Detroit at 300: Birth of an institution

August 21, 2000 www.freep.com

Rare is the Detroiter who hasn't heard the accented order yelled from waiter to a cook 5 feet away: "Two-to-go-no-onions."

Detroit's relationship with coney dogs began with Gust Keros, who came to Detroit from Greece in 1910. He swept floors at Kelsey-Hayes Co., pushed a popcorn concession wagon around Belle Isle and ran a hat-cleaning and shoe shine shop at the corner of Lafayette and Griswold before opening the American Coney Island there in 1917.

Nickel coneys proved popular and profitable, so Keros brought brother William over from Greece. William Keros learned the business at the American and, when the storefront next door became available, started the Lafayette Coney Island.

In Quebec, a coney island is called a hot dog Michigan, or simply a Michigan.