Mississippi Strong: Tom’s Fried Pies makes national list

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - Tripping Travel Guide recently listed the 10 places to find the best apple pies in America. Number five on the list is Mississippi Strong and located in Richland.

Tom’s Fried Pies is on Highway 49 and the sweet treats bring in people from all over the country.

Tom Cook has turned over the business to his daughter, but he is still there almost every day. Cook says he is not a chef, but he knows what tastes good.

“If I had left that to me, nobody would have come in. I try to cook for myself sometimes and it just don’t work,” he said.

“I have people come in that say, ‘Look, my grandmother, or my mother, made these for me and I have never found that taste yet until I came in your place and your pies taste just like hers did,’" he continued. “That has to be the greatest compliment. Oh, it is the best compliment you can receive."

On the Tripping Travel Guide there are places listed for the best apple pies in Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire and Washington. Tom’s Fried Pies is the only place listed in Mississippi.

Cook said, “I know about fried pies cause I grew up on them. My mama used to make these pies for the coal miners in Kentucky.”

Cook is a master of checkers, if not the kitchen, and he shares antique items and signs he’s collected on his travels around the world.

“After about 40 years you look up and you go, ‘God, what am I gonna do with all of this stuff?’ And so I found a place for all my things. And I’ve got a ton more of it that I need to put up and stuff like that.”

Everything is handmade. And if you don’t want fruit pies, there is the Tex Mex, chicken or beef with vegetables and the Roagie.

Cook has been in business for ten years and has been at his Richland location for eight years.

Tom’s Fried Pies are so popular Cook says even with all the construction on Highway 49 his customers still come in.

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