Coney Detroit

Flint-Style Coney Dogs

One of the things that made Michigan coneys so good popular was stricter hot dog quality requirements under state law than most other states had. 52 used by coney islands, he decided to remove the nonfat dry milk and sugar in these hot dogs. That solved the problem. With these hurdles behind him, Brayan and two partners, George Brown and Nick George, opened Flint’s Original Coney Island on Saginaw Street in 1919. According to Two to Go—A Short History of Flint’s Coney Island Restaurants, the Original sold four thousand coney dogs a day during its heyday from 1924 to 1926. Ed Abbott fondly recalls the hot dogs cooking on the grill in the Original’s front window. Open twenty-four hours, the coney island had two front doors with long counters inside. Brayan was a “little guy but hardworking and you could see him eyeing that counter,” Abbott says. As a Catholic, Abbott couldn’t eat meat on Fridays. But when he was a teenager, his father would often ask him to run down to the Original for some coney dogs—just before midnight. “You’d get five, six, seven in a bag and go back home and sit on the floor,” Abbott remembers. “My mom would be sleeping. She’d wake me up mad because the room reeked of onions and chili.” Albert Koegel, the founder of Koegel Meats, and his son, also called Albert, used to eat lunch at the Original every Saturday. Back then, two coney dogs and a glass of milk cost twenty-five cents. Orders up! The newer coney island chains serve a lot of breakfasts, salads, hamburgers, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Coney island hot dogs can be a small part of what they do. Did we mention fries? (Photo by Rob Terwilliger) A Flint or Detroit combination: coneys and cars. Hey! Don’t drip any sauce on the paint. (Photo by Rob Terwilliger) Coney Detroit 54 Introduction The Original proved so popular that other coney islands sprang up in the same area, forming a hub of sorts around the intersection of Saginaw and Water streets. None of these downtown coney islands is still operating today, including the Original, which ended its long run in 1979. Since then, Angelo’s Coney Island on Davison Road has been the place to chow down on Flint-style coney dogs. Angelo’s has served hungry Flint residents ever since Macedonian immigrants Carl Paul and Angelo Nikiloff opened the place in 1949. It has switched owners a few times through the years, but none has dared to tinker with its beloved coney dogs. “This is like eating your mother’s food,” says Flint native Neil Helmkay, Angelo’s current owner, who keeps the restaurant open twenty-four hours nearly every day of the year. As the decades have gone by, the dividing line between Flint-style coneys and Detroit-style ones is getting a little blurry. Diners at Mega Coney Island, which has locations in Flint and Fenton, can order both types of coney dogs. Angelo’s Coney Island, a popular place for coneys in Flint, has changed hands a number of times, but its name, from co-founder Angelo Nikiloff, is a bankable constant. (Photo by Bobby Alcott) The coney island hot dog has inspired a number of imitations. In addition to varieties of coney tacos, there are coney omelettes, coney pizzas, and coney wraps. (Photo by Bobby Alcott) 56 Rocky Dedivanaj, one of Mega’s owners, says that the restaurant’s Fenton location, south of Flint, sells just as many Detroit-style coneys as Flint ones. If two kinds of coneys under one roof are not mindboggling enough, Mega has another surprise: the Mega Special, a coney dog with both Detroit-style chili and Flint coney sauce. That’s not the only way that lines are being crossed. The Leo’s Coney Island chain in Detroit has migrated north and offers both types of coney dogs at its Flint locations. Many Flint coney islands use hot dog buns from Detroit bakeries. And more than fifteen years ago, Koegel Meats started making chili for Detroit-style coney dogs at its plant near Flint’s airport. Koegel created its own recipe for the chili, which is used by many coney...