What happened to Don Pie? A dated timeline

“What happened to Don Pie?” is a fair question. The answer is spread across twenty years of blog posts, listings and the brand’s own pages, and they do not always agree. Here it is in order, with dates hedged where the sources conflict. Use the timeline to scroll through, or read the year-by-year notes underneath. If you want the family background as well, from the Purvis Street years onwards, the DonChef kitchen keeps a second, kitchen-side timeline with its own sources.

1983: where does the recipe come from?

By the brand’s own account, Chef Don Lim created his chicken pie recipe in 1983 while baking for a staff cafeteria at a large technology company. The menu calls the pie “Singapore’s original Chicken Pie, since 1983”, which is the brand’s tagline for its recipe. It is not a claim that this was the country’s first chicken pie, and we do not make that claim either.

2000: when did the first Don Pie shop open?

“DON: Your Personal Pie Club” opened at Far East Square in the CBD. The brand’s About page says 2000; its relaunched pie club site says it was established in 2001. The business then grew into a restaurant at China Square Central, across the street; a 2008 blog gives the address as 20 Cross Street and a whole pie at $18. More on the first shops.

The 2000s: how big did it get?

Blogs and directories from the 2000s name further Don Pie outlets around the city. We have not tried to reconstruct an exact list, because the sources are thin and undated, and because the later history of the name makes it easy to mix up who ran which shop when.

Around 2014 to 2015: why was Don Pie sold?

Chef Don sold the Don Pie brand. Articles that interviewed him mention financial difficulty, and say he was not allowed to sell pastries for a time afterwards. The brand’s About page says the name has changed hands several times since. Sources disagree on the year:

We use “around 2014 to 2015”. This guide is about the pies from Chef Don’s own kitchen.

2015 to 2019: what happened in Toa Payoh?

In about March 2015, Chef Don opened Don Signature Crab in a coffee shop at Blk 206 Toa Payoh North. It sold crab bee hoon soup, not pies, and food blogs covered it warmly from 2017. The Blk 206 years.

2019 to 2021: when did the pies come back?

From late 2019, Chef Don sold his pies again as Don’s Pie & Cake at 1008A Toa Payoh North, Toa Payoh Food Centre II, alongside the crab. A September 2020 visit records a personal pie at $5. The Food Centre II stall.

2021: when did Tyrwhitt Road open?

During the pandemic, Chef Don asked his nephew Kelvin Leong to help revive the business. Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab opened at 39 Tyrwhitt Road, Jalan Besar. A post marking the restaurant’s first anniversary in October 2022 points to an opening around October 2021. The Toa Payoh partnership was wound down.

2022 to 2026: what has happened since?

• September 2022: pie delivery launches.
• 2022 to 2023: food writers cover the comeback; the personal pie goes from $6.30 to $6.80.
• April 2025: a relaunched “DON: Your Personal Pie Club” website soft-launches with online orders that go to the same kitchen.
• 2025: a kiosk at Tiong Bahru Plaza appears as new on the ordering site.
• February 2026: the current printed menu; the Original Chicken Pie is $6.80 personal, $33.80 whole.
• Today: the kitchen bakes under the DonChef name, to the recipe Chef Don Lim created in 1983 (“DonChef’s original recipe”). Chef Don Lim, a co-founder of the business, still appears at the kitchen’s events.

Where is Don Pie now?

As of October 2026, DonChef’s pies are sold at five places: the Tyrwhitt Road flagship and kiosks at AMK Hub, Wisma Atria, White Sands and Tiong Bahru Plaza. See all outlets with hours, or the ordering guide for pickup and delivery.