A small burger chain has landed in Texas from halfway around the world: The restaurant is called Flaming Onion, and will make its U.S. debut right here in the Dallas area in McKinney, at 727 N. McDonald St., where it's serving burgers, fries, nachos, and shakes.

Flaming Onion is from New Zealand, of all places, where it was founded in in 2014 by chef Ravi Raaj Thota, a native of India and a corporate and hotel chef who took over a burger joint in Auckland that was doing flame-grilled burgers with gourmet toppings such as caramelized onions, jalapeños, and sauces made in-house.

“Rav saw a space with potential where he could establish something truly unique in Auckland’s burger scene,” says a mysterious spokesperson via email. “Fusing passion for homegrown ingredients and homemade recipes with a wealth of experience as the head chef in hotels across New Zealand, Rav transformed the small eatery into something spectacular."

After a decade, Thota began the process of franchising the concept, and this Dallas entry — anticipated to open on January 23 — marks the first.

Flaming Onion is known for excessively stacked burgers with a special menu for the U.S. location that includes:

• the Smoky One featuring grass-fed Angus beef patty with bacon, Swiss, chipotle aioli, and bourbon BBQ sauce
• Big Marco featuring 3 Angus patties, American, cheese, hashbrown, fried chicken tenderloin, bacon, truffle maple aioli, and jalepeno relish

They also do two fried chicken sandwiches and a vegetarian burger with falafel, hummus, yogurt, lettuce, tomato and onion. In addition to burgers, there are sides such as regular fries, curly fries, loaded Texan fries with chicken, loaded "filthy" fries with pulled pork, and beer-battered onion rings.

It's not fast-food cheap: Burgers average around $20, but the restaurant was named the top 25 burgers in New Zealand.

Once McKinney is open, they're hoping to expand with a second location in Melissa.

"With The Flaming Onion’s reputation drawing customers from across the country, Rav is excited to capitalize on demand and take The Flaming Onion to new heights and locations," the spokesperson says.