McKinney has a new hot dog and smashburger spot with Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails, a family-owned restaurant and bar inspired by the owners’ first job.
At 15 years old, Bryan McVay was a dishwasher at a hot dog shop called Shorty’s Lunch in Washington, Penn. He eventually became a fry cook and line cook there during high school, and when he went off to college, he returned to the restaurant in summertime to make extra money. He loved Shorty’s chili coney with yellow mustard and white onions.
After graduating with a degree in accounting, McVay had a jet-setting career running the books for Hard Rock Café, House of Blues, The Walt Disney Company, McCormick & Schmick’s and more. In Dallas, he was CFO of Twin Peaks until the company sold in 2016.
Then and now, as he watched corporations create new restaurants out of thin air, he wondered if his home city of McKinney needed an affordable lunch spot featuring the food of his childhood.
Restaurant News
Shorty’s, a new hot dog and hamburger shop in McKinney, is inside one of the oldest buildings in the square. It dates back to the late 1800s, Shorty’s co-owner Bryan McVay said.
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“Every town where I grew up,” he said, “had a restaurant that specialized in hot dogs.”
McVay signed a lease at one of downtown McKinney’s oldest buildings, once First National Bank. After about $750,000 in renovations to the late-1800s-era building, McVay and his wife Angela opened Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails on March 16, 2026.
Is this secretly a burger joint?
A ketchup- and mustard-colored awning welcomes customers into Shorty’s. The Original Coney, $6, features toppings McVay liked from the Shorty’s of his childhood: mustard, diced onions, hot dog sauce and chili. (What’s hot dog sauce? “The first rule about making hot dog sauce, is you don’t talk about making hot dog sauce,” McVay said.)
Chili is added to a burger at Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails in McKinney.
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We do know the story of the hot dog chili. It’s is a modified version of a recipe from the 1800s from the San Antonio Chili Queens. McVay relishes the history of how their chili recipe made it north to downtown McKinney some 130 years ago, when a cook brought the recipe home and started making “special beef stew.” A photo of the Chili Queens, in black and white, hangs on the restaurant’s vintage wall of fame.
The restaurant also sells a bowl of chili for $7.50. Haley’s Killer Chili isn’t “killer” because of the spice level; it got that name because McVay’s daughter Haley found a chili recipe on TikTok she loved. One problem: It had beans in it.
“My chef said, ‘People in Texas will die if you put beans in the chili,’” the owner said. “So I called it Haley’s Killer Chili.”
(You’ve been warned.)
The menu also features a Sonoran hot dog, which can be hard to find in parts of Texas. Shorty’s version is topped with mayo, ketchup and fresno peppers. It’s inspired by Angela McVay, who is from the Southwest.
Bryan McVay and Angela McVay, who are McKinney residents, co-own Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails.
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Ordering a hot dog seems like the obvious choice, since “coney” is in the restaurant name. But McVay expects the smashburgers to be popular.
Co-owner Bryan McVay, center, speaks with customers at Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails in McKinney at a friends-and-family event before the restaurant opening.
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“I did not want to be the fourth or fifth burger spot in downtown McKinney, so I made the hot dog the star of the show,” McVay said.
“But we do intend to offer the best smashburger in town.” Burgers cost $9.50 or less — a low price in relation to competitors and with beef prices rising in 2026. Smashburger toppings include hot peppers, chili cheese and more.
The menu also features a “filet-o-whitefish” sandwich ($7.50), Philly ($9.50), BLT ($9.50) and sides like fried pickle chips ($7.50) and poutine ($5.50).
Hunting for free hot dogs
A wall of artwork at Shorty’s in McKinney includes black-and-white photos of inspiration, like the San Antonio Chili Queens in the bottom left.
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Locals might already know about Shorty’s from the red neon sign lit up on Kentucky Street, or from the hundreds of wooden nickels McVay hid around McKinney. Unsuspecting customers have found them in flower pots, at the grocery store and in a local antique mall.
Each one is good for one free hot dog at Shorty’s.
McVay is having fun with the whimsical scavenger hunt, and there’s no way to know how are still unfound. Is the game over, now that the restaurant is open?
Nah: He’s enjoying it, and he is interested to see who brings them in.
“I think I’ll keep doing it,” he said.
Shorty’s Coneys and Cocktails is at 109 N. Kentucky St., McKinney. Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, starting March 16, 2026.