Hartley’s Original Pork Pies is a family run business that has been operating for 121 years. Known for their pork pies, they offer a variety of options from traditional pork to salmon and quahog.
The folks at Simply Southern New England talked to the family behind this Fall River institution in a recent episode. See how they’re keeping the tradition alive in the video interview, or read through the transcript below (lightly edited for clarity).
Amy Johnson, Hartley’s Original Pork Pies 00:01 – I am Amy Johnson. We are at Hartley’s Original Pork Pies in Fall River. Harley’s is really cool. It’s authentic. It’s old fashioned. It’s comfort food. It’s really delicious.
00:15 – We are known for our pork pies. We’ve been making them for 121 years. It’s just brown pork, salt, pepper, and a little bit of gravy inside. Simple and delicious.
Amy 00:26 – The chicken pies, our little ones have peas and carrots, chicken, and gravy. The French meat pie has ground pork, ground hamburger, mashed potatoes. The Buffalo Chicken pie has hot sauce, a little bit of blue cheese. It’s a little spicy, but it’s delicious. It’s one of my favorites.
Amy 00:40 – We make a homemade chili pie. We also make a salmon pie, salmon and potatoes. I think I’m forgetting one. Oh, Chourico. It’s ground Chourico, chopped up onions and peppers.
Amy 00:53 – We bake as we sell throughout the day. We usually to do about 300 large pies a day, two to three times a week. And then the small pies every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We start off with a minimum of 800 small pies.
Amy 01:08 – My father-in-law purchased the business in the mid to late 70s and has owned and operated it since then. Kevin’s been working here since he was eight years old. So he’s been here a really, really long time. It’s just a family thing. Most husbands and wives can’t work together. We just – it works.
Amy 01:29 – I run the front of the house, Kevin runs the back of the house and Jasmine’s here with us as well. My mom works here with us. It’s just family. We’re just family doing our family thing.
Amy 01:41 – If you like what you do, and you have heart, you don’t mind doing it at all. You put everything plus more into it.
Amy 01:48 – I love the customers that come in, I treat them with respect. And that’s what people really need nowadays. It’s really cool to see that the younger generations, young-young generations, just they love the pies and it’s like wow, that’s it’s just super cool. It makes you feel really good. You’re doing something right.
For the most recent business hours, menus, and more, visit Hartley’s Facebook page.
