Detroit, Michigan · Founded 1917
Detroit’s 1917 American Coney Island remains a Keros-family downtown institution and half of the city’s famous next-door Coney rivalry.
American Coney Island opened on West Lafayette Street in Detroit in 1917, founded by Greek immigrant Constantine “Gust” Keros. The Keros family still operates the downtown restaurant, whose 1924 split with Gust’s brother Bill created the famous rivalry with neighboring Lafayette Coney Island.
Greek immigrant Constantine “Gust” Keros opens American Coney Island on West Lafayette Street in downtown Detroit.
Source: Detroit Historical Society, “Coney Dog”; Detroit News, “American Coney Island celebrates a century of service,” 2017; American Coney Island official history.
Gust Keros’s brother William “Bill” Keros opens Lafayette Coney Island next door after helping at American Coney Island.
Source: Detroit Historical Society, “Coney Dog”; Detroit News, “American Coney Island celebrates a century of service,” 2017; Visit Detroit, “Detroit's Coney Island: A Rivalry And A Staple.”
American Coney Island celebrates its 100th year in business.
Source: Detroit News, “American Coney Island celebrates a century of service,” 2017.
Grace Keros publicly identifies herself as the restaurant’s third-generation owner.
Source: Detroit Metro Times, “American Coney Island owner sets us straight,” 2025.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The restaurant, Detroit Historical Society, and Detroit News identify American Coney Island as opening on West Lafayette Street in 1917 and remaining at the same downtown location. The reviewed evidence strongly supports same-location continuity, but it does not include the complete title, licensing, and directory record needed for a fully documentary continuity finding.
Gust Keros was central to Detroit’s Coney tradition, but the available historical record does not establish him as its sole inventor. Michigan Public reports that no definitive first Coney exists, while recent Detroit coverage identifies George Todoroff’s Jackson restaurant, founded in 1914, as Michigan’s first Coney Island restaurant.
American Coney Island opened in 1917. Gust Keros’s brother William opened Lafayette Coney Island next door in 1924, creating the enduring downtown rivalry.
American’s official history describes the restaurant as family owned and operated. Detroit News identified Grace Keros and Chris Sotiropoulos as founder Gust Keros’s grandchildren and owners in 2017, while Grace Keros described herself as a third-generation owner in 2025.
American Coney Island opened in 1917. Michigan Public and Detroit coverage identify Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson as a 1914 predecessor and commonly call it Michigan’s first Coney Island restaurant. American is a major Detroit Coney landmark but does not hold the earliest statewide date claim.
Gust Keros invented the Detroit-style Coney dog.
Gust Keros helped make Detroit’s Coney tradition famous through American Coney Island, but the historical record does not establish him as the sole inventor. Multiple Greek and Macedonian immigrant operators developed Coney restaurants in Michigan, and Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson dates to 1914.
Source: Michigan Public, “How Michigan became the Coney capital,” 2026; Detroit Free Press, “How the coney dog tells a uniquely Detroit story,” 2026.
Lafayette Coney Island is older than American Coney Island.
American Coney Island opened in 1917. Lafayette Coney Island opened next door in 1924 under Gust Keros’s brother William “Bill” Keros.
Source: Detroit Historical Society, “Coney Dog”; Detroit News, “American Coney Island celebrates a century of service,” 2017.
American Coney Island is Michigan's oldest Coney Island restaurant.
American opened in 1917. Michigan Public and recent Detroit coverage identify Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson, founded in 1914, as Michigan’s first Coney Island restaurant.
Source: Michigan Public, “How Michigan became the Coney capital,” 2026; Detroit Free Press, “How the coney dog tells a uniquely Detroit story,” 2026.
American Coney Island has endured by being both a quick-service diner and a family story. The Keros family has retained the business across three generations, while the side-by-side Lafayette rivalry gives a simple Coney order a lasting place in Detroit’s civic identity.
American Coney Island was founded on West Lafayette Street in Detroit in 1917 by Greek immigrant Constantine “Gust” Keros. In 1924, Gust’s brother William opened Lafayette Coney Island next door, creating Detroit’s famous Coney rivalry. American remains a Keros-family business under third-generation owner Grace Keros.
No. American Coney Island is one of Detroit’s oldest and most influential Coney restaurants, founded in 1917, but Michigan’s earliest Coney Island restaurant is commonly identified as Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson, founded in 1914. The history of the Coney dog has multiple early claimants, so the exact invention story remains more complicated than a single restaurant.
American Coney Island opened in 1917 under Gust Keros. Gust’s brother William “Bill” Keros came to Detroit to help him and then opened Lafayette Coney Island next door in 1924 after a family disagreement. The two restaurants have become a defining Detroit food rivalry.
American Coney Island remains in the Keros family. Grace Keros identifies herself as a third-generation owner, and Detroit News previously identified Grace and her brother Chris Sotiropoulos as founder Gust Keros’s grandchildren and the restaurant’s owners.
114 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 961-7758
American Coney Island offers counter and table service downtown. Its hours can vary by day and special events; check the restaurant directly before visiting.