Even though I grew up in Michigan and have a solid love of my local, old school hot dog place, I’m still catching up when it comes to an appreciation of Detroit coney islands. I know there’s a long legacy of these hot dog joints around the Motor City, and that the very first are situated side-by-side downtown: American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island. The two have been around for more than a century, and were originally owned by brothers before Lafayette eventually sold to one of the employees.
Although American is the original, the general consensus from my quick online research said Lafayette is the better quality choice overall, so over the course of a weekend in Detroit we stopped by for two late night visits. (We had intended to try American the second night – you know, to make a proper comparison – but they were closed for a private event!)
We arrived around 10:30 p.m. to find the place almost packed. And I knew right away we were in the right place: it was bustling and buzzy, full of locals, with Tigers fans streaming in after the game. Servers shouted orders to the cook while drinks, fries, and dogs arrived lightning fast.
The menu is about as fancy as the digs: coney islands, burgers, fries, chili, beer, pop (not soda, and yes, they had Vernor’s). There are slices of pie and a box of donuts sitting in the display case, too, in case you need dessert.
We didn’t venture too far off the beaten path, but clearly if you’re at a coney island, you’re here for one thing. The combination is simple but so easy to love. Toasted buns, a Dearborn All-Beef hot dog with a snappy natural casing, coney sauce (no beans), diced onions, mustard.
If you watch the kitchen through the windows outside, you’ll see them literally slapping them together two, three, four together at a time. They arrive charmingly decorated with splotches of sauce and mustard, errant cubes on onion dotting the plate.
And they’re every bit as delicious as you’d imagine them: from the snap of the casing to the tang of the mustard, a sweet and slightly zingy coney sauce, crisp onions. One bite and you know why these places have staying power.
We did venture as far as ordering a plate of chili cheese fries, too. Again, what’s not to love about this? Especially late at night, and maybe after a couple beers.
It seems to be a fixture of coney islands that you can watch the grill from the front windows. Right next door is the grill at American Coney Island.
I think Lafayette will become a regular stop every time we visit Detroit from now on.
Lafayette Coney Island is open Sunday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Friday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Lafayette Coney Island
118 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 964-8198
FB: Lafayette Coney Island
IG: @lafayetteconeyisland
