Food and Drink

Beloved Charlotte bakery brings signature pot pies, desserts to new storefront

After years of selling at local farmers markets, a Charlotte-based bakery finally has a permanent home.

Thoughtful Baking Co. will soon open the doors on its first brick-and-mortar storefront at 4418 Monroe Road in the city’s Oakhurst community, according to a news release sent to CharlotteFive.

The “comfort food bakery” is known for its farm-to-table approach, offering savory pies and sweet desserts made with ingredients sourced from farmers and producers in North Carolina.

Thoughtful Baking Co. sells dessert pies along with quiches and pot pies.
Thoughtful Baking Co. sells dessert pies along with quiches and pot pies. Thoughtful Baking Co.

The bakery’s founder, chef Mary Jayne Wilson, said her vision for a permanent storefront has been years in the making.

“This has been a dream of mine for a very long time,” Wilson said in a statement. “We’ve built Thoughtful Baking Co. piece by piece at farmers markets, and to now have a space of our own where people can walk in and experience it in a different way feels incredibly special.”

Thoughtful Baking Co.’s new space will serve as a customer-facing retail space and a production kitchen. The transition from local pop-ups to a permanent home will allow for an expanded menu of treats and new recipes “while still staying true to what we do,” Wilson said.

Former Amelie’s executive chef Mary Jayne Wilson started Thoughtful Baking Company in Charlotte during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Amelie’s executive chef Mary Jayne Wilson started Thoughtful Baking Company in Charlotte during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joshua Vasko
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Customers can expect the bakery’s signature items, from savory quiches to pot pies and seasonal sweets. Also look forward to exclusive offerings that you won’t find at the farmers market pop-ups.

Wilson teased the opening in a recent Instagram post, writing: “A new chapter for Thoughtful Baking Co. is on the horizon. There’s more to share very soon.”

The seasoned chef launched Thoughtful Baking Co. amid the COVID-19 pandemic after she was laid off as executive chef for Amelie’s French Bakery & Café, CharlotteFive previously reported. The bakery’s menu started with a pot pie recipe Wilson had spent years perfecting.

Thoughtful Baking’s turkey dinner pie.
Thoughtful Baking’s turkey dinner pie. Joshua Vasko

“Creating new menu items and feeding people is my passion, so it is exciting to do it on my own terms and create whatever I want,” she told CharlotteFive at the time. “The most fun part about this is thinking through all the things I can make.”

Thoughtful Baking Co.

Location: 4418 Monroe Rd, Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28205 (opening soon)

Menu

Cuisine: Savory pies, quiches, desserts + more

Instagram: @thoughtful_baking_co

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This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 11:39 AM.

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Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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