Coney Detroit

Introduction

2 At Jackson Coney Island in downtown Jackson, owner Lisa Creech is the only one who makes the restaurant’s popular meat topping. She says people have offered her employees money for the recipe. “It’s very hard to season,” Creech admits. “If you put too much of something, you can really taste it.” Knowing what makes a good coney dog is the easy part. Learning how to eat them like a pro requires skill honed from years of practice. The most avid coney dog fans can quickly devour these treats without the aid of a fork or knife and without getting any mustard, onions, chili, or meat topping on their shirt or pants. This sounds easy—to anyone who has never eaten a coney dog. While mastering the art of eating a coney is all about fun, there’s more to these hot dogs than what you see on the plate. For decades, coney islands have provided a livelihood for immigrants from Greece and Macedonia who arrived in the United States with only a few dollars, speaking little or no English and lacking any formal education. For many of these newcomers, coney islands became their ticket to the American dream after years of hard work. Today many of these first-generation immigrants have retired and their children and grandchildren are running the restaurants. But the Greeks and Macedonians no longer have the business to themselves. Albanians now operate many coney islands in metro Detroit as they, too, have discovered the appeal of coney dogs. “It’s something easy you can start with,” explains John Qafa, owner of one of the L. George’s Coney Islands, the largest Albanian-owned coney chain. “If you want to work and if you want to dedicate your time, you can become successful.” It’s difficult to say for sure who started the first coney island. Despite many claims by different restaurants, it appears that several Greek immigrants all started selling coney dogs in the early part of the twentieth century, not just in Michigan but also in Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, and other states. The Greeks didn’t bring hot dogs from their native land. But many of them passed through New York’s Ellis Island and heard about or visited Coney Island, later borrowing this name for their hot dogs, according to one legend. Why they took a fancy to this food remains a mystery. Though these immigrants started successful coney islands in several states, only in Michigan did these restaurants really take off, evolving over time into a booming industry with hundreds of locations. Value for the money has always been a key part of coney dogs’ appeal, especially in a state that has weathered its share of ups and downs. But traditions also play a role. “It’s just like Philly cheese steaks or Chicago deep dish pizza,” says Tom Giftos Jr., who runs the National Coney Island chain. “People grow up with it.” Much of the growth of Detroit’s coney islands can be traced to the Keros family. When brothers William “Bill” and Constantine “Gust” Keros opened Lafayette and American Coney Islands in downtown Detroit in the 1920s and 1930s, they probably never imagined they were planting the seeds for a bumper crop of coney islands to come. “We wouldn’t be here without them,” says Mark Mitchell, co-owner of Athens Coney Island in Royal Oak. Some of the Keros brothers’ family members and many of their employees went on to open their own successful coney islands, taking the concept into Detroit’s suburbs. They found plenty of hungry customers at shopping malls, which the region helped pioneer. The situation proved similar in Flint. Many of the city’s first 3 coney islands were started by employees who worked at Flint’s Original Coney Island, which created the Flint-style coney dog. Coney islands have come a long way since those early days. Most of these family businesses now offer elaborate menus featuring Greek salads, omelettes, and steaks, going far beyond coney dogs. In some ways, these coney islands are Michigan’s version of the diners popular in other states, like New Jersey. Some coney islands, such as Athens and the National Coney Islands, were even built to look like diners. Only a small number of coney islands still focus solely on coney dogs. They are some of the oldest ones, located mostly in the downtowns...