Balls famous chili dogs are back

By Justin Tiemeyer || Contributing writer

There is a little boy walking along the Riverwalk, convinced that if you merely walk in front of a duck, it will let you pick it up. He has a red, white, and blue t-shirt on with an illustration of Sonic the Hedgehog that reads, “A chili dog a day keeps Dr. Eggman away!” For all he knows, the aphorism is correct. After all, his parents enjoyed chili dogs at Balls Softee Crème for years before he was born, and the fictional Sega Genesis supervillain never once came after them, but Balls closed it shutters for the last time on Monday, September 4, 2023.

When Balls closed, there was an undeniable chili dog vacuum in the heart of Lowell. Frosty Boy of Cascade owners, Chad and Kristen Kremer, bought the building where Balls Softee Crème had conducted business for over 50 years, but with respect to the Ball family and in line with their existing business plan, they focused on Genuine Broaster Chicken, rather than attempting to replicate the previous owners’ chili dog success, when they opened Frosty Boy of Lowell. The Old Faithful Dog at the Marathon station opened and then subsequently closed, but they were more interested in replicating the vibe of Yesterdog in Eastown. Corner Stop Ice Cream continues to offer chili dogs, but as great as those chili dogs are, there remained one thing that nobody else could match: the Ball family chili recipe, which was effectively lost to the world, until Sumer Brenner brought it back.

Sumer Brenner is the step-daughter of Jim Ball and grand-daughter of Harold and Rose Ball, the innovators who started Balls Softee Crème in 1971. Her name is pronounced “suh-mr” like the season, not “soo-mr” like the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. Earlier this year, Brenner picked up a hotdog cart and started selling the family’s famous chili dogs downtown and at events under the name of Balls Dogs.

“Why not buy a hotdog cart and take the chili dogs on the road,” Brenner said. Not only does Balls Dogs offer chili dogs, but folks can also purchase pork barbecue, chicken salad croissants, polish dogs, and hotdogs.

Brenner lives on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids near Belknap, and she initially set up shop near her home. On Mondays and Fridays, she would set up her cart downtown near the courthouse, and this worked out pretty well for her. She has also sold hotdogs at both the Breakaway and Upheaval Music Festivals at Belknap Park. Organizers had always wanted to do a lunch for the people waiting in line, and Balls Dogs met that need. Brenner also set up across the street from the Van Andel Arena during a two-night Phish concert, and both nights she sold-out in less than an hour and a half.

In addition to chili dogs, Brenner sells the Ball family recipe chili for $15 a pint. On Thursdays, she and Jim set up at Prep-Space, a rentable health department-approved kitchen in Grand Rapids, and they use a huge skillet to fry large quantities of burger for the chili, all at once. Every Friday, Brenner puts up a post seeing who wants to get in on the week’s order, and it is not strange for her to sell 50 pints of chili in a given week. “It’s definitely the same chili,” Brenner said. “It’s Jim’s mother’s recipe.”

After a couple of weeks of servicing the downtown Grand Rapids community, Brenner felt bad. There was this entire community in Lowell who had supported the Ball family for decades and who would love to have another Balls chili dog. On Wednesday, August 14, she decided to set up on the Riverwalk near the Showboat VI, and she sold-out of chili dogs earlier than she could have possibly imagined. Such was the support Lowell showed for Balls Dogs. Brenner did so well that she is considering making Wednesdays in Lowell a regular event.

Brenner had hoped to reintroduce Lowell to Balls chili dogs earlier in the summer at a number of outdoor summer events, but many of these events require vendors to sign up by February or March. Brenner noted that this was the downside of starting a hotdog cart in the summer - you miss out on most of the event sign-ups. That said, Brenner expects that Balls Dogs will be a food vendor at many of these events in 2025.

Unlike Balls Softee Crème, which only accepted cash, Balls Dogs takes cash, credit, Venmo, and Cash App payments. Brenner did not want to limit people’s payment sources, especially if all it takes is a smart phone with a Square reader to make things easier for her customers. She expects the cart to stay open during the same season as Softee Crème was open, April-May through October, but she is open to taking chili orders year-round.

Harold and Rose Ball, the innovators behind Balls Softee Crème, passed away the same year, in 2019. In 2023, a few months prior to the closure of the ice cream shop, Brenner’s own mother passed away, as well. In a way, Balls Dogs is Brenner’s way of paying tribute to those who are not with us anymore.

“I just feel really blessed at the fact that Rose created these things for us,” Brenner said, “and that God allowed me a way to keep it alive.”