After three years away from the Phinney Ridge corner it once called home, A la Mode Pies is preparing to reopen at 5819 Phinney Ave. N., Suite 1, with owner Chris Porter aiming for a November comeback, though permitting and construction could push the date into December. The shop will occupy the same spot across from Woodland Park Zoo where Porter first opened his cafe in 2011, and it returns not as a renter but as an owner of the ground-floor commercial space.
That shift from tenant to property owner is central to the story, according to WhatNow Seattle, which first reported on the shop's plans to return. The original building was demolished after its owner donated the aging property to an affordable housing organization, and that organization later approached Porter about coming back once the new structure was finished. The result is Woodland View, a five-story mixed-use condominium project developed by Homestead Community Land Trust and completed in early 2026, according to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
Rather than simply leasing space again, A la Mode Pies purchased both ground-floor commercial units at Woodland View as commercial condominiums, according to Homestead Community Land Trust, guaranteeing the business long-term stability instead of risking another future displacement. Schemata Workshop served as the architectural firm that designed the building. Porter remained involved as the new building took shape, and he has saved materials from the original cafe throughout the closure — including light fixtures that will return to the new space and an end-grain walnut counter that will be reworked into a window seating area.
From Online Bakery to Neighborhood Fixture
Porter's path to Phinney Ridge started well before he ever ran a bakery. Before founding A la Mode Pies, he worked as a television news reporter in Indiana and later as a corporate public relations director, according to Seattle Magazine. He started A la Mode Pies as an online bakery in 2009, operating that way for its first two years with no prior experience owning or working in a bakery.
In 2011, Porter invested his savings into the first A la Mode cafe at 59th Street and Phinney Avenue, per WhatNow Seattle's reporting, growing the business from one employee to about eight when the cafe opened. He remained the primary baker, often working from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and taught pie-making classes that included small-group sessions preparing three varieties of petite pies. Porter has said the original Phinney opening was magical and solidified his dream.
The cafe became known for serving 10 to 12 pie varieties each day, made by hand and baked same-day, sold whole or by the slice, with customers able to order warmed pie topped with ice cream. Porter reportedly refused to sell leftover slices the next day, instead giving them away to passersby after closing. The shop later expanded with a West Seattle cafe in 2016, which today handles most of A la Mode's production.
Bridging the Gap With a Ballard Location
When the original Phinney cafe closed in 2023 due to the building's needed demolition, Porter had already prepared for the gap. He added a Ballard location at 2034 NW 56th St. in September 2021, expanding specifically to prevent a lapse in service for his North Seattle customers while the Phinney Ridge redevelopment moved forward, according to My Ballard. The Ballard shop gave Phinney regulars another nearby place to keep buying A la Mode pies during the three-year wait.
That move also came with an unexpected bonus. Taking over the Ballard space from outgoing Parfait Ice Cream, A la Mode acquired a commercial pasteurizer that let the bakery start making its own ice cream base from scratch using just six ingredients, the outlet's report noted. The new Phinney cafe will put that equipment to use, adding soft-serve ice cream to the menu alongside a larger selection of savory pies while still retaining the shop's signature flavors.
A State Champion Returns Home
A la Mode's reputation has only grown during its time away from Phinney Ridge. Chowhound named it the best pie shop in Washington State in 2025, spotlighting its Blue Hawaiian pie made with blueberries, crushed pineapple, and toasted coconut, according to Chowhound — a flavor that started out early in the company's history as a popular mini pie pop. Hoodline had recognized the original Phinney Ridge storefront back in 2019 too, naming it a top Seattle dessert spot in a National Dessert Day roundup.
Porter plans to display photographs from the first cafe once the new location opens, and pie-making classes are set to return to Phinney Ridge as well. Regardless of whether the reopening lands in November or slips to December, A la Mode Pies will bring Thanksgiving orders back to Phinney Ridge, with its Thanksgiving menu and pre-ordering opening on October 1. Porter has said the new opening energizes him.
Part of a Larger Affordable Housing Push
The Woodland View building itself represents a significant local affordable-housing effort. It includes 19 permanently affordable condominium homes reserved for first-time buyers earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income, with prices starting at $247,000 for one-bedroom units, alongside six market-rate condos, according to Homestead Community Land Trust. All 25 residential units share a rooftop deck with views of Woodland Park and the Olympic Mountains.
The land itself was a gift: architect Chakorn Phisuthikul and former schoolteacher Marilyn Heinemann donated the property to Homestead Community Land Trust specifically to ensure modest-income workers could afford to buy homes in the neighborhood, according to The PhinneyWood Blog. The donors said they hoped their gift would inspire other property owners nearby to do the same. Homestead has since broken ground on a second nearby project called Nest at 6109 Phinney Ave. N., which will add another 19 permanently affordable condos and nine market-rate homes, bringing the corridor's total to 38 permanently affordable homeownership units between the two developments.
