ELMWOOD, Louisiana — Generations of New Orleanians grew up on Hubig’s.
The fried, fruit-filled hand pies sold everywhere from the corner grocery to the hardware store were baked into the city’s rich culture since 1921.
“The appetite is still there, and everybody has their favorite and everybody has their own story about Hubig’s pie, and I think they want to taste that once again,” Jefferson Economic Development Commission CEO Jerry Bologna said.
News that the pie maker is now hiring again spread faster on social media than the flames that wiped out Hubig’s historic factory in the Marigny more than ten years ago.
Bologna confirmed Hubig’s has assembled a new production facility in Elmwood.
“It’s real now after an arduous 10 year plus process,” Bologna said. “We’re coming to end of that road, and I think we’re going to be back in production with Hubig’s pies back on the shelves real soon.”
Ty Green worked at Hubig’s for five years. He can still name the pies.
“Lemon, apple, peach, coconut, strawberry, and banana, that’s another one, banana,” Green said. "Apple was my favorite."
He is excited about a possible Hubig’s comeback.
“If they come back, the people of New Orleans are going to embrace it,” Green said.
After hearing that Hubig’s is looking for workers, Missy Bowen dedicated a playlist to the pie maker on her WWOZ radio show.
“I think it will be a really enthusiastic group of people who will be getting those first pies,” Bowen said. “I’d stand in line.”
She says the possibility was certainly worthy of a tribute on her show.
“It ain’t dere no more. It is dere now. That would just be wonderful.”
Hubig’s owner Drew Ramsey tells WWL-TV that they are closer than they’ve ever been to making a comeback.
He said they want to make sure the first pie baked at their new factory in Elmwood tastes as good as the last one that rolled off the line before the fire.