Tucked among the historic row of buildings located along Main Street in downtown Pflugerville is a restaurant dedicated to honoring the city's past while also celebrating its evolution.

PBK Stem & Stein opened in October 2012 with the financial backing of 14 Pflugerville residents. The restaurant's owners and managers say they were motivated to invest and develop a new niche within Pfugerville's culinary scene. General Manager Bryan Gano describes the menu as Southern comfort cuisine—the combination of classic family recipes, modern cooking techniques and fresh local ingredients.

"The point of the restaurant since its inception has been for it to be a place where people can get together and break bread. They can leave their issues behind when they walk through these doors," Gano said. "We have incredible food, a great wine list, local beers and live music four days a week."

After what Gano described as an "exhaustive" search, PBK hired Executive Chef Shannon Soltesz in July to help refine the menu. Soltesz said she jumped at the opportunity leave her former position as a corporate chef at North Modern Italian Cuisine in Austin.

"Every corporate chef's dream is to have a kitchen where they can do what they want to do—our passion is to play with food," she said.

Soltesz said, however, her intention since coming to PBK has been to refine its plating and cooking techniques—not to overhaul the menu. The appeal of the restaurant's meals, she said, is the emphasis placed on bringing out the optimal flavors of locally purchased produce and meats.

"We don't bring in exotic food," she said. "We are not looking to bring out a plate with 15 garnishes on it—[we] keep it simple, clean and fresh."

PBK: A taste of Pflugerville's past

Built in 1906, the building that hosts PBK Stem & Stein has remained a continuous presence in downtown Pflugerville for more than a century. The building was originally purposed as a mercantile and confectionery store. However, following the onset of Prohibition in 1919, the store's owners decided to convert the back room of the building into a speakeasy for serving illegal alcohol. Following the conclusion of Prohibition in 1933, P.B. Knebel opened the original PBK's as a legitimate bar and tavern. A fire in 1971 destroyed the part of the building where the restaurant's courtyard now resides. According to its owners, the current design and interior of PBK Stem & Stein pays homage to the eclectic history of the building's heritage and occupants.

Source: PBK Stem & Stein

111 E. Main St., Pflugerville, 512-251-3810, www.pbkstemandstein.com, Hours: Mon.–Thu. 4:30–9 p.m., Fri. 4:30–10 p.m.,Sat. 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.–3 p.m.