BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The old service station was an empty shell, and about the only reminders of its past were the gas pumps and garage doors.

Right away, though, Paget Pizitz and Harriet Reis knew this was just the spot they wanted to be.

"Our concept is a modern twist on classic comfort food, so an old '50s gas station just really spoke to us," Pizitz recalls nearly a year later. "It was really serendipitous, and it felt perfect for us."

Jump ahead to now, and the former Stephen's Garage at the corner of 41st Street and Fourth Avenue South in Avondale has been transformed into the new home of Melt restaurant, the brick-and-mortar companion to the Melt food truck that Pizitz, Reis and executive chef Joey Dickerson rolled out in February of last year.

They had a soft opening for the restaurant to get their feet on the ground this past weekend, and opened full-blast on Tuesday.

Dungan Nequette Architects did the early design work on the space, and Say Jack Salvages added the finishing touches, incorporating reclaimed wood and refurbished metal to create an atmosphere that is both rustic and urban, hip but familiar. Among the nice additions is a screened-in side porch that offers a view of the neighborhood.

"It's a little bit industrial, but it's also cozy and comfortable and warm and inviting," Pizitz says. "And it just feels like home.

"Everything in this restaurant, with the exception of some light fixtures and the chairs and stuff, everything here is sourced locally," she adds. "It's all from Alabama, and that's one of the stories that we really want to tell people, is that we are all (from) local families and we have this restaurant that's built around eat local, drink local, live local."

Like their food truck, which they lovingly call "Matilda," the restaurant's bread and butter, if you will, are its grilled sandwiches – from the Mac Melt, with mac-and-cheese on Texas toast, to the Flyin' Hawaiian, with smoked ham, habanero jack cheese and pineapple on a pretzel roll.

Melt restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)

Dickerson has about 30 such sandwiches in his wheelhouse, he says, and from those, he's starting with 14 on the menu and plans to add more later.

"There are still a few sandwiches that I'm just going to keep on the truck as a novelty, to get people to go out to the truck and chase it down," he says. "That's our home. That's where we started, on the truck, and I want to keep that special feeling about it."

But with a bigger kitchen in which to work, the Melt gang has expanded its repertoire to include a selection of salads and appetizers, too.

Salads include the Classic Wedge, with a slice of iceberg topped with bacon and blue cheese crumbles, and the Southern Garden, with pulled pork barbecue, cheddar and fried red onions on a bed of iceberg and romaine.

Among the appetizers are the Matilda Rolls, which are basically spring rolls with mozzarella and cheddar cheese and served with a marinara sauce, and the already-popular Spring Vegetable Frito Misto, with squash, zucchini and green beans flash-fried in a tempura batter and drizzled with a sweet chili glaze.

"The Fritto Misto is my all-time favorite," Pizitz says. "I've actually had a couple of people tell me that's the first time they've had squash and zucchini and liked it. If you have a good tempura batter and a nice sauce, you can make anyone eat a vegetable."

Bar manager Janice Cardwell has out together a selection of adult beverages that includes such concoctions as the Matilda Loaded with Grey Goose le Citron and blackberry-basil lemonade and the Red Mountain Ruby, with gin, red grapefruit juice, tarragon and tonic.

The screened-in porch at Melt offers a view of the Avondale neighborhood. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)

Craft beers on tap include local brews from Cahaba Brewing Co., Trim Tab Brewing Co., Good People Brewing Company and Melt's down-the-street neighbor, Avondale Brewing Company.

In Avondale, Melt is the latest addition to a happening new dining and nightlife scene that includes not only the brewery, but also Saw's Soul Kitchen, Post Office Pies, 41st Street Pub & Aircraft Sales and the soon-to-open Wasabi Juan's sushi and burrito restaurant.

"When we started the food truck, we always knew we that we wanted to have a brick-and-mortar (restaurant)," Pizitz says. ""And we knew that Avondale was where we wanted to be. We are just lucky that it happened as soon as it did."

As proud as Pizitz, Reis and Dickerson are of their new home, though, followers of the Melt food truck should be happy to know that Matilda will be back out on the streets soon.

"Absolutely," Pizitz says. "We are giving Matilda two weeks to relax, but we still have her going to Barons game and going to lunches four or five days a week."

Melt is at 4105 Fourth Ave. South, about a block north of the entrance to Avondale Park. The phone is 205-917-5000, and the website is www.meltbham.com.

Hours are 11 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

To read more stories by Bob Carlton, go here.

UPDATED at 6:38 a.m. on Thursday, June 26, 2014, to correct street address for Melt.