A new eatery, FatDogs (519 E. Main St.), has opened in De Soto.
The eatery opened on June 5th and serves hot dogs, smash burgers, fries and more.
One of our specialties is the Fat Dog, which is not your typical hot dog.
“Our Fat Dog is smoked brisket and burnt ends made into a hot dog,” said Kirk Kors, 56, who owns Fat Dog and the adjacent Screen & Thread screen printing business with his wife, Mandy, 46. “The dog is 100 percent beef.”
Mundy said the brisket is smoked by a man in DeSoto, the barbecue sauce is made in St. Louis and the produce comes from Orlando Boy’s Produce in DeSoto.
She said it’s important to support local businesses.
“The Fat Dog is already flavorful on its own,” Kirk said. “Kids love the Fat Dog because little kids just want a hot dog with nothing on it. And when you add something to it, like cheese, pulled pork, barbecue sauce, they’re definitely going crazy for it.”
He recommends the BBQ Pork Dog, a fat dog topped with bacon, pulled pork, barbecue sauce and coleslaw.
The most popular hot dog today is the chili cheese dog, which is a fat dog with chili (no beans), cheese, and onions (not to be confused with the coney dog, which has chili, mustard, and onions).
The Cowboy Dog is a fat dog topped with baked beans, coleslaw and a fried egg.
While these will be the regular menu items, the Corses hope to offer a different specialty dog each week — some ideas include a Sonora Dog and a Baja Dog.
In addition to fat dogs, the shop also serves regular (all-beef) hot dogs and beer brats, as well as “doggie dogs,” which are “fat dogs chopped up for puppies.”
Customers can choose from a variety of complimentary condiments to accompany their hot dogs, including ketchup, mustard, jalapeño, barbecue sauce, relish, and coleslaw. Sauerkraut, chili, fried egg, pulled pork, baked beans, and cheese sauce are available for an additional charge.
But FatDogs isn’t just about dogs.
Mandy said the restaurant’s smash burgers and fries have also been a big hit.
The Smash Burger is a 4-ounce beef patty topped with cheese, grilled onions and our secret house-made smash sauce, while the Haystack Burger is a double smash topped with fries and drizzled in cheese sauce and can also be topped with baked beans, chili or pulled pork.
Fries are available plain, with chili and cheese, or with pulled pork.
For dessert, the restaurant serves a snowball, which is vanilla ice cream covered in shaved ice.
Kirk said he and Mandy have been talking about opening a Fat Dogs for 12 to 15 years.
“We had an old basset hound that we named Fat Dog, and she was a big, fat dog, so we always thought it would be cool to open a hot dog stand called Fat Dogs,” he said.
Originally from California, the Coes, who have six children, moved from the western U.S. to Somerset Lake, just outside DeSoto, about eight years ago.
Other than getting married, Kirk said moving to the Midwest was the best decision the couple ever made.
The two have been in the screen printing business for more than 20 years and soon opened Screens and Threads in DeSoto.
“We’ve been in this building for a year and a half now,” Kirk said, “and for the first six or seven years we were in a smaller space on Rock Road.”
When discussing demolishing an old welding building on the Main Street property, Mayor Todd Merkus suggested leaving the concrete lot alone because it’s in a flood zone and has strict building regulations, so the Codes bought a food truck-style trailer and placed it on top of the concrete lot.
“This is a mobile trailer, so we don’t intend to actually move it around,” Kirk said. “As with any mobile truck, our long-term goal is to have a brick-and-mortar restaurant and take this trailer to different events.”
“That’s what we really want to do. But for now, our goal is to provide food for local friends and family and local residents, bring something new to DeSoto, and get through the summer and go from there.”
Fat Dogs will be a seasonal business and will be open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend and until the first hard frost, Kirk said.
Canopied seating is also available.
Hours of operation have yet to be determined, but Kirk said the store will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to about 6 p.m.
Corse may decide to open on Sundays.
They said community support has been strong.
“We love this little town,” he said.
Kirk said he and his wife had two goals when they opened Fat Dogs: They wanted to open a restaurant that wasn’t a chain and they wanted to offer affordable food.
“You can get great food at a reasonable price,” he says. “Everything is expensive right now. Everything: the cost of living, gas, and of course food.”
He said the restaurant serves quality food that fills customers’ bellies.
Kirk said he and five other employees work at the restaurants, with Mandy running the Screens & Threads location and working behind the scenes at Fat Dogs, most of whom are high school students or recent graduates.
