Matt McLain longed for the hot dogs he grew up eating as a young baseball fan in Chicago. His just-off-the-roller, quick-serve hot dog restaurant near UMKC and the extended KC Streetcar line squirts a dinger of nostalgia in an emerging destination known for elevated fare.
It’s an opportunity McLain relishes, the Ding Dong Dogs owner said.
“I want it to feel like you are going out to the ballpark retro-style,” he said of the space, which soft-opened Friday night in the Colonial Shops, 320 E. 51st St., by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “I want it to be a neighborhood place for families, a college hangout.”
Ding Dong Dogs new home at 320 E. 51st St. at The Colonial Shops near UMKC; Google Maps image
Its neighbors include such popular spots as Pizza 51, Crows Coffee and Whole Foods Market Brookside. Ding Dong Dogs has a year-long lease.
McLain had previously worked as manager, special events and community engagement, at UMKC. His restaurant experience includes stints as food and beverage director of Lakewood Oaks Country Club in Lee’s Summit; chef and kitchen manager at Cafe Trio in the Country Club Plaza district; and general manager of Club 27 restaurant in the Sykes/Lady Overland Park Golf Course.
He’s not related to the founders of McLain’s Bakery but said he is a frequent customer.
The father of four now lives in Hyde Park but figured the South Plaza/UMKC neighborhood needed a “family-focused, better-than-fast-food experience.”
Matt McLain, Ding Dong Dogs; photo by Joyce Smith
Ding Dong Dogs serves high-quality hot dogs with a variety of toppings — nearly 30 including sweet pickle chips, jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, cucumbers, feta, Calamata olives and cheese sauce.
The Roo-Up Dog (for UMKC’s kangaroo mascot) is a jumbo dog topped with pulled pork, pickled red onion, sport peppers and barbecue mustard ($12); The Martha Stewart has ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut and bacon ($10) and is said to be the lifestyle expert’s favorite combination; and The Big Salvy is a jumbo dog with caramelized onion, giardiniera, tots and mustard ($13).
Ding Dong Dogs also offers regional classics: the Chicago Dog with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle, sport peppers and celery salt ($7), and the Mountaineer, McLain’s take on West Virginia-style hot dogs with chili, coleslaw, chopped onion, and mustard then topped with jalapenos ($10).
Customers have a choice of cooking styles: grilled, fried, boiled or hot off the roller.
They also can order Impossible dogs; add-ons such as chili, cheese, bacon or caramelized onion; and gluten-free buns.
The menu also includes meatballs, sausage, “monster” beer brats (12-inches), Maxwell Street Polish sausage, salads, crinkle cut fries and tater tots, sweet potato fries, slaw, chili, root beer floats and hand-scooped shakes. McLain uses local vendors such as Scimeca’s Italian Sausage, Paradise Locker Meats, Roma Bakery and Belfonte ice cream.
The 2,600-square-foot space has picnic tables with red-and-white checkered tablecloths surrounded by Ping-Pong, Foosball and Connect 4 games.
“The response has been super positive so far,” McLain said.
He is challenging customers to beat him at Foosball for a free hot dog — if the entrepreneur isn’t tied up in the kitchen.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
The spot has been dark since Sahara Cafe closed.
The strip center was the first one developed by J.C. Nichols (circa 1907) and once had white-painted columns that gave it its “Colonial Shops” name. It was two blocks south of the city limits, at the end of the Country Club Trolley line, and serviced residents of Nichols’ new housing development, Bismark Place.
It is now owned by the UMKC Board of Trustees, and leased and managed by Copaken Brooks Commercial Real Estate.
Pizza 51 has been a mainstay since it opened in a renovated former gas station on Sept. 15, 2004.
“We have seen everything change around us except the Colonial Shops, the administrative building and the law school,” said pizzeria owner Jason Pryor. “We’ve been embraced by all facets of business — good student population, neighborhood support and business-to-business.”
Colonial Shops tenant Zach Moores opened Crows Coffee in 2014 on a five-year lease. But for several years he has been on a year-to-year lease, currently running through mid-2026. With no guarantees of staying longer, he doesn’t want to risk the costs of expanding to an empty space next door.
“You can’t invest,” he said Tuesday. “I want to remodel my shop and expand into the corner location but I can’t justify the expansion when only going year-to-year on the lease. The neighborhood wants to see businesses in there.”
UMKC had been taking proposals to develop a five-acre parcel of land to the north of the Colonial Shops, next to the southern terminus of the Kansas City Streetcar. The latest vision from 2024 calls for a first step focused on retail and a later phase that could include a small arena for UMKC Division I athletics and community events. But nothing has been decided, and there is no word how any development would impact the Colonial Shops.
Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.
