Taste

American Coney Island brings a Detroit favorite to Fremont Street

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Special-recipe chili, mustard and onions make the Coney Island Dog a favorite.
Photo: Tom Donoghue

Like New York-style pizza and Philadelphia cheesesteaks, the Coney Island hot dog is a regional dish with fervent supporters, and everyone has a favorite version. Now, thanks to Detroit natives Derek and Greg Stevens, Las Vegans have the chance to try one of the best-known renditions, Downtown at American Coney Island.

The Details

American Coney Island
The D, 388-2120.
Open 24/7.

The Coney Island dog ($3.75) is a simple dish: a slightly charred link served on a plain steamed bun and smothered with special-recipe chili, mustard and onions. If you’re a Michigander, this should be the Holy Grail. If not, you’ll probably think it’s adequate and worth experiencing for the novelty alone. (I’m a Chicagoan, so my loyalties lie elsewhere.)

American Coney is Greek-run, so it should come as no shock that they also offer gyros ($6.25). What’s more surprising is how good they are, even sans feta. I’d pass on the cheese fries ($3) though; they’re unremarkable, and a trip to the microwave to melt the cheese made the already not-so-crispy potatoes even less so.

American Coney Island won’t transform the Downtown dining scene, but it’ll do as a late-night Fremont Street fix.

Tags: Dining
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