The story goes that the Coney Island - a hot dog covered in chili and onions - owes its existence to Greek immigrants Gust and William Keros, who opened American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island next door to one another in Detroit. A fierce rivalry was soon born between the two Coney dog restaurants. Nearly a century later, the debate is as impassioned as ever as to which restaurant came first and which has the better coneys. Customer loyalties to each are so strong they have sustained themselves through families for up to four generations. While many Detroitians have been to one Coney Island location countless times, they may never have visited the rival eatery. Although American has expanded, Lafayette remains small, cramped and, according to diehard fans, more authentic. At Lafayette, menu choices are simple: chili, fries, chili fries, loose hamburgers (burgers with the beef not packed into a patty, sometimes called a "loose") or the classic coney. The waitstaff won't ask you what you want, but simply, "How many?" just before they yell your order to the kitchen. Although customers are constantly streaming to and from Lafayette, the place is at its busiest at 2 am after the bars close.
Cash only. Beer available. Open 7:30 am-4 am daily.
"Sit at the counter and you may rub elbows with a federal judge on one side and someone who can only afford a Coney on the other. That experience is why you're here. That, and to hear the song of the Coney: "Six on three, two without, four Cokes" yelled out by your waiter. (Translation: two Coneys on three plates, two without onions.)"- Gayot