Byrnes pies Andergrove: Connors family deliver new store to Mackay

A second cafe serving up the iconic Byrnes pie and pastry range will open north of the Pioneer River, as new flavours are flagged and the owners answer that big question – is it the same recipe?

The humble Byrnes pie will mark a milestone beyond the new Andergrove store, but edge its way further into the history books for its 90-year anniversary.

The iconic pie will this year mark nine decades of tantalising tastebuds and today will be available in the growing Andergrove area right next to Coles.

For the Connors family – mum Lyn and brothers Adrian and Damien – the new Byrnes Good Food Ready to Eat cafe is the realisation of 18 months of planning.

It officially opens on Wednesday.

“I’m pumped; two new stores in two years since we’ve taken over Byrnes, it shows the confidence that we have within Mackay and the community, and with the Byrnes brand,” Damien said.

“This has been a bit of work in motion. We started conversations with Coles in the early part of last year when the Coles concept came to light and we expressed our interest in being in Andergrove.

“Obviously Covid did hold it up, we had a number of delays with equipment and labour which has pushed our start back but we were hoping to be open in 2021.”

The store offers the iconic Byrnes pie, pastries and sweets using the same recipe on which the beloved food was first founded 90 years ago.

“There is of course some controversy around, is it the same Byrnes?” Damien said.

“Like we said when we first took on the brand, the pie range and the sweet range is the traditional recipe from 90 years ago.

“We have introduced the fresh food range to it, the Good Food, Ready to Eat.”

A new range at the Andergrove store includes take-home pies – from individual serves to family pies – as well as coffee and juices, and the fresh grab and go offerings.

Historic picture of Byrne’s Pies. Picture: Daily Mercury archives

Adrian said that element of the Byrnes cafes was growing strongly, adding an extra element to the traditional Byrnes ranges of pies, pasties and sweets.

The store also sells Honey B from the Connors’ own hives maintained in Mackay by the boys’ father, singer Graeme Connors.

With the pie range staying true to tradition, based on the first recipe written on cardboard, Adrian flagged new flavours were in the oven.

“We haven’t expanded the range just yet after 90 years of the same range but the opportunities are now arising and an expanded range is now important for our customers and clientele, and giving new options,” he said.

Vegan and gluten free options, as well as a chilli pie and a breakfast pie, are among the new pies.

“We are so happy because we’re right beside Coles and I have to say, the Coles store here is beautiful,” Lyn said.

“(The Byrnes family) was very happy to hand it over to us and we felt very honoured they were happy to leave it in such good hands.

“I guess when you grow up on something, sometimes you get a little bit narrow and think this is the best pie you have ever tried.

Historic picture of Byrnes Pies. Picture: Daily Mercury archives

“But as we were thinking about purchasing Byrnes, our family has sampled so many pies from all over the place …

“The main thing I found with our pie is you can actually eat it in your hand and it doesn’t go everywhere – you can hold it and enjoy it.”

With the Andergrove store opening on Wednesday, February 22, attention will now turn to refurbishing the Byrnes factory on Brisbane St.

Damien said those plans had been pushed back because of Covid and the Andergrove store.

“It is the iconic location of Byrnes – the heart and soul of the Byrnes brand – and it will undergo a refurbishment in 2022,” he said.

“We’re always looking for how we can spread the Byrnes brand out there in the community and further field if we can.”

Adrian said the factory still regularly packaged up takeaway pies for fly-in visitors who grew up on the Byrnes pie brand, and that was something the Connors want to safeguard for the next 90 years.

“Byrnes is an institution and it’s really important we protect things like that for future generations,” he said.

“That’s something mum said she grew up on and something I want my kids to grow up on.”