McDingerz dishes out upscale pub grub in Eolia
STORY AND PHOTOS by Paul Newton
Just off the Avenue of the Saints in southern Pike County, the restaurant parking lot fills up faster than you might expect in the summer. Pickup trucks and SUVs roll through the gravel as the sound of live music drifts out across the expansive patio. Inside, regulars are watching the Cardinals on TV and making new friends around the hand-built cedar bar — which is the centerpiece of the restaurant.
McDingerz Sports Bar and Grill sits just off Highway 61 in Eolia. The restaurant has developed a reputation for its sprawling patio and elevated pub grub in a rural setting. Owner Stacy McKenney saw the potential in the building long ago. “We moved here about 22 years ago,” she says. “And I kept telling my husband, Jim, if I could have this building, I’d love to put a restaurant into it.”
One night, Stacy came across it for sale, and that was all it took. They bought it and gutted it. It’s always been a family affair for the McKenneys. Stacy’s husband and brother logged and sawed the cedarwood before building the bar, the first thing that greets diners at McDingerz. The name came from daughter Brooklynn’s softball career.
“Our last name is McKenney, so whenever she would go up to bat, Dad would always tell her to hit a McDinger,” says son Dalton, who helps run the restaurant. “When we decided to make this a sports bar, it felt like the perfect name.”
It didn’t take long for the business — which is served by Cuivre River Electric Cooperative — to grow beyond what they expected. What they thought might be a small-town spot quickly started pulling people in from surrounding communities. The kitchen they built for a modest crowd now runs at full tilt and will need to be expanded. The staff has grown to around 40 employees.
“We just thought it was going to be a small hometown place,” Stacy says. “And it’s turned into something more than what we dreamed it would be.”
More Than a Meal
McDingerz became not just a place to eat, but somewhere to gather, watch a game and stay a while. “This is truly a family business,” Stacy says.
For Stacy, cooking was never just about food. It was about people. She grew up watching her mom, Laura, fill their home with neighbors and family for big, shared meals. Laura wasn’t just known for what she cooked, but for how she brought people together. That stayed with Stacy as she and Jim built their family-based business. Even now, in the middle of a busy night or event, she still feels her mom’s influence.
There are plenty of options to start your meal at McDingerz, including crispy onion straws with chipotle sauce, mac and cheese bites with ranch or the St. Louis classic toasted ravioli with marinara. But for the true sports bar feel, go with chicken wings. Bone-in or boneless wings are fried to order and tossed in your choice of six different wing sauces. The most popular are the KD sweet chili sauce and stinging’ honey garlic sauce.
Eat With Your Hands
Most food at McDingerz is meant to be eaten with your hands, including their signature hand-breaded catfish nuggets. Eleven ounces of catfish filets are freshly cut into nuggets, tossed in a fish seasoning and deep-fried to order. Each order is served with housemade coleslaw and your choice of four french fry options: crinkle-cut fries, seasoned fries, flat pepper fries and sweet potato fries.
“It’s never frozen and that fresh seasoning makes it so good,” says Brooklynn of the catfish. “It’s not spicy, but it has the perfect amount of spice to it. It’s amazing.”
Wraps are a popular choice as well with the chicken bacon ranch wrap leading the way. Grilled chicken is cooked with bacon and rolled in a tortilla with Swiss cheese, ranch and bacon and served with your choice of side. Other options include the BLT wrap and Buffalo chicken wrap.
There are plenty of options for a meal between two slices of bread. Many flock to McDingerz for their signature pork tenderloin. The team in the kitchen takes a fresh pork loin and slices it down into individual portions that take a couple trips through a tenderizer. The meat is then tossed in an egg wash and covered in cracker crumbs and deep-fried. You can get your tenderloin grilled as well.
“It’s definitely a good portion, but not overwhelming,” Brooklynn says. “I think it’s the perfect size.”
Lots of customers visit McDingerz for the “Smash Burgerz.” There’s about a half dozen options but the most popular are the Cowboy Burger and Jalapeno Burger. The Cowboy starts with a pair of 3.5-ounce hand-made patties smashed on the flattop, then topped with bacon, onion straws, barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese. “The barbecue sauce is kind of sweet and it’s mixed in with the crispiness of the onion straws and savoriness of the bacon,” Brooklynn says. “It’s a good mix of everything.”
If you like it hot, the Jalapeno Burger is for you. Two smashed patties are topped with grilled jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. “The smashed burgers are so thin they’re crispy, but still juicy,” Brooklynn says.
Fast-service pizzas round out the menu at McDingerz with pies cooking in the 600-degree oven in just under two minutes. The pizzas are served all day long, even after the kitchen closes.
What started as a family dream has evolved into a small-town dining destination with strong family roots. “We just want to be a place where you can bring your 2-year-old kid or your 80-year-old grandma and everyone can enjoy it,” Dalton says. “We want them to feel welcome and glad they came.”
Specialties: Appetizers including mac and cheese bites, potstickers, onion straws and wings with six sauce options. Entrees including the chicken bacon ranch wrap, catfish basket, house-breaded pork tenderloin and smash burgers. Pizzas served all day. Extensive drink menu.
Price: Appetizers and wings from $9 to $15. Sandwiches and burgers from $13 to $16. Pizzas from $13 to $15.
Details: Kitchen open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Nonsmoking.
Located at 131 W. Outer Road in Eolia. Contact at 573-485-2030 and online at www.mcdingerzsportsbar.com.