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Not headed to West, Texas? Get famous Czech Stop kolaches for two days in Plano this fall

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with photos and extra information after a press conference on Sept. 19, 2017.

The beloved 34-year-old Texas company Czech Stop has never sold kolaches outside of West, Texas. Until now, the president of the company confirms: Czech Stop's pastries will be for sale for two days only at Steinfest, a German food festival on Oct. 20 and 21 in Plano.

Kolaches at Czech Stop are a welcome nosh for any roadtripper traveling southbound from Dallas on Interstate 35E. Driving to Austin? West, Texas, is about an hour and 15 minutes into the trip. Perfect timing if you need some gas in the tank and a kolache or three in your tummy.

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Here's a cool fact about Czech Stop: This place doesn't close. It's been open 24/7/365 since its opening day in 1983. It even stayed open during and after the West, Texas, explosions in 2013, save for a short time when an employee thought the ceiling was falling in, Mother Jones says. (It wasn't, and Czech Stop president Barbara Schissler quickly reopened it.)

Barbara Schissler, left, and Alex Hargis playfully sample Czech Stop Kolaches during a...
Barbara Schissler, left, and Alex Hargis playfully sample Czech Stop Kolaches during a Steinfest press conference in downtown Plano.(Jason Janik / Special Contributor)

At Steinfest, Czech Stop will sell four varieties of kolaches, the company revealed at a press conference on Sept. 19:

  • Apricot
  • Lemon
  • Cherry
  • Pumpkin spice
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Czech Stop has been selling pumpkin-spice kolaches for several years, after a customer suggested it amid the Pumpkin Spice Latte craze.

"Let it be known that PSL is out this year," says Alex Hargis, executive director for the Historic Downtown Plano Association, referring to Starbucks' famous Pumpkin Spice Lattes. "What is in is PSK." (He's talking about Pumpkin Spice Kolaches.)

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Important: Czech Stop will not be selling klobasniky, the name for pastries filled with sausage, at Steinfest in Plano.

Schissler says she agreed to have her company's kolaches sold outside of the shop because Steinfest's reps were the first people who wanted to transport the pastries correctly: in a refrigerated vehicle. Steinfest's organizers will actually send two refrigerated vehicles to and from West, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 21 alone to keep up with demand.

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In all, the company plans to sell 9,000 kolaches. "We can't make them fast enough," Schissler says.

Hargis hopes the product people find in Plano is identical to the original shop. "We want to make sure that when you stop into Steinfest ... it's like you rolled into West," Hargis says.

Steinfest is an Oktoberfest-inspired two-day event where attendees can scope out a wiener dog fashion show, taste German food and beer, and dance to polka music. Best of all, it's free to get in.

Find more info about Steinfest here.

"I don't know how many times I deleted his emails," says Barbara Schissler, left, laughing...
"I don't know how many times I deleted his emails," says Barbara Schissler, left, laughing about how persistent Alex Hargis was when trying to get her to sell Czech Stop kolaches at Steinfest in October 2017.(Jason Janik / Special Contributor)