Have a taste for adventure? Take a self-guided meat pie tour of Fall River

FALL RIVER — The aroma of pies filled Patti Rego's car for a good week — a not-so-unpleasant experience — and it was all for a good cause.

"It was a tough job," joked Rego, who served as sole taste-tester for Viva Fall River's latest mouthwatering project. "The things I do for the city."

The Viva Fall River director recently embarked on a culinary journey of the city's go-to pie places — with a focus on the savory, not sweet kind — and wants you to do the same.

Rego and her team have charted the course to seven delicious destinations on the city's meat pie circuit as part of their Self-Guided Meat Pie Tour set to debut this week on Viva Fall River's website and social media platforms.

You may be asking yourself: Wait, Fall River has a meat pie circuit? It does now.

"It's meant to be a fun, attractive culinary adventure," said Rego of the group's latest effort to draw tourists to the city.

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"People will go out and search for these unique experiences and we definitely have unique experiences here waiting for people so it was a no brainer," she added.

Rego put herself in the shoes of first-time patrons — a few times she was one herself — sampling pies and chatting with owners about their business and what each place has to offer.

Participants can find a Google Map and links to YouTube videos of her visits to each meat pie tour stop on the Viva Fall River website at https://www.vivafallriver.com/fallrivermeatpietour/. You can also follow on Facebook and TikTok.

The mission, Rego said, is to open residents' eyes to some uncharted spots within their own city — highlighting offerings some may take for granted — as well as attracting new visitors from Providence, Newport, or perhaps travelers on their way to the Cape.

"Why should you come to Fall River? Come to a meat pie tour. Who doesn't think that's fun?" she said.

Why meat pies, specifically? Because they're special to the Spindle City and tell the story of its melting pot of cultures, according to Rego.

"Not only is it something delicious and portable, but every culture has a meat pie or street food that is connected to their daily life," Rego said. "It was a way to highlight something that is very unique to Fall River and also highlights the diversity of our cultures here."

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Viva Fall River's quest to find the perfect pie spans the city.

Hartley's Original Pork Pies

For many, home is where the Hartley's is. So it only seems natural to get a taste of Hartley's Original Pork Pies.

The family-owned eatery at 1729 S. Main St. has baked up a tasty Fall River tradition for 120 years, and are certainly familiar to the spotlight. A frequent flier on "Phantom Gourmet," their latest segment — which filmed in the fall and originally aired in December — was played again on a recent weekend.

Lebanese meat pies

It wouldn't be a meat pie tour without local Lebanese bakery favorites Sam's (256 Flint St.) and Mario's (260 Harrison St.), staples among Fall River-area foodies for decades.

Also highlighted are some lesser known food stops serving up their own unique take on meat pies. The tour stops for samosas at Big Bazaar Indian Grocery, at 856 N. Main St., and beef and chicken pastelitos at Latino's, a Dominican restaurant at 446 S. Main St., which Rego attests are "out of this world."

"The number of times I have parked outside that Indian grocery and never knew that they made samosas or anything like that... happy little surprises are everywhere here," Rego said.

Leddy's Bakery's savory side

Locals have indulged in many sweet treats from Leddy's Bakery, 1481 S. Main St. But Viva Fall River's tour calls attention to the savory offerings some may not be aware of.

And stretching the definition of pie just a bit, another leg of the tour brings diners to the popular Patti's Pierogis, 1019 S. Main St., for a plethora of meat-filled Polish pockets. Just name your craving, and there's a pierogi for that — from the Portuguese-inspired Chourogi to the Frenchogi, the Bada-Bing and Bada-Boom, both with sausage, to the classic cabbage, kraut and pork and more creative twists.

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Rego is hoping this exploration of Fall River cuisine is the first of many similar projects that will catch on here much like popular foodie tours in big cities such as Providence and Boston.

"We always talk about all the great Portuguese restaurants, pizza, hot dogs. There's no shortage of little tours that we could do," she said. "I would love to see it become more of a formal, guided thing where we could take people around."

For now, they are looking to see if foodies in Fall River and beyond have an appetite for it.

"This could be the start of something," Rego said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Viva Fall River to debut meat pie tour of Fall River eateries