You know the saying: Where there is smoke, there is a fancy hamburger (or sometimes a science fair project that I’ve “helped” my kids with). In downtown Lawrence, it almost always is a fancy hamburger. It looks like we’ll soon have a new place to grab some exotic burgers, gyros, hot dogs and other types of food that fit in your hand.

The folks at KC Smoke Burgers have confirmed that they have plans to open a restaurant on Massachusetts Street. The company has signed a lease to locate in the space formerly occupied by Shots, the bar/restaurant that briefly operated at 1008 Massachusetts St.

KC Smoke Burgers has been operating for about five years near the Kansas University Medical Center at 39th and Genessee. Mustafa Mahoud, an owner of the restaurant, said a friend of the business will be operating the Lawrence venture and he is aiming for an opening sometime in December.

But the menu from KC will make its way to Lawrence, Mahoud said. That includes about 20 burger varieties. We’re talking about some traditional stuff such as a bacon cheeseburger and mushroom Swiss burger. But we’re also talking about dishes like the Danger Zone Fire Smoke Burger, which includes grilled slices of jalapeños, habaneros, and a house blend of hot sauce and cheese. There’s also a lamb burger smothered with pesto and feta cheese, something called a pesto gyro smoke burger that includes lamb and beef and cucumber yogurt sauce, and stuffed burgers.

The menu also includes seven types of third-pound hot dogs, a variety of beef, lamb and chicken gyros, about five types of Philly cheesesteak-inspired sandwiches and ice cream shakes.

Prices range from about $8 to $13 for a hamburger, but the menu says all of them come with fries. A 2011 article in The Pitch even went so far as to describe the portion of fries being roughly equivalent to the “width and depth of a paver brick.” (I do like my portions to be brick size, although on Thanksgiving and most Thursdays in general I upgrade to a masonry block.)

One other unusual thing about the restaurant, it brands its buns. Yes, according to the photos on its Website it has a special branding iron that it uses to leave a charred brand on the top of each hamburger bun.

The restaurant will continue a trend of specialty burger places locating in downtown. I believe we are up to four: Dempsey’s Burger Pub, The Burger Stand, the recently opened BurgerFi, and now KC Smoke Burgers.

I’m also curious to see whether we are in the beginning of a trend of Kansas City restaurants expanding into the Lawrence market. I reported in June that Port Fonda, the hip Mexican restaurant in Westport, was seriously looking at several locations in Lawrence. I’ve heard that interest level is still high and even that a deal may be done. I hope to get an update soon.

In other news and notes:

• The orange construction cone caught in your windshield wiper is perhaps a clue that the construction work at 23rd and Iowa streets is not yet complete. The fact that crews in recent days have been cutting out large sections of the newly constructed intersection is another clue.

Lawrence Public Works Director Chuck Soules tells me two concrete panels in the project failed a city inspection, and crews were instructed to remove the concrete and pour it again. A pour took place several days ago, and Soules said he expects the new portions of concrete to be ready for traffic by the end of today.

As for the concrete problems, Soules said cracks developed in the concrete. An epoxy was used to try to fix the cracks, but it wasn’t successfully sealing.

“It was unfortunate,” Soules said. “The concrete was cut correctly, but sometimes it will crack even when you do it right. If we pay for a project, we’re going to have it 100 percent to our standards.”

Soules said the city won’t be charged any extra fees for the additional work. The two cracked panels — each 12 feet by 12 feet — were causing some traffic disruptions because vehicles obviously hadn’t been allowed to be on those sections while the concrete was curing.

For a time, it looked like the 23rd and Iowa project was going to get done ahead of schedule, but it now appears that work will stretch to about Thanksgiving, which was the original end date for the project. Soules said once the concrete panels cure, motorists may still experience some temporary lane closures while crews apply pavement markings. But Soules said the city’s contract calls for construction crews to be completed with all work that would disrupt traffic by Thanksgiving. If not, the construction company has to start paying damages to the city. Soules said he expected all lane work to be done by Thanksgiving, although some landscaping and other work along the side of the road may continue past Thanksgiving.

Soules said the city has been pleased with the quality of the work in the project, and he said the two cracking panels were isolated incidents. He said there’s nothing to suggest there will be problems with any of the other panels.

• If you want one last look at Lawrence’s iconic Kief’s audio and video, you’ll need to get on it Saturday. As we previously have reported, Kief’s longtime owner, John Kiefer, has retired, and now the store is holding a business liquidation auction on Saturday.

The store has been in business for 54 years, but Kiefer’s son Rob is changing the focus to installation of audio and video equipment rather than retail sales. I’ve got a call into Rob to get an update on where the business may move to and what other changes are in the works.

But on Saturday local auctioneers Jason Flory and Mark Elston will auction off tons of equipment that was in the retail store. That includes CDs, videos, audio equipment, theater equipment, shop and back office equipment, shelving and a lot of miscellaneous items that have accumulated while the company has been in business.

John Kiefer ended up being one of the longer-time retailers in Lawrence. Click here for an article I did earlier this year about some of his tales about getting in the Lawrence business scene.

The auction begins at 9 a.m. at 2429 Iowa St.