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The Melt food truck first hit the streets of Birmingham and the surrounding suburbs in February. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The owners of the Melt food truck, which hit the streets of Birmingham in February, have found a permanent parking spot to open a restaurant in the city's resurgent Avondale area.

Melt co-owners Paget Pizitz and Harriet Reis told AL.com/The Birmingham News on Thursday that they hope to open their Melt Restaurant by early next year in the former Stephen’s Garage location at the corner of 41st Street and Fourth Avenue South.

Along with their executive chef and partner Joey Dickerson, they will continue to operate the Melt food truck, which they have affectionately nicknamed Matilda.

“The food truck is our baby,” Pizitz said. “That’s where we came from. We are not going to retire Matilda.”

When it’s not out on the streets and at special events, the truck will be parked outside the new restaurant.

The old Stephen's Garage will be the home of the new Melt Restaurant at 4105 Fourth Ave. South in Avondale. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

Like the food truck, the Melt Restaurant will serve grilled cheese and other grilled sandwiches, but also will offer salads and more side dishes, as well as beer and wine, Pizitz said.

“It’s going to be the same concept, but with a bigger kitchen, we will have room to expand our menu,” Pizitz said.

Avondale has undergone a renaissance over the past few years, with the openings of the Parkside Café, Avondale Brewing Company, Saw's Soul Kitchen, Freshfully market and 41st Street Pub & Aircraft Sales. A couple of other restaurants are expected to open in the area within the next several months, as well.

In its April issue, Southern Living magazine called it "one of Birmingham's hippest places to live and visit."

Melt is thrilled to be moving into the neighborhood, Pizitz said.

“I think it’s a beautiful part of town,” she said. “A lot of people are moving there. It’s not a late-night spot. I think it’s a community.

“The business owners are like a family,” she added. “We haven’t even moved in, and we feel so close to the business owners already.”

It is fate, Pizitz said, that their new restaurant will be located in an old service station.

“What’s so cool about the building is when Harriet and I started this business, the concept for our logo and our design was this old gas-station feel,” she said. “So it’s serendipitous that we are moving into an old gas station.

“We are doing major renovations, but we are keeping the garage feel to it,” she added.

Jeff Dungan of Dungan Nequette is the architect on the project, Pizitz said.