was still entirely flat on the bottom (indicating it was baked on a sheet long before this "pie" was prepared) and charging you $9.99 for it! It comes with a salad or soup, fruit and either cornbread or garlic/cheese bread. NOT worth $9.00.

 

[SciphonicStranger]

THAT, my friend, is a genu-wine Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pie. THAT is what was being served at the particular Marie Callendar's restaurant I went to this afternoon and not more than a month ago, so to be served essentially a "soup with a huge cracker" was an insult I took personally. The server was the same one I always get, and she could have told me.

UPDATE:

I just received an email from them. Wow...

View attachment 7009

BOTS much???? That picture of that pie looks NOTHING like what I was served today. I am furious! Imagine paying $9.99 for a freakin bowl of chicken chunk soup with a huge freakin cracker on top??? Isnt that just soup and a cracker?

LOL - that email did not address the root issue at all.

 

[Overmind One]

LOL - that email did not address the root issue at all.

I know an autoresponder when I see one. :icon_e_wink: Double insult.

Your video idea sounds GREAT right about now. I should really do this! Could I get sued? I wonder. I could EASILY go in there with my spycam pen and get everything on video. But that might not make them aware of their GRAVE mistake of serving the gruel/cracker thing they served me, whilst the REAL deal comes in the frozen foods section of Smart&Final?! And for LESS than the restaurant?

 

[Joelist]

No Marie Callendar's in my area.

Boston Market is okay but more like a quick service place (a la Panera Bread).

There are some good family owned places in my area, and on the highways is Cracker Barrel which has some good stuff (their Catfish is killer).

 

[SciphonicStranger]

I know an autoresponder when I see one. :icon_e_wink: Double insult.

Your video idea sounds GREAT right about now. I should really do this! Could I get sued? I wonder. I could EASILY go in there with my spycam pen and get everything on video. But that might not make them aware of their GRAVE mistake of serving the gruel/cracker thing they served me, whilst the REAL deal comes in the frozen foods section of Smart&Final?! And for LESS than the restaurant?

No one should ever get sued for exposing fraud - and I think you are the victim here. A pot pie should be a pot pie dammit!

 

[Gatefan1976]

Aussie Meat pie: