For years, a group of regulars has met for weekday lunch at one table in Springhill Restaurant on West Pecan Street. They call it the "Liars' Table." Co-owner Jack Payne told the Austin American-Statesman that it's "where a bunch of guys get around and tell a bunch of lies," and that he sits there every day for the buffet. On Friday, Oct. 16, Springhill serves its last meals. Asked whether he was ready for that, Payne said: "I ain't. We have to find another Liars' Table."
At 5 p.m. that same Friday, the 50th Deutschen Pfest opens at Pfluger Park. The festival started as a citizen-run event, and the city now produces it. Eight days later, Pfun Arts reopens on West Pecan Street with a gallery and open studio. Then in January, a new City Hall opens on Main Street with a coffee shop built into it.
Put those dates side by side and a pattern shows up. On the older side of Pflugerville, the private gathering places are getting harder to keep open. The gathering places that are growing are the ones the city builds, funds, or runs itself.
The Table That Couldn't Make Rent
Carroll Humphrey opened Springhill in 1985. He named it after the nearby Spring Hill neighborhood after driving past the empty building in 1984. Pflugerville had a few hundred residents back then. He bet on drawing diners from Williamson and Travis counties, and he says people came from Taylor, Round Rock and Austin. The menu ran to fried catfish, fried shrimp and chicken-fried steak. Community Impact also lists burgers, sandwiches and peach cobbler.
The closing comes down to simple math. Humphrey, now 85, and Payne said fewer customers are eating out, and they can no longer cover rent on the 6,000-square-foot building at 2505 W. Pecan St. Humphrey's health also keeps him from coming in every day the way he did for decades. Humphrey has said he is ready to close. Payne has said he is not.
The building's contents are up for sale too. Humphrey spent years filling the dining room with finds from antique stores. The pieces include a woodstove, old farm equipment, a 5-cent peanut vending machine, a red neon pig sign, a carousel horse, manual cash registers and old feed store signs. All of it is being sold in an online auction. KVUE reported that bidding ends Tuesday, Oct. 20. No plans for the building have been reported.
"This is a place for stories to be told, where marriages have been set and where divorces happen. These family-style restaurants are a dying breed." Longtime regular Jimmy Gregory, to the Austin American-Statesman
The Festival the City Took Over
Deutschen Pfest has its own version of the Springhill story, with a different ending. The festival began in 1976 to honor the German immigrants who settled Pflugerville. Jonathan Hanson, recreation superintendent for Pflugerville Parks and Recreation, told Community Impact it was run by citizens for a long time, until the city took it over six years ago "to put additional resources behind it." This year Pfest turns 50, and so does Pfluger Park, where it's held.
Hanson described the festival's purpose in words that would fit the Liars' Table just as well: "We don't get a lot of time in these connected worlds to sit down and just talk with someone. We hope this is a space that we're creating."
The 2026 Pfest runs Friday, Oct. 16, from 5 to 11 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Here are the details for planning your visit:
- Tickets: The official Deutschen Pfest site lists Friday admission at $10, Saturday at $15 and a weekend pass at $20, each plus fees.
- Free entry: Anyone wearing German or Texan attire gets in free. So do children under 6.
- Parking: There is no parking at Pfluger Park during the festival. On Friday, park free at the Pflugerville High School lot, 1301 W. Pecan St., and take the shuttle, which runs every 15 to 20 minutes from 4:50 to 11:15 p.m.
- Saturday shuttles: Park at The Pfield, 1440 W. Pecan St. Shuttles for Pfun Run participants start at 7 a.m., and festival shuttles start at 9 a.m.
- ADA parking and rideshare: Both use Gilleland Creek Pool, 700 N. Railroad Ave.
- On the grounds: An artisan market, petting zoo, carnival rides, a German hair braider, a beer garden, a food zone, a kids and teens zone with ax throwing, and TVs showing the football games.
The music runs across both nights. On Friday, Suede plays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Red Not Chili Peppers from 8 to 10 p.m. On Saturday, Mike & The Middletones play during the Pfun Run, followed by the Austin Polka Band from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Bidi Bidi Banda from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Spazmatics from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and EZ Band from 8 to 10 p.m.
Saturday morning on the trail
The Pfun Run uses the trail rather than the street. The Kids 1K and the 5K go out and back from Pfluger Park along Gilleland Creek Trail toward Windermere Park. Check-in opens at 7:30 a.m. The Kids 1K starts at 8:10 a.m. and the 5K at 8:50 a.m. Registration is $15 for the 1K and $20 for the 5K, plus fees, and includes festival entry. The 5K costs $5 more than a Saturday festival ticket alone, and it starts more than two hours before the Austin Polka Band's 11 a.m. set.
Pecan Street's Next Stop Is a Gallery
On Saturday, Oct. 24, the gathering moves back to West Pecan, at 401 W. Pecan St., where Pfun Arts holds a grand reopening with live music, a live art demonstration and free refreshments. Pfun Arts started out with workshops. It now has four parts: a fine art gallery with rotating exhibits, an open studio and creative workspace, workshop and education space, and an artisan boutique that is still to come.
Gallery director Candace Pruett describes the goal as "a true home for creativity in Pflugerville, a place where community members can learn, artists can show and sell their work, and neighbors can gather." Pruett's "neighbors can gather" is close to what Hanson said about Pfest, and close to what the Springhill regulars got from their table every weekday.
January Brings the City's Own Living Room
The next big change on the old side of town is Downtown East. City staff told City Council on Sept. 22 that the project should reach substantial completion on Dec. 18. Staff will move into the new City Hall in late December, and it opens to the public on Jan. 4. A ribbon cutting is planned for January. A larger celebration will follow in April, alongside Slice of Pflugerville.
City Hall comes with a coffee counter. City Council approved a lease with the operator of West Pecan Coffee for a public-facing space in the building at 605 E. Main St. It will be the shop's second location, and it is expected to open in January. The city is also looking for small businesses to fill downtown commercial space.
The Monarch, the city's new multigenerational recreation center, follows close behind. Staff training starts in November. The current recreation center closes Jan. 10, The Monarch soft-opens in mid-January, and a ribbon cutting follows in February.
Drivers on FM 685 will notice the project before it opens. A new traffic light is going in where FM 685 meets the extended Main Street. Deputy City Manager Emily Barron told council that the city and TxDOT are reviewing intersection spacing and signal timing to keep traffic from backing up.
Where the New Restaurants Are Opening
The private restaurant openings are clustering several miles east, near SH 130 and Stone Hill Town Center. Desi Dukaan opened Aug. 21 at 19116 Limestone Commercial Drive. It's a 10,000-square-foot Indian grocery with a restaurant, juice bar and bakery, in the space the Billiard Factory used to occupy. A city social post in late August said CAVA and Hopdoddy Burger Bar were expected to open on Limestone Commercial Drive before the end of 2026, along with Piada Italian Street Food on Town Center Drive. Those dates are forecasts, not confirmed openings. Ramen Tatsu-ya and Snooze both list 18725 FM 685, with Snooze expected in May or June and Ramen Tatsu-ya next summer.
None of those openings is going up on West Pecan or Main. Between now and City Hall's opening, the dates in the old core are the ones below, and only one of them is a meal.
- Fri., Oct. 16: Springhill's last day at 2505 W. Pecan St. Pfest opens at 5 p.m. at Pfluger Park.
- Sat., Oct. 17: Pfun Run check-in at 7:30 a.m. The festival runs until 11 p.m.
- Tue., Oct. 20: Bidding closes on Springhill's memorabilia auction.
- Sat., Oct. 24: Pfun Arts grand reopening at 401 W. Pecan St.
- Mon., Jan. 4: The new City Hall opens to the public at 605 E. Main St.
If the changes on Pecan and Main have you rethinking what you want close to home, Jorgenson Real Estate follows Pflugerville's downtown projects as they open and is glad to talk through what they mean for your part of town. Contact Us whenever the timing is right for you.
