Kenny's to open another Flippin' location

Business is booming for Chaffee-based burger joint Kenny's Flippin' Burgers, and to keep up with the demand, a second location will open early May at West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau.

The first location -- owned by Jesse and Kasey Stuart -- opened in August, and the meteoric success has created a need for the overflow of its customers.

"Honestly, we are so busy here in Chaffee. We have completely outgrown ourselves," Jesse Stuart said.

After 6 p.m. Stuart said there's usually a 45-minute to an hour wait for orders, because the restaurant can't accommodate all of the customers. He didn't want to move the Chaffee location, so he had to "find something that could accommodate other customers in another location."

Stuart said he's had customers travel "from all over," including North Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas to visit the Chaffee location.

"And I thought the mall would be a good location, because, first of all, I don't have to compete with anybody, really," Stuart said. "And for those out-of-towners who come through, it's right off Interstate 55."

Stuart said they would be offering a new menu item closer to the launch date of the location at West Park Mall called the "Cotton Candy Ice Cream Burrito."

"We take a big ol' thing of cotton candy, and we stuff it with scoops of ice cream. Then we put cereal in it, then we shape it into a burrito," Stuart said.

Stuart labels Kenny's as a "destination restaurant," so he said that's the reputation they try to uphold. With 27 different burgers and their "over the top shakes," business has definitely picked up.

"So now we're just like, 'what can we do in the mall, that somebody could buy, and walk around in the mall and eat it?' Stuart said.

The Chaffee location is more of a "diner-drive type of place" according to Stuart, and the mall is not going to be "quite as much of a dive," with having to accommodate to what the mall will allow. He said it will have to be more of a "walk up to the counter and order what you want" and take it to-go atmosphere. It will also offer deliveries in Cape Girardeau, utilizing the CarGo service.

The menu for Kenny's Flippin' Burgers includes pizza burgers, Wonton burgers, macaroni and cheese burgers and their most popular according to Stuart, the "Bomb.com" burger, with 1.5 pounds of meat, American cheese, fried egg, choice sauce of sauce on a sesame seed bun, wrapped in bacon and deep fried.

They have "so many different styles" of burgers, Stuart said, including donut burgers and pancake burgers.

Available appetizers include "Mac Balls," which are homemade macaroni, balled in bread crumbs, deep fried and served with queso, and "Skinny Dippers" which are deep-fried flour shells, served with queso and chili.

Kenny's offers a lot that's "off the menu" too, Stuart said, including one item debuting soon with "Doritos on it and queso" as the only hints.

Stuart said he only posted three pictures on Facebook within a week, and the Cape Girardeau location has already received 2,000 likes from the community's response.

"We know that it's growing. People want to get away from fast food nowadays, and we kind of offer a concept of that," Stuart said.

Stuart said their whole goal is to get the customer their food within 5 minutes, delivering a fresh, hand-pattied, half-pound seasoned burger.

Kenny's uses a local meat market for their pork, Stuart said, to ensure its "super fresh."

Stuart agreed there are many burger places out there, but he really tries to be different. He said that's why they offer half-pound burgers, and why they "do things the hard way, because that's what customers like," because he said, "customers know the difference."

As for the name of the restaurant, Kenny was Stuart's father-in-law, and he said the restaurant's theme is in memory of him.

Originally from St. Louis, Stuart moved to Southeast Missouri about five years ago and was the district manager for Taco Bell for nearly 15 years. He said he's been in the food industry since he was 15.

"I really want to put my focus in the southeast area. But after that, any stores we open will be a minimum of 30 miles away from the next store," Stuart said.

Stuart said the main thing is he didn't want Kenny's Flippin' Burgers to be corporate; he just wants to have fun and wants customers to have fun, too, "because that's what Kenny would have wanted."

jhartwig@semissouria.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

3049 William St.

Cape Girardeau, MO 63703