The Bar’s space in Shawnee didn’t stay quiet for very long.

The locally owned bar and grill’s flagship location, dubbed The Bar West, closed its doors in May after more than 15 years. But if all goes according to plan, then the doors will reopen next month, and customers will be enjoying smashburgers and hand-breaded onion rings there.

Kansas City, Missouri-based Danny’s Burger Shack is currently renovating the space, with plans to ideally open in August.

Danny’s Burger Shack is coming to 7174 Renner Road

• The restaurant is taking over a space at the Midland shopping center in western Shawnee.
• There, it will operate near pizza eatery Minsky’s and breakfast restaurant Rize N Shine.
• When Danny’s Burger Shack opens in Shawnee, it will start off with limited “soft opening” hours — likely Thursday through Sunday.

Danny’s Burger Shack serves fresh smashburgers and sides

Danny’s serves a variety of burgers, made with “fresh, never frozen” beef, toppings and house-made sauces like whiskey barbecue and jalapeño jam.

The restaurant’s beef comes from farms in Nebraska and Kansas, which is then turned into patties and shipped directly to the restaurant without ever being frozen.

The restaurant is also known for its onion rings, hand-breaded daily and only available while supplies last.

Customers can also opt for other sides like french fries and tater tots.

“The differentiation is simplicity, freshness of ingredients, and the control that you get when your whole supply chain is pretty much internal,” said co-owner Joe Sessel. “The food is great because it’s simple, and it’s simple because it’s fresh.”

Co-owner Mark Denton and his wife, who both have professional design backgrounds, are spearheading the design and layout of the new Shawnee restaurant. It will echo the original’s vibe (reds and blues, counter seating), but with more space.

“While the (Northland) space has been successful, it’s been limiting to how many people we can serve,” Denton said. “By having a new location that’s a little larger and set up a little more strategically, I think it’ll be a more pleasant place for the staff and for the customers.”

This marks the first Danny’s Burger Shack in Johnson County

The restaurant’s original owners, husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Niki Kidwell, initially opened Danny’s Burger Shack as a food truck.

The food truck quickly racked up a local following, outgrowing the limitations of serving burgers on wheels.

“It wasn’t a food truck for very long because it was just an overwhelming success,” Sessel said. “They realized that they really needed to have a (brick and mortar) location.”

The restaurant opened its storefront in Kansas City, Missouri’s Northland in August 2022 — exactly four years before it now aims to expand to the other side of the state line.

As a former union millwright, Sessel said, it was Kidwell’s goal for his restaurant to be approachable to people with working-class roots. Today, the restaurant still gives discounts to people who work in law enforcement, the military and other similar backgrounds.

It’s a mission that Sessel himself said he appreciates, as a former steelworker himself.

“That was his vibe, and we’re carrying that on,” Sessel said. “It’s an everybody kind of place.”

Beyond Shawnee’s location, Sessel and Denton potentially see more expansion in the brand’s future — though time will tell how exactly that looks.

“I think today we’re overwhelmed by two things: one, the amount of work and complexity in adding a location, and two, the opportunity that we see in the KC metro area,” Sessel said. “Definitely there’s more opportunity in the KC metro, it’s a big place, but we’re going to focus on getting Shawnee (open).”

For now, the owners are focused on getting up and running for the first time in Johnson County, and they’re looking forward to all of the new faces it will bring into the restaurant.

“What’s most exciting is all of the new customers, all the new people in Kansas City that we’re going to get to meet,” he said. “You spend time at a place where you interact with the public, and you get a chance to meet so many people from so many different walks of life.”

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