In Search Of.... True Detroit Style Coney Island

Stipulations:

- Pork based hot dog with natural skin casing (preferably Koegels)
- True Coney Chili (A gravy made of beef hearts <traditional> and beef, no beans, spiced heavily with cumin)
- Robocouped onions
- Plochmans or Red Pelican mustard
- Steamed bun

Can I live the dream without spending a mint on gas to make the trip back to Detroit?

Jessewolfe1 wrote:Can I live the dream without spending a mint on gas to make the trip back to Detroit?

Sure. All you have to do is spend a couple of bucks on the Megabus

Chicago - Detroit 300 miles

American



Lafayette



wha cha gonna do?

Grill man, Lafayette

"2 0n 1, Extra Onions, Fries, side of cheese!!!" Man, how I love our Chicago Dogs, but miss my mothers milk I grew up on in the D!!!! Thanks for the pics, and I have searched all over Chicago looking for dogs like that with no luck ... Lafayette all the way!

I opened this topic hoping beyond hope that someone found a true coney in Chicago. There's not much I miss about my hometown of Detroit, but those coney dog pictures almost made me cry.

I have not been there, but Cinners offers Cincinnati-style coneys, which, if authentic, aren't too different from Detroit coneys (except that in Cincinnati they are half sized).

Besides my grandmother's cooking, the Detroit foods I really miss are warr shu gai and Dinty Moore sandwiches.

Cinners
4757 N. Talman Ave., Chicago
773-654-1624
http://www.cinners.net

LAZ wrote:I have not been there, but Cinners offers Cincinnati-style coneys, which, if authentic, aren't too different from Detroit coneys (except that in Cincinnati they are half sized).

I haven't tried Cinners yet, but I did try Chili Macs on Broadway a long while back hoping that the Cincinnati chili dog they had on the menu was comparable to the coney dogs I grew up eating in Detroit.

I found the chili to be very different from a Detroit coney dog, with the biggest difference being that a Detroit coney has a smoother sauce on it and the Chili Mac dog had a sauce with more ground beef pieces in it.

I will have to take LAZ's suggestion though and try Cinners to see if I can get my Detroit coney fix there!

Though I've never eaten at Cinners, I noticed right off the bat from photos that the chili was the wrong texture: Cincinnati-style chili is much more like a gravy.

I wonder if this is something that could be made off-menu, on request...

The name escapes me but their is a bar on Broadway, a few blocks north of Diversey, east side of street, that served Detroit style coneys. I had them a few years back and they were pretty close. If I remember correctly, they mentioned on the menu that they had the dog's and sauce shipped in from Detroit?

Will try to search for the name....I love them too!

Found it....Avenue's Tavern 2916 N Broadway......




Coney Dogs add cheese. 2 hot dogs served with detroit style coney island chili sace, topped with mustard and onions, highly addictive!

Ahh the Avenue... yes they seem to have a Detroit connection of some sort. I have walked / driven past several times (Bobtail and Pastoral are nearby) and have seen Detroit sports team flags (notably, Red Wings!) flying from the facade.

While I am skeptical of the authenticity of the Coney Dogs, I will definitely check em out and report back. My personal feeling is that pork based hotdogs were made illegal along with foie but never overturned.

One up!!

I vote for Layafette. Why would anyone go to American?

Here's a link to a pretty good home made recipe from Bob Allison and Gloria Pitzer (remember them?)http://www.askyourneighbor.com/recipes/097.htm

Use the first one, not the shortcut below. My concession is using a better, kosher dog, but go with your taste on that.

I never understood why Coney dogs became so scarce in Chicago. I don't think they were ever hugely popular here but there used to be some Coney Island doggeries scattered around. They're all long gone.

chgo36 wrote:Found it....Avenue's Tavern 2916 N Broadway......

Coney Dogs add cheese. 2 hot dogs served with detroit style coney island chili sace, topped with mustard and onions, highly addictive!

I took a look at Avenue Tavern's menu. A pair of Coneys is $6.75! They'd better be good.

In Milwaukee, Coney Island Hot Dogs serves something resembling a Detroit Coney dog, as does Koney King in Gary. I wouldn't recommend a special trip for either but they could be worth a stop if you're nearby.

I posted elsewhere that I am no longer a red meat eater, nor a pork eater for that matter, but growing up in Oakland County I had my share of Coneys - I think you're only real bet is a trip home. My meat-eating friends here from Detroit have been on the hunt and report that Athens in Royal Oak, any Leo's and of course Downtown, are better than any imitations here.

Think about it, would anyone back home make a Chicago Dog that stacks up to Wieners Circle?

sorry if this post wanders off topic.......

spent 8 yrs in Detroit @ 6mi & Livernois (ate many coneys and chili cheese fries!), but I was wondering if anyone has found anything that resembles Bangkok Cafe on 9mi in Ferndale somewhere in Chicago?

A pair of Coneys is $6.75! They'd better be good.

There's only one way to eat a brace of coneys.

Literally one day after reading this thread, I walked by Beans & Bagels on Rockwell and noticed a small chalkboard sign in the window that read, "Coming Wednesday: Detroit Style Coney Dogs" or something to that effect. So, that's a possible option... albeit somewhat odd.

Beans & Bagels
2601 W Leland Ave.

I walk past B&B every morning as well - the guy that runs the place is a diehard Michigander. (Note the Redwings and Tigers paraphernalia on the walls.) My wife, also being a Michigander, told the owner that I make a mean coney dog and passed on the recipe (a slight variation on the Bob Allison recipe upthread). I'm going to stop by tonight and see how they do.

Oh, and my vote is for Lafayette as well.

So I was walking down Southport the other day and it seems Leo's Coney Island is opening up in the old Chinelite location.

If it's anything like the originals back in Michigan, it's gonna be popular.

http://www.leoschicago.com/

3455 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

I definitely look forward to giving Leo's Chicago outpost a shot, but the Flint-style coney is what I'm really after:

turkob wrote:So I was walking down Southport the other day and it seems Leo's Coney Island is opening up in the old Chinelite location.

If it's anything like the originals back in Michigan, it's gonna be popular.

http://www.leoschicago.com/

3455 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

Was there any indication of an opening date?

Nothing on the building or the website.

I heard that Leo's is aiming for a fall opening, so perhaps they will open by Christmas.

Meanwhile, America's Dog is now promoting a Detroit-style dog with chili, onions and mustard. I assume the dogs are the same Vienna Beef they use generally; no idea what the chili's like.

stevez wrote:

Jessewolfe1 wrote:Can I live the dream without spending a mint on gas to make the trip back to Detroit?

Sure. All you have to do is spend a couple of bucks on the Megabus

Okay, I've gone through that whole thread, again, and still don't get what you're referring to by the Megabus. Did you take Greyhound or what?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=megabus

Give that a shot.

Do Leo's usually carry beer? I'd love to enjoy a coney with a Bell's or a Dark Horse.

Whoa! Love the Let-Me-Google-That-For-You thing. Cool. Thanks.

whiskeybent wrote:My wife, also being a Michigander, told the owner that I make a mean coney dog and passed on the recipe (a slight variation on the Bob Allison recipe upthread).

Oh, and my vote is for Lafayette as well.

Yes on Lafayette, and I agree. Bob Allison's recipe is a pretty good representation.

turkob wrote:So I was walking down Southport the other day and it seems Leo's Coney Island is opening up in the old Chinelite location.

If it's anything like the originals back in Michigan, it's gonna be popular.

http://www.leoschicago.com/

3455 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

Finally, the real thing. My wife says now there is no reason to leave Chicago.

LAZ wrote:Meanwhile, America's Dog is now promoting a Detroit-style dog with chili, onions and mustard. I assume the dogs are the same Vienna Beef they use generally; no idea what the chili's like.

I don't know why they chose to promote this. It's not a very good hot dog, much less a good example of a Detroit dog. I believe the chili is the same they use on all their dogs. In other words, there's nothing particularly Detroit-style about it. The skinless Vienna all-beef dog has little in common with what you'd find in Detroit either (many places use Koegel's natural casing pork and beef dogs). And the bun is wrong too. My limited experience suggests poppy seed rolls aren't common in Detroit.



That sums up the problem with America's Dog: they use the same basic set of ingredients in endless permutations. The resulting hot dogs bear only a faint resemblance to the ones they're modeled on. And they're stupidly expensive. My Detroit dog was $3.45 (with tax; Randolph location).



Anyone know who voted?

I had one of those "Detroit" dogs a couple weeks ago. It was absolutely terrible.

If you look at the napkins there, which they haven't reprinted yet, you'll notice that the old "Houston Dog" had chili and onions on it. This is the exact same thing, just renamed.

Oversteamed buns, no use of Koegels, chili watery and certainly nothing near coney sauce, onions chopped an eternity ago.

Avoid.