History

Around 1917, Greek immigrant Gust Keros opened American Coney Island at 114 W Lafayette. His brother William opened Lafayette Coney Island next door in 1924. Both claim the same Coney dog recipe with different chili-style meat-sauce variations. The rivalry has run for over a century and the two storefronts still stand side by side. Detroit Coneys differ from New York hot dogs and Cincinnati chili: the dog is a natural-casing beef and pork from Dearborn-based Koegel or Kowalski, the bun is steamed, the meat sauce is finer than Cincinnati and beanless.

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 45 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 8 natural-casing hot dogs (Koegel Vienna preferred)
  • 8 soft white hot-dog buns
  • 300g ground beef chuck
  • 1 small yellow onion, half diced for the sauce, half chopped fine for topping
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 150ml beef stock
  • Yellow mustard

Method

  1. In a heavy pan, brown the ground beef with the diced onion and garlic until the beef is broken down and cooked, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add chili powder, cumin, paprika, tomato paste and beef stock. Simmer 20 minutes until thick but pourable.
  3. Steam the buns over simmering water for 90 seconds; they should be soft, not toasted.
  4. Boil or steam the hot dogs for 4 minutes; the natural casing should snap on the first bite.
  5. Place a dog in each bun, then a heaping spoonful of meat sauce, a stripe of yellow mustard and a generous mound of raw chopped onion on top.
  6. Eat immediately, ideally over a paper plate. Repeat once.

Tip from the editors. Natural-casing dogs are the point; the snap separates a Coney from a hot dog. Yellow mustard only, no ketchup. Raw onion is non-negotiable.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat coney dog

Coney dog in Detroit

Lafayette Coney Island ★ 4.5

downtownUntil Open 24/7Cash only

Lafayette Coney Island on West Lafayette in downtown Detroit since 1924 serves chili dogs around the clock. Cash counter, the late-night coney since the city's first wave.

Try: Coney dog with chili, mustard and onion

Tip: Cash preferred; the counter is the order line. After-bar crowd peaks 02:00 to 04:00.

118 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226

American Coney Island ★ 4.5

downtownUntil Open 24/7

American Coney Island on West Lafayette since 1917 has served Coney dogs round the clock in Detroit. Cards welcome, the post-game and post-bar canonical stop downtown.

Try: Coney dog with chili, mustard and onion

Tip: Open 24/7 every day of the year. Coney with mustard and raw onion is the canonical order.

114 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226

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