After 15 Years, Kenny’s Burger Joint Continues To Serve a Great Burger

With four different local restaurants boasting Kenny’s brand (Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill, Kenny’s Italian Kitchen, Kenny’s Authentic East Coast Pizza and Kenny’s Burger Joint), the odds are decent that at some point you’ve been to one of Kenny Bowers’ restaurants. If not, you’ve driven by them. And if you haven’t been to one of Kenny’s spots yet – we’d recommend it. The reputation is stellar. Across Bowers’ four-restaurant portfolio, the number of Google and Yelp customer reviews total around 17,500 reviews combined. That’s a lot of reviews. The average rating? A sparkling 4.6 out of five.

Not too shabby.

Kenny’s Burger Joint celebrated its 15th anniversary recently, which made for a perfect excuse to drop by and see how those burgers are holding up. And to the surprise of no one who frequents Bowers’ establishments — they’re holding up quite well.

We visited the Plano location (there’s also one in Frisco). It’s table service but casual. A full-service bar complete with a solid wine list is at your disposal.
For our starter, we went with bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed jalapeños ($9.99). Full-sized fresh jalapeños come six to an order draped in thick-cut smoked bacon and served with ranch and barbecue sauce. This was a perfect finger food snack while we awaited the rest of our order. Other appetizers include white queso and chips, mammoth onion rings, fried pickles, fries (truffle Parmesan, sweet potato and regular), and tots.

In addition to its stacked 13-burger-deep roster, Kenny’s Burger Joint has four sandwiches on the menu: Southern fried chicken, the “Big Dog” (an extra-large hot dog on a poppy seed bun that you can customize with numerous toppings), Kenny’s Steak Bomb hoagie with shaved ribeye, mushrooms, onions, peppers and provolone, and lastly, a smoked brisket grilled cheese ($12.99). We opted for the last, which features three cheeses (cheddar, pepper Jack and white American) and a layer of slow-smoked tender brisket on perfectly grilled sourdough slices.

Now, the stars of the show: The burgers. The house-ground, half-pound patties are cooked over hickory on Kenny’s all-natural, wood-burning grill. The buns are fresh and baked daily by Addison’s La Spiga Bakery. Among the headliners are the “Jucy Lucy,” a beef patty centered with oozing white American cheese; Bud's Queso burger, a beautifully messy work of art that comes smothered in queso and topped with bacon, sautéed onions and jalapeños; and Kenny’s Smokehouse BBQ burger, with brisket, bacon, cheddar, jalapeños and barbecue sauce.

We settled on the mushroom Brie ($11.99), a simple yet delectable harmony of melted Brie, sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, onion, tomato and mayo.

And we love exceptional service that goes above and beyond. Ours was as pleasant as could be and just an overall outstanding server.
Kenny’s Burger Joint also offers a selection of boozy milkshakes (and booze-free ones too) like the Attitude Changer (Stoli Vanilla with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur) and Insomniac (Espresso vodka, Kahlua, Bailey’s and chocolate).

Kenny’s Burger Joint, 5809 Preston Road, No. 588, Plano. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.