Coney Island (restaurant)

For restaurants with similar names, see Coney Island (disambiguation).

A Coney Island is a type of restaurant popular in the northern United States, particularly in Michigan, as well as the name for the Coney Island hot dog after which the restaurant style is named.

Genealogy of the name

Two coney islands in Detroit.

Coney Islands are a unique type of Greek American restaurant. Two of the most well-known Coney Island restaurants are the Lafayette Coney Island and the American Coney Island, which are located adjacent to one another on Lafayette St. in downtown Detroit. They have a common root, with the original restaurant having been established by Greek immigrant brothers Bill and Gus Keros in 1914. The brothers got into business dispute soon thereafter, and in 1917 split their restaurant into the two establishments that exist today.

Typical menu

"One to Go"

The menu of all Coney Island restaurants centers around the Coney Island hot dog, which is a hot dog in a bun dressed with chili, diced onions, and yellow mustard. This item is usually referred to simply as a "coney." Another popular item on most Coney Island restaurant menus is the "loose hamburger," which consists of crumbled ground beef in a hot dog bun, covered in the same condiments as a Coney Island hot dog. Many Coney Islands also serve "chili fries," which are french fries covered in chili, sometimes with mustard or cheese added.

Many Coney Islands offer other Greek and Greek-American dishes, such as Gyros, Souvlaki, Shish Kebab, Spanakopita, Saganaki, and Greek salads, as well as usual American diner fare, such as regular hamburgers, sandwiches, breakfast items, and desserts.

Growth of the Coney Island restaurant

Since the owners of the first Coney Island restaurants did not trademark the name or business plan, many other restaurants began using the same name and formula. Most Coneys in the Detroit area are still owned by Greek, Macedonian, or Albanian immigrants and their descendants.

Coney Islands have developed a distinctive dining style is repeated in hundreds of different restaurants throughout the metropolitan Detroit area and elsewhere in Michigan and other nearby states. There are some regional variations though, such as the chili sauce, which is more liquid in Detroit area Coney Island restaurants compared to the dryer sauce served in Coney Island restaurants served in the nearby Flint, Michigan area.

Many Greek diners in Buffalo, New York and throughout upstate New York and New Jersey are similar in format to Detroit-style Coney Islands, even serving their own style of dogs, called a Texas Hot or Texas Wiener. Unlike the Coney Island restaurants in Detroit, though, the Texas Hot is often not the dominant menu item in these establishments.

Sioux City, Iowa also has a handful of Coney Island eateries, as does the Houston, Texas area.