Our History
It all started with dessert. The legacy of Marie Callender began in the early 1940s in Orange County, California, when Marie, an accomplished baker, first launched her legendary pie business, delivering freshly baked pies to area restaurants. By 1948 with the help of her husband Cal and son Don, they turned this home-based bakery into a bona fide business complete with a wholesale bakery.
Within a few years, Marie was making over 200 pies daily and had acquired a truck and a mixer. The first pie and coffee shop was opened in 1964 in Orange, California, by Marie's son, Don. Other pie shops soon followed and in 1969, the pie shops began serving a full-service restaurant menu with many recipes created by Marie herself.
In November 1999, Castle Harlan Partners III, L. P. acquired Wilshire Restaurant Group, Inc. (WRG), which owned 100% of the outstanding common stock of Marie Callender Pie Shops, Inc., the owner, operator, and franchisor of Marie Callender's Restaurant and Bakery. For more information about Castle Harlan, Inc., please visit www.castleharlan.com.
In May of 2006, Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc. was formed. The merge combined two of the most highly recognized and well established brands in the full-service dining arena, creating an undisputed presence in the national restaurant scene.
And, while the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery concept and the Marie Callender's concept fall under the same corporate umbrella, both brands remain individual, carrying with them their own rich histories, unique competitive points of difference and distinct geographical strongholds.
Further information about the Perkins & Marie Callender's concepts is available at their individual websites, www.perkinsrestaurants.com or www.mcpies.com.
Today, Marie Callender's operates 139 restaurants and 1 East Side Mario's restaurant in the United States and Mexico, and has more on the way. And while many things have changed, one thing will always remain the same—the quality and care that goes into making each and every one of our legendary pies. And for that, we can all be thankful.