National Coney Island

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National Coney Island
IndustryRestaurants
Genre Coney Island
Founded
FounderJames Giftos
Headquarters
Roseville, Michigan, U.S.
Area served
 Metropolitan Detroit
Website nationalconeyisland.com
Coney Island hot dog National Coney Island.jpg
Coney Island hot dog

National Coney Island is a chain of restaurants specializing in American classic foods, particularly known for its Coney Island-style hot dogs. Founded in Roseville, Michigan, the chain has 20 locations across metropolitan Detroit. [1]

Contents

History

Founded by Greek immigrant James Giftos in 1965, the first National Coney Island opened in Macomb Mall in Roseville, Michigan. [2] The menu was simple and included Coney Island hot dogs, loose hamburgers, and chili, all advertised on hand-painted wooden menu boards, for 35 cents per hot dog. [3]

It expanded in the late 1960s, with new outlets in St. Clair Shores (1969) and Detroit (1971). The 1980s and 1990s saw significant growth, with the restaurant chain reaching 11 locations. With increasing success, Giftos began to diversify the menu to appeal to families, updated the decor, and introduced unique elements like drive-thrus and the sale of beer and wine at some locations.

Locations

National Coney Island locations are primarily located on the east side of Michigan. Under the direction of Tom Giftos, Jr., Giftos’s son, the chain is shifting toward “express”-style National Coney Islands, targeting expansions in airports, stadiums, and colleges. [4] The corporate business plans on expanding the company at least two units per year, and these locations range in size from 6,000 to 9,000 square feet. Several stores also contain a drive-thru. [5] The corporate headquarters is located in Roseville, which is where the first National Coney Island was established. [2]

The I-696 (11 Mile Road)/Gratiot Avenue Roseville store has an interior wall mural that echoes the style and is an homage of the Diego Rivera Detroit Industry Murals that is in the Rivera Court of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Instead of producing cars on an assembly line, chili hot dogs are a depicted as a work in progress. It implicitly depicts the change of the economy from manufacturing to a service economy. The underlying real life irony is that the headquarters/plant of National Coney Island, went from an auto parts manufacturer to producing hot dog and chili product for the chain. [A]

See also

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ "Capital Gains". N.p.: Capital Gains. September 16, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Conway, Michael (May 8, 2003). "More New Restaurants Open at Detroit Metro Airport's McNamara Terminal/ Northwest WorldGateway, National Coney Island. Metro Detroit Airport" (PDF) (Press release). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ Home. National Coney Island | National Coney Island, 2013. 15 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Yung, Katherine; Grimm, Joe (2012). Coney Detroit. Wayne State University Press. pp. 27–. ISBN   978-0-8143-3718-9 . Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ National Coney Island. "Corporate Information". Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ Gordinier, Jeff (September 7, 2015). "New York Chef Brothers Return Home to Detroit (and to Hot Dogs)". New York Times . Retrieved February 7, 2025. Diego Rivera murals that glorify the city as a workers' paradise. ... This is National, where a coney goes for $2.29.}(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Photo of part of mural National Coney Island via Yelp

Further reading

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