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Rock Springs is the pie capital of Arizona

Rock Springs Cafe was founded in 1918 and now sells up to 350 pies a day.

The Rock Springs Cafe is off exit 242 of Interstate 17.

It's about 45 minutes north of Phoenix and is the pie capital of the state and beyond.

"Honestly, we sell 200 to 350 pies a day, and that's including slices in the cafe," said manager Angel Brunk.

Rock Springs Cafe started in 1918, as nothing more than a tent-covered general store and stagecoach stop. Today, they are purveyors of pie all over the state and around the country.

"We have nine different fruits. We have traditional apple, we have peach, we have blackberry, then we have a rhubarb, we have a strawberry-rhubarb," Brunk said.

"I think the best one I've had so far are the crumble pies, the crumb pies, peach crumb is absolutely delicious, most of the guys that I buy pies for like the JD pecan pie," said Janet Ostberg, a regular visitor to Rock Springs.

The cafe has more than fruit, though. Their selections include butterscotch cream, peanut butter pie, and more.

"Our apple bourbon which has cranberries and nuts in it and it's just like mounded, it's like two and a half pounds of pie," Brunk said.

Rock Springs resident and local historian Michael Sanford loves the cafe so much, he wrote a book on its history.

He's definitely in it for the pie.

"My favorite pie was the mixed berry crumb. It's a centennial pie. It has all the great flavors. It has every berry that's in it," said Sanford.

Rock Springs serves up more than just pie. It is, after all, a cafe. Breakfast offerings include omelettes and homemade biscuits and gravy.

"And then at lunchtime, we just fill up with people who want burgers and our wild turkey sandwiches and our famous pulled pork reuben, which is very unique," Brunk said. "And then at dinner time, people come in for our smoked brisket, our pork ribs, we have a southwest macaroni that has green chiles and bacon in it."

But the cafe is really known for its pie. In a month, they sell anywhere from 7,000 to 9,000, between whole pies and slices. And in a year, their sales can top 100,000.

That's a lot of pie.

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