In October, plant-based bakery and cafe Mud Pie Bakery closed its Overland Park shop after seven years.
Since getting its original start in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2011, the bakery has experienced what co-owner Ashley Valverde calls a “whirlwind” of a journey.
As the latest step of that journey, the bakery has officially started a new chapter in nearby Mission. After several weeks of renovations, Mud Pie “soft opened” its new location on Johnson Drive after Thanksgiving.
Mud Pie is at 6850 Johnson Dr.
- The bakery took over a space just off Johnson Drive and Barkley Street, in between Wingstop and Italian eatery Avelluto’s, itself a relocated version of a much-beloved local favorite.
- Bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes previously occupied Mud Pie’s new space.
- Mud Pie is closed on Tuesdays for now, but otherwise is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Mud Pie Bakery serves vegan-friendly sweet treats and drinks
Customers at Mud Pie can expect to find vegan-friendly sweet treats like donuts, muffins and cupcakes in the bakery’s case — as well as savory scones, kolaches and breakfast sandwiches.
To wash them down with, Mud Pie also offers grab-and-go drinks like cold brews and tea drinks “au lait” (made with almond, oat or soy milk) — a new addition from the menu at the Overland Park location.
Valverde said the transition from Mud Pie’s previous espresso bar offerings into grab-and-go drinks serves, in part, to give her husband and Mud Pie co-owner Michael Valverde a chance to forego barista duties to prioritize his health while dealing with multiple sclerosis.
But it also gives the Mud Pie team a chance to make the shop’s operations more environmentally friendly, she said. Mud Pie will now sell drinks to-go in reusable glass jars that customers can return in exchange for a fresh glass or use as a credit on a future drink order.
Mud Pie hopes to add other menu features in Mission, including new pastries, cakes, lunch wraps and take-home baking mixes.
“So far, it’s been really good,” Valverde said. “We’re just trying to get used to the space and how things are different here.”
Mud Pie has evolved over the years
The Valverdes opened the bakery with Ashley’s parents, John and Sharon Hughes, at its original location in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2011. The team later added their friend William Sims as a fifth co-owner.
Mud Pie opened its second (at the time) location in Overland Park in 2017, which later became the bakery’s only location when the flagship shop closed in 2022.
In between closing the Overland Park location and reopening in Mission, the owners worked hard to make the Johnson Drive space their own — painting the walls blue, building new benches and bookshelves and bringing in new decor and plants.
“I think there’s a lot of nostalgia for the original location, so trying to make this more cozy and comfortable was a big deal,” Valverde said.
So far, she said, being in Mission has seemed to bring back some of Mud Pie’s following from the other side of the state line.
The bakery’s recent move to Mission closely precedes another milestone for Mud Pie, as the bakery inches toward its 15th anniversary in 2026.
“We’ve learned a lot from the beginning, and with that, we’ve made a lot of changes,” Ashley said. “It hasn’t been very easy for a lot of businesses like us to survive — especially vegan businesses. What we learned from (the Overland Park) location and the one before, we can take that and hopefully continue to grow.”
Going forward, Ashley said she and Mud Pie’s co-owners hope to keep the momentum going. The first couple of weeks have been hectic, she said, but hopes are high.
“My hope is that it’s the most successful version of Mud Pie,” she said. “We’re really passionate about it, and we work really hard.”
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