Welcome back, Anna (and Anna’s pies)!
It was with sad hearts, and growling stomachs, that we learned back in 2022 that Anna Miller’s would be closing. A legend among sweets fans, the restaurant chain with a focus on delicious pies first arrived in Japan in 1973 and went on to even greater fame here than it had ever achieved in its original home of Hawaii. Just shy of 50 years of being an iconic part of the dessert scene, though, the chain announced in June of 2022 that it would be closing its last branch in Japan, and with less than two months’ advance notice. That narrow window meant that many pie fans were left out in the cold, figuratively speaking, when the restaurant closed up for its final time on August 31 of that year.
▼ A crowd of customers waiting to get into Anna Miller’s in June of 2022, after the announcement of its impending closure
All hope was not lost, though. The last Anna Miller’s closed not because management wanted to call it quits, but because the building it was housed in was being demolished as part of a redevelopment project. After a few station popup events that helped ease the pain of separation, last summer Anna Miller’s let it be known that they would be returning to the restaurant business with a brand-new branch slated to open in December of 2025 in Tokyo’s Minami Aoyama neighborhood, the same part of town where the very first Japanese Anna Miller’s opened in 1973.
As you can probably guess, as a team of writers who think with our stomachs at least as often as we think with our heads, we were eagerly awaiting Anna Miller’s return. So why hadn’t we written about our visit to the new Minami Aoyama branch before this? Because its opening got delayed. Thankfully, we only had to wait a little longer, and as of February 13, Anna Miller’s is back!
To repeat, the new branch is in the Minami Aoyama neighborhood, not far from Harajuku, as opposed to the Shinagawa Takanawa district, where the last branch before the chain’s 2022 shutdown was located. Strolling up to the building, the Tokyo sunshine was glinting off the glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows, making it difficult to see inside from the street, but what was easy to see was…
…the Anna Miller’s logo, shining like a beacon through the second-floor windows.
But as welcome as that sight was, things got even better when we stepped in the front door.
This was a sight that, back in 2022, we weren’t sure if we were ever going to get to see again. There they were, though, lined up in the showcase like treasured friends or family at a long-awaited reunion party.
Marrron (chestnut) and banana!
Strawberry and cheesecake!
Chocolate!
And the Anna Miller’s all-stars, cherry and apple!
We missed you all <sob>…we missed you all so much!
Also making a comeback: Anna Miller’s famed waitress uniforms, which are arguably as much a symbol of the chain as the pies themselves. To mark this new chapter in the chain’s history, the outfit has gotten a new maroon color, but there are plans to bring back the traditional orange and pink versions as well.
Pies can be purchased either for take-out or eat-in, and you can mix and match different flavors to suit the tastes of everyone you’re inviting to your pie party (or to give yourself some variety through multiple personal sweets sessions).
Speaking of eating in, the restaurant offers non-dessert items too. In addition to hamburgers and BLTs, Anna Miller’s can whip you up a Reubun sandwich…
…or a “Farmer’s Breakfast.”
Anna Miller’s Pennsylvania Dutch-style pancakes are pretty unique among cafes in Japan. Instead of being pillowy soft all the way through, they’re crips across their flat surfaces, but fluffy in the middle.
It’s a tantalizing texture, and with a bit of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, has a rustic, comforting, and delicious flavor.
Our bacon and eggs were also cooked to perfection, and we have a hunch that if we’d asked for the eggs scrambled instead of fried (which is an option), they’d have been no less beautiful.
Prices for pie slices hover around 875 yen (US$5.65), while our Farmer’s Breakfast was 1,760 yen. So Anna Miller’s isn’t the cheapest place to grab a bite to eat, but with the quality of the food and cozy ambiance, the prices felt very fair to us.
We were lucky enough to be able to visit for a pre-opening press event one day before the official grand opening, but with three years-plus of pent-up demand, we’re sure that the place is going to be busy, especially on the weekends. But hey, after waiting so long for Anna Miller to come back, we’ll be OK having to wait a while for a table.
Restaurant information
Anna Miller’s (Minami Aoyama branch) / アンナミラーズ（南青山店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Aoyama 2-26-34
東京都港区南青山 2-26-34
Open 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]