Coney Island dogs are usually associated with New York but Michigan might have an equally long relationship with the dog. No one is sure if the Coney Dog even originated in Coney Island or if Greek Immigrants passing through just borrowed the name.

The first Coney restaurant in Michigan, Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson, Michigan, was founded in 1914. Detroit’s American Coney Island opened just a few years later in 1917 on West Lafayette Street in downtown Detroit.

Gust Keros came to Detroit from Greece and started American Coney Island. In 1924, his brother William came to help run the business. But when a storefront was available next door to American Coney Island, William grabbed at the opportunity to open his own shop, Lafayette Coney Island. Both restaurants have stayed put side by side on Lafayette street for the better part of a hundred years.

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