Oceanside 'Top Gun' House Opens Friday as High-Pie Dessert Shop

OCEANSIDE, CA — It's been a long road for the Graves House to finally open up as a dessert shop at the Mission Pacific Hotel on the oceanfront in downtown Oceanside.

The Mission Pacific Hotel opened almost a year ago last May and locals have been buzzing with anticipation for the new dessert place to open. Along the way, the house has been painted brown and then back to its original blue.

The house is more famously known as the 'Top Gun House' from the 1986 action movie. The finishing touches are being added to the victorian style beach cottage's renovation into a dessert shop called High-Pie. At one point there were plans to name the dessert spot Charlie's, after Kelly McGillis's character in the movie. Those plans changed under the direction of local venture hospitality group, F10 Creative, which also operates Mission Pacific’s daytime restaurant, High/Low.

The history of the Graves house is much older than the movie, as it is one of the oldest buildings in Oceanside. It was built in 1887 by Dr. Henry Graves, one of the earliest residents of the city.

The house and its surroundings have changed many times over the decades. Earlier this year a motorcycle similar to the one Tom Cruise will be riding in the soon-to-be-released Top Gun movie sequel was placed in front of the house and has quickly become popular for photo opps.

The Patch dropped by the new High-Pie Dessert Shop today for a look around and while we promised not to share any inside photos until opening day on Friday, we were given a sneak peek at the menu.

According to the San Diego Eater, High-Pie will be open daily, and also serve hot coffee as well as specialty drinks like apple kombucha, cherry cider, and New Orleans-style iced coffee sweetened with condensed milk.

Tara Lazar of F10 Creative told Eater that she’s working on incorporating the pies into the hotel experience at Mission Pacific, from providing warm pies as a welcome gift for guests to launching a poolside pie cart. The shop will also have a vintage scooter for delivering pies to adjacent hotels.

A grand opening event for the community, scheduled for Saturday, May 14, will be held at a nearby amphitheater and feature recognition of local military leadership as well as a screening of the 1986’s Top Gun.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how we can improve Oceanside-Camp Pendleton Patch? Interested in advertising your business in Oceanside? Email any inquiries to me at lisa.frost@patch.com.

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