Papaya King vs. Gray's Papaya

[ophelie]

Make this thread go away! I have 75 cents burning a whole in my pocket and I don't need to end up at Gray's AGAIN at lunch on the go - a mere two blocks away.

-Ophelie

[cinghiale]

The hot dogs, or Coney's in Detroit are basically a knockoff of the Jersey Texas Weiner.

Not to question Mr. Fox, the font of all things hot dog (I've followed his sage advice for N. Jersey dogs without question, leading me back to Rutt's Hutt last weekend), but are you sure about that, John? Detroit's Lafayette CI and American CI are constantly bickering about who's authentic/best/first, etc. (sorta like Pat's and Geno's here in Philly). My understanding is the Detroit CI goes back to the days of the Greek immigration into Detroit (my grandpappy owned a candy store at 6 mile and John R) and is considered a Detroit original.

According to the American CI website:

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 1929.

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

So, while they are similar, is there a common thread between, say, Hot Grill and the Detroit CIs?

[John]

From what I remember reading, the first Texas Weiner was made and sold in Paterson, N.J. in the early 1920's by a Greek immigrant. I've heard that it was a streetcart and I also heard that it was outside the Paterson Hotel. Someone wrote a paper on the subject. I tried to send the link one time, but it wouldn't work when typed in. Go to Google and type in "Paterson's Hot Texas Weiner tradition." The Texas Weiner ll on rt 22 in Greenbrook opened in 1924. And there was one in Plainfield before them. From what I've heard, this type of hot dog originated in Paterson. It was invented by Greeks who introduced the chili or "all the way sauce". It spread to Philly, and then westward to Detroit. I've heard that it was taken to these places by Greeks who were related to or otherwise knew the Greeks in Paterson. There really is no way of verifying this, but this is what I've been told from people who work in and own these restaurants in the Paterson/Clifton area.

[Holly Moore]

My understanding, my source being the son of an original Coney Island wiener guy who located in Northern MD, is that there was a Greek in the Coney Island area, in essence the godfather of Coney Island dogs, who dispatched newly arrived Greek immigrants to various parts of the U.S. to open up a Coney Island dog shop complete with official Coney Island sauce.

[danger_doug]

the dog that is called a coney is actually a white hot dog

I just hope that the white "coney" hotdog isn't named after the coney island whitefish! EEW!

[jogoode]

Sorry to pull a bait-and-switch. I promised to report back, but just before I left for NYC last week, I got an assignment to do a story on N.C.-style barbecue in Manhattan. Having to fit in seven versions of pulled pork sandwiches left no chance (OK, no room!) to hit a hot dog stand....

Here is a link to Kathleen's excellent article. (Registration takes thirty seconds.)

[wagyuboy]

A "Frank's Papaya" recently opened up on 125th and Lex. For those who don't think Gray's Papaya is ghetto enough...

(Don't get me wrong, Gray's is great)