A relaxed tasting tour for four, an apple-pie gift worth taking home, and a clean exit before noon.
A little history: Buchanan’s long-running fall festival became a pie-centered celebration; the Historical Society’s 2018 letter called it the third annual Fried Pie Fest and traced its predecessor back more than 40 years. Today the festival supports local history and gathers around the old courthouse. The organizer bills 2026 as its tenth edition. History sources ↓
Start with Nellie’s. Share a few pies, choose one savory stop, and leave room for a flavor you have never tried.
Order: an apple for the group, plus a pecan or peach if available. Buy the gift pies on this first visit.
The most relevant independent evidence I found: a customer specifically describes returning to the Buchanan festival for these pies. Other reviewers single out pecan, peach and coconut cream.
Yelp via MapQuest: 5.0 / 5, 5 reviews. Small sample; visible reviews dated 2019–2023. Read the evidence ↗
Order: one sweet-potato or banana-pudding pie to divide four ways. Ask about the surprise flavor.
The vendor’s current festival comment confirms those flavors, pecan, and a warning to arrive early. A more interesting second bite than another plain fruit pie.
Vendor-confirmed menu and sellout warning; no reliable independent rating found. Current roster & comments ↗
Order: salted caramel apple for an apple-lover’s comparison, or jalapeño popper if you want savory.
The vendor has announced 14 festival flavors, including dirty chai, cannoli and chocolate pecan. Salted caramel apple includes an apple-cider glaze.
Current vendor menu verified. Yelp search listing: 5.0 / 5, 4 reviews, about the bakery generally. Festival flavor posts ↗
Order: a breakfast fried pie; ask which savory fillings are ready. Pair with Coffee Convoy at C60.
Ideal if the parents arrive hungry. The organizer specifically promotes breakfast here, and a current attendee calls it a family favorite.
Organizer recommendation + attendee comment; no verified Google score. September 14 announcements ↗
Order: one BBQ sundae to share, or Brunswick stew if that sounds better.
The organizer calls the sundae a personal favorite in this week’s post. This is my light-lunch choice after your pie tasting.
Local organizer endorsement, not a verified Google ranking. Current recommendation ↗
Mac’s, C32: strongest substantial Google signal found: 4.8 from 321 reviews. Ask about the freshest fried pie.
Vivi’s, S29: oxtail & rice or chicken & cheese empanada for savory variety. Brenda, P1–2: another traditional fried-pie specialist.
These are researched priorities, not personal taste-test results. Strong reviews, distinctive menus and relevance to your short visit all count; a high cake-shop rating alone does not prove great fried apple pie.
First choice: C18–19
Buy early, before the tasting tour.
My order: one apple to share now + a separate box of 4 apple hand pies for your friend (6 if you want a generous gift). Ask for the freshest available batch, a flavor label, and storage/reheating instructions.
Nellie’s has the best combination of a documented apple offering, a fried-pie specialty and festival-specific repeat-customer praise. It is a reasoned pick, not a proven head-to-head apple winner. 2021 profile identifies apple among popular flavors; Saturday’s stock still needs confirmation.
Backup: Cookie Hustler’s salted caramel apple at C59 is explicitly announced for this Saturday. Choose it if your friend enjoys caramel and glaze. For a plainer traditional apple, ask Brenda at P1–2 or Mac’s at C32.
Size matters: the recommendation is for individual fried pies. I could not verify that any vendor will have a whole, family-size baked apple pie for walk-up purchase. Don’t assume “a pie” means a 9-inch pie.
Use these as time boxes, not a promised walking route. The old map is dated 2025; grab the current layout or ask a volunteer when you arrive. Spend your time tasting and talking, not completing every booth.
Aim for the Sports Complex shuttle lot around 8:45–9. Shuttles begin at 9, so allow a queue. At the festival, locate bathrooms and the return pickup, and agree on a courthouse meeting spot. If already inside at 9:15, catch the goat gathering; don’t rush the parents for it.
C18–19. Get the apple gift now. Divide one apple and one pecan/peach pie among four. If the line looks over 15 minutes, one pair can queue while the other gets coffee at C60; set a meeting point. Don’t buy the same gift twice.
Hungry? Mrs. Patty’s at C15–17. Otherwise Bedelia’s at L6 for sweet potato/banana pudding. Make Bedelia’s earlier if its pie is your personal must-have—the vendor warns of sellouts.
Take a group photo, explore crafts or the car & bike show, and take a shade/water break. Add one Cookie Hustler special at C59 if everyone still has room. Skip generic fair snacks unless someone truly wants one.
Share Fine as Shine’s BBQ sundae at N17–20. If you are instead near the south end, choose Vivi’s at S29 and watch the Silver Ridge Dancers in the Kids Zone at 11. Pick one area rather than crossing the festival to do both.
Check that the apple box is still separate from the tasting leftovers. Start the exit by 11:25–11:30 if noon means wheels rolling from the parking lot. Keep at least 30 minutes for walking and the return queue; shuttle wait times are not published.
9:15: goat gathering; exact gathering point not confirmed. 10: Cultivation Station dancing, south-end Kids Zone. 11: Silver Ridge Dancers, same area. Music/open mic is advertised at the BMC Pavilion; a complete performer timetable was not verified.
Noon: “county’s finest” pie-eating contest by the flagpole on the courthouse lawn. 12:30: kids’ contest. A strict noon departure means missing these. To catch the noon contest, make a deliberate later-departure decision rather than sacrificing your shuttle buffer.
2026 contest announcement ↗ · 11am dancers ↗ · Other current announcements ↗
The current organizer graphic says $10 per carload, running 9am–4:15pm, with pickup/dropoff at the festival’s north and south ends. Your parking payment supports the designated nonprofit.
Default choice: 4-H parking at Haralson County Sports Complex, 25 Recreation Lane, Buchanan (address verified with the county). Follow festival signs and attendants for the actual entrance.
Directions to the shuttle lot ↗2026 parking announcement ↗Other named parking beneficiaries/locations: Corinth Baptist Church, The Strong House Foundation, West Georgia Worship, and First Baptist of Buchanan. Use the organizer’s posted maps/signs; not every exact lot address was verified. Don’t navigate to the courthouse expecting guaranteed street parking.
Festival center: 145 Van Wert Street, downtown Buchanan. The official site notes accessible parking near the courthouse; confirm access with an attendant if needed. Restroom locations and guaranteed shaded seating were not verified.
That is a planning allowance, not published vendor pricing: $10 parking, 4–6 shared tasting pies, 4 apple gift pies, one or two shared savory orders, and four drinks. Add room for individual meals or shopping. Buy the first small round, then decide whether you need more.
Festival admission price was not independently confirmed for 2026; the verified $10 amount is for the shuttle parking carload. No purchases or reservations have been made.
This audit covers all 33 unique vendors on the fresh 2026 pie roster, three additional food/drink vendors confirmed in current posts, and 29 additional names on the older food/pie sheets. Susan’s Snack Shack has two entries on the current roster. Craft and merchandise exhibitors are outside this food-focused audit.
Review search results were checked against names, geography and products. “No matched rating” means I could not verify a dependable match, not that the vendor has no reviews or poor food. Google, Yelp, Facebook and directory scores are different datasets. Ratings below are a Sept 17 snapshot; most small pop-ups have sparse evidence.
| Vendor | Listed booth | What the research supports / what I’d do |
|---|---|---|
| Val’s Fried Pies | C14 | Returning festival vendor; public festival comments confirm repeat participation. No matched independent rating. Try only if the fresh batch or filling catches your eye. Source ↗ |
| Mrs. Patty’s Kitchen | C15–17 | PRIORITY · Breakfast fried pie. Organizer confirms breakfast and sweet/savory pies; an attendee calls this a family favorite. No verified Google score. Current menu evidence is stronger than review evidence. Source ↗ |
| Nellies Fried Pies | C18–19 | FIRST STOP · Nellie’s Southern Fried Pies, Phenix City. Yelp 5.0/5 (5), displayed by MapQuest. Reviews praise pecan, peach and coconut cream; a 2019 reviewer returns to this very festival. Small, older sample; no verified Google score. Best classic apple gift lead. Source ↗ |
| Haralson County Historical Society | C20–21 | Community-support pick. This is the festival organizer’s pie booth; no separate pie-review profile found. Ask which filling is their specialty. Source ↗ |
| Susans Snack Shack | C22 + N4 | Appears twice on the current list; treat as one vendor with two listed locations. Older food sheet also lists cotton candy, funnel cakes and fried Oreos. No matched independent rating. Source ↗ |
| Mac’s Bakery | C32 | STRONG BACKUP · Rockmart bakery: Google 4.8/5 (321), checked Sept 17. Recent praise for donuts, cream sticks and longtime favorites; a review praises lemon egg custard pie. Some custom-cake/order complaints. Ask what fried pies are fresh; regular-shop reviews do not establish the festival’s best apple pie. Source ↗ |
| A Little Bit of Homemade | C37 | Older food sheet lists breakfast and pork pies; current roster confirms pie participation. No reliable independent review match; ask about savory options. Source ↗ |
| Connies Confections | C40–41 | Current pie vendor. Older food sheet adds onion rings and fried Oreos. No safely matched review profile; same-name businesses elsewhere excluded. Source ↗ |
| Deb’s Delights | C46 | Current roster confirms pies. A local Buchanan name appears online, but unrelated bakeries dominate review results; no rating assigned. Source ↗ |
| Allisons Sweets | F6 | Organizer specifically promotes Allison’s sweets in the Food Court this week. No independently verified taste rating or complete current flavor menu. Source ↗ |
| Real South Concessions | F6A | Current pie roster. Older food sheet calls it Real South Foods and mentions unusual meats/gator sausage; confirm the name and current menu at the booth. No matched independent rating. Source ↗ |
| 305 Takeover | F9 | Empanadas, explicitly identified on current roster. Exact business/review match unresolved; Vivi’s has the clearer published current menu. Source ↗ |
| J Macs | F10 | Current pie roster only. Do not confuse with Mac’s Bakery or unrelated J. Mac restaurants. No safely matched independent review profile. Source ↗ |
| Dragon’s Boiled Peanuts | F11; post says F11–12 | Regional snack option: boiled peanuts plus fried pies confirmed by organizer and vendor comment. No matched independent rating. Share a small cup if you want a break from sweets. Source ↗ |
| Sweet Thangs by Brenda | P1–2 | Rome bakery; official tourism profile confirms made-to-order fried pies and cakes. Good second traditional-pie stop. No verified Google score: an Alabama “Sweet Thangs” rating belongs to a different business and was excluded. Source ↗ |
| Bremen Masonic Lodge | P3 | Community pie booth. No separate food-review profile found; ask about their signature filling. Organization ratings would not measure these pies. Source ↗ |
| Susans Sweet Shop | P4 | Distinct from Susan’s Snack Shack on the roster. Older food sheet also lists sourdough and biscuits. No securely matched independent pie rating. Source ↗ |
| Fine Vine Jelly’s | P15 — verify | Current roster says P15; a separate current organizer post assigns P15 to Kersting Designs. Ask festival information before searching for this booth. No matched independent rating. Source ↗ |
| Issa pissa pies | CS4 — verify | Georgia Grown confirms Marietta’s Issa Pissa Pies makes miniature sweet/savory pies and fried Pie-lettes. No verified independent rating. Another vendor comment claims CS4 for dog treats: verify location. Interesting backup if nearby. Source ↗ |
| Corinth Baptist Church | CS6 | Community pie vendor and a named shuttle-parking beneficiary. No independent pie reviews found. Church reviews are not useful food evidence. Source ↗ |
| Bedelias Bees | L6 | PRIORITY · Vendor’s current comment confirms pecan, banana pudding, sweet potato and a surprise flavor; says to come early before selling out. Eventeny identifies the Temple business but supplies no review base. Flavor-driven recommendation, not a star-rating winner. Source ↗ |
| Little Byrds | T4–5 | No reliably matched independent food-review profile found. Ask about today’s fillings; an optional discovery stop, not a review-backed priority. Source ↗ |
| Nettie’s Fried Pies | T13 | Separate from Nellie’s at C18–19. A “Nettie’s Homemade Fried Pies” event listing exists, but no securely matched independent review base. Do not transfer Nellie’s reviews to this booth. Source ↗ |
| Lanee’s Whoopie Pies | T18 | Owner’s site describes a culinary-trained chef with decades of experience. Good nontraditional dessert option; a whoopie pie is a cake sandwich, so ask which fried items are also available. No verified Google score. Source ↗ |
| Sweetie Pies | S23 | No reliably matched independent food-review profile found. Ask about today’s fillings; an optional discovery stop, not a review-backed priority. Source ↗ |
| Vivi’s Latin / Vivi’s Empanadas | S29 | SAVORY ALTERNATIVE · Current festival flyer lists chicken/cheese, beef, oxtail/rice, mushroom/cheese and roast beef/potato. Sweet Oblea combines dulce de leche, cream cheese and raspberry. Menu-backed, not independently review-ranked. Source ↗ |
| Chubby Cakes | S35 — verify | Likely Dallas’s Chubby Cakes and Bakes: The Knot 5.0/5 (21), largely custom/wedding-cake praise. Identity inferred from abbreviated roster name; pie performance unproven. Another organizer activity post also cites S35, so verify location. Source ↗ |
| Just Because Bakeshop | N3 | Dallas bakery. Yelp search listing 5.0/5 (2); Restaurantji 5.0 (36) is a separate directory score, not a verified Google rating. Praise centers on cakes/cupcakes and service. Optional bakery stop; no fried-apple-specific evidence. Source ↗ |
| Boardwalk | N5 | Name too broad to match a business confidently. Current roster confirms participation; no rating or menu assigned from similarly named businesses. Source ↗ |
| Baked by Britt | N9 | No reliably matched independent food-review profile found. Ask about today’s fillings; an optional discovery stop, not a review-backed priority. Source ↗ |
| Happy Norseman Farm | N15 | Cedartown farm’s own site confirms honey, produce, jams and baked goods. Current roster adds pies, but flavors and independent reviews remain unverified. Good browse-for-gifts stop. Source ↗ |
| Fine as Shine BBQ | N17–20 | PRIORITY · Organizer’s current personal pick is the BBQ sundae, with Brunswick stew also promoted. Treat as a local recommendation, not an independent Google award. Share one savory order before another sweet round. Source ↗ |
| The Cookie Hustler | C59 | PRIORITY WILDCARD · Vendor confirms 14 festival flavors, including salted caramel apple and jalapeño popper. Yelp search listing 5.0/5 (4), a small general-bakery sample. Try one special flavor; the festival pies themselves are not independently rated. Source ↗ |
| Coffee Convoy | C60 | Additional 2026 organizer post confirms morning coffee. Convenient pairing for the courthouse pie stops; no verified Google rating. Older food sheet’s Food Court placement is superseded. Source ↗ |
| Mainstreet Ice Cream | S7–8 | Additional 2026 organizer post confirms ice cream in the Kids Zone. No reliably matched independent rating; avoid importing reviews from similarly named out-of-state shops. Source ↗ |
| The Incredible Pulp | T14–15 | Additional 2026 organizer post confirms cold drinks. No confidently matched independent review profile; same-name beer reviews are unrelated. Source ↗ |
These names were researched because they appear on the user-linked website’s older sheets. Do not plan a 2026 route around them. Old booth numbers are intentionally omitted. If you encounter them, the notes below explain what is known.
Older food sheet ↗ · 2025 pie sheet ↗ · GastroDawg reviews ↗ · Moni’s ↗ · Butterfly Mountain ↗ · Fly High menu ↗
Best relevant independent pie evidence: Nellie’s. Five Yelp reviews are a small sample, but the comments address the actual fried pies and one names this festival. Best substantial verified Google evidence: Mac’s, with 321 reviews; most visible feedback concerns its broader bakery.
Strong current-menu evidence: Cookie Hustler, Bedelia’s, Mrs. Patty’s and Vivi’s. Their specific offerings make them good picks, but menus and vendor enthusiasm are not independent reviews. Fine as Shine’s recommendation comes from the organizer.
Identity checks matter: Nellie’s and Nettie’s are different roster entries. Sweet Thangs by Brenda in Rome is not the similarly named Alabama bakery whose Google stars appear in searches. Chubby Cakes is an abbreviated roster name, so its Dallas match is provisional.
Location conflicts: Fine Vine/Kersting at P15, Issa Pissa/a dog-treat vendor at CS4, and Chubby Cakes/an activity at S35. Those stops are optional; ask a volunteer. Dragon’s is F11 on the roster and F11–12 in an organizer post. The first five priorities have no such conflict in the evidence checked. These are source discrepancies, not proof that either business has canceled.
Checked September 17, 2026. On Saturday morning, check the organizer for weather or location changes; booth menus, availability and queues can change. Facebook may show a login prompt.
