Great Pies and Vibes at Steeple City Social in North Adams

Since opening in March, Steeple City Social has seen packed days and lively conversations, all visible through its picture windows overlooking the corner of Eagle and Main in North Adams. 

“So far, they love the vibe, the space, and the sticky buns,” says Andrew Fitch, who owns the building and operates Steeple City Social with friend Meghan Daly, who brings food and baking expertise to the operation. 

Named for North Adams’s iconic church steeples, the restaurant is quickly becoming a go-to spot for lighter fare and drinks including basil lemonade ($5), or a fancy cocktail like a French 75 ($12).

There are playful and sophisticated snacks, both sweet and savory, like pickle dip ($10)—‚deconstructed fried pickles served with chips—or, if you’re there on the right day, gluten-free horchata mochi (baked goods prices vary). There are also sandwiches, like a traditional Italian ($14), or a shrimp cocktail, depending on availability and time of day. 

Daly is well known for her pie prowess—she ran the deservedly hyped Daly Pie in Brooklyn, dubbed one of Eater’s best spots for pie in New York City until it closed in 2019. She grew up in Bennington, and came to the Berkshires during the pandemic. “For my first business, I did everything by myself, and I didn’t want to do it alone again,” she says. 

Pie is a focal point of Steeple City Social’s menu, with slices like Shaker lemon, salty lime, and chocolate stout with a whiskey caramel ($6) that Fitch says pairs perfectly with their port selection. 

Meghan Daly and Andrew Fitch. Photo by Francesca Olsen.

Fitch and Daly met at North Adams’s first Pride Night on the MASS MoCA campus in 2021. “I peer pressured you into dancing,” Daly says to Fitch. “You were a good dancer.” They ended up at the same after-party, too, and have been friends ever since. 

Fitch moved to North Adams during the pandemic and closed on the Eagle Street building in 2021, the same year he was radicalized by a slice of Daly’s honey caramel peach pie. “It was the best piece of pie I ever had,” he says. 

Around that time, Daly was working as the North Adams Farmers’ Market manager “just to make friends,” and was feeling ready to do something with food again. She had the idea to do a farmers’ market stall, and asked Fitch if he wanted to join. The two operated as A+M Bakery (Andrew and Megan Bakery) for two seasons, offering lemonades and baked goods like the aforementioned sticky buns. “A lot of our customers have followed us here,” Daly says. 

Their customers also helped them launch the storefront—Fitch and Daly raised over $22,000 via Kickstarter to open. “We really were able to tap the community, and they helped build this space,” Daly says. 

To get the business going before  opening, they made custom pie orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and plan to do so again this year.

The restaurant, a former pizzeria, is now neat and clean, with repurposed hanging lights and stools, both painted and reupholstered, and a collection of vintage furniture. Customers can while away the hours on couches or at tables, and the restaurant will add outside seating as soon as it’s warm enough. Teal and red paint make the space feel fresh and new. Daly and Fitch collaborate on matters of style, and share a passion for vintage items and estate sales, so there’s a curated selection of vintage items, like cordial glasses trays, and cookbooks for sale. 

Photo Courtesy of Steeple City Social.

Business on Eagle Street has seen an uptick in recent years years—Fitch, who is also a city councilor, mentions how there used to be a program that put art in vacant storefront windows but it was discontinued on Eagle Street because the shops are alive again. The Steeple City team plans to become an active part of the local community, participating in downtown events like First Friday, the North Adams Pride Parade, and the Eagle Street Beach Party, when the city trucks tons of sand into the street for one surreal, tropical downtown day. They say the themed cocktail potential for those events are endless.

Both Fitch and Daly say they intend to stay in North Adams long term. They can both walk to the restaurant from their respective homes. They say it’s been easy to make lots of connections that tie them to the place, and they appreciate that so many people have interests, businesses, and activities that support and complement each other. “I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe, but I really felt the potential here,” Fitch says. “I very quickly got overwhelmingly tied to this city.” 

Get drinks, baked goods, and savory stuff at 5 Eagle Street in North Adams on Monday evenings from 5 to 10pm, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 10am to 3pm and 5 to 10pm, and on Sunday from 10am to 3pm.