Formerly: Jackson Coney Island
Jackson, Michigan · Founded 1914
A closed Jackson Coney lineage tracing its origin to George Todoroff’s reported 1914 train-depot stand and now surviving mainly through packaged sauce.
George Todoroff is widely credited with launching a Jackson Coney business near the Michigan Central depot in 1914. The restaurant history later passed through changing names, sites, and owners, while the Todoroff family’s sauce tradition continued into retail production. The physical Todoroff’s Original Coney Island restaurant is closed and should not be treated as a current dining destination.
George Todoroff is widely credited with starting a Coney business near the Jackson train depot, serving railroad workers and travelers.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015; Todoroff Foods, “The Coney Island Hot Dog”; Fox 47, “Coney Wars: How a Jackson Classic Became So Controversial,” 2024.
Jackson city directories first list the business under the name Jackson Coney Island, according to a 2015 MLive historical review.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015.
George Todoroff retires. Accounts differ on the immediate successor chain; MLive reports a postwar sale to Andy and Don Lazaroff, while the Todoroff Foods history gives a simplified family narrative.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015; Todoroff Foods, “The Coney Island Hot Dog.”
The original East Michigan Avenue restaurant building is demolished, and Jackson Coney Island moves into a new restaurant at 615 E. Michigan Ave.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015.
Todoroff Foods’ history says the family reopened Todoroff's Original Coney Island on East Ganson Street; the reopening requires independent confirmation.
Source: Todoroff Foods, “The Coney Island Hot Dog.”
MLive reports that Jackson Coney Island closes in May, with its naming rights and fixtures offered for sale.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
George Todoroff is widely credited in Jackson histories with beginning the local Coney tradition near the train depot in 1914 and developing a signature sauce. Competing local accounts and the broader contested history of Coney dogs mean the sole-creator claim is best treated as plausible rather than conclusive.
Historical accounts say Todoroff’s original sauce used ground beef. Ground beef heart became associated with the Jackson style as a World War II-era substitution during beef rationing; a 2024 report says current Todoroff sauce no longer contains heart.
The former restaurant is closed. Search listings identify the Parnall Road Todoroff’s location as closed, while Todoroff Foods continues as a sauce brand rather than a public restaurant.
The 1914 Todoroff/Jackson origin is earlier than other major Michigan Coney claimants reviewed in this session, but the historical restaurant is closed and its line moved through different sites, names, and owners. It cannot qualify as an operating continuous Coney stand.
Todoroff's Original Coney Island has operated continuously as a restaurant since 1914.
The reported 1914 Todoroff/Jackson Coney origin later passed through changed names, locations, and ownership. The historical restaurant is now closed, so it cannot be described as a currently operating continuous restaurant.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015; Yelp, “Todoroff's Original Coney Island,” closed listing.
George Todoroff’s original 1914 Coney sauce was made with beef heart.
Historical accounts describe George Todoroff’s original sauce as ground beef. Beef heart became a Jackson Coney ingredient during World War II rationing, and current Todoroff sauce reportedly does not include heart.
Source: Coney Island hot dog historical record; Fox 47, “Coney Wars: How a Jackson Classic Became So Controversial,” 2024.
Todoroff's was continuously owned by four generations of the Todoroff family.
The restaurant and Jackson Coney lineage passed through several owners, including Lazaroff-family and later non-family ownership. The Todoroff family retains a sauce-brand legacy, but uninterrupted restaurant family ownership is not supported.
Source: MLive, “100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney history,” 2015; 99WFMK, “New Virginia Coney Island Owners Part of Jackson's Coney Dog Lore,” 2025.
The restaurant itself did not survive as an open venue, but its culinary influence persists in Jackson’s distinctive Coney culture and in packaged Todoroff sauce. Its history is a reminder that a recipe, a local food style, and a storefront can have related but different continuities.
George Todoroff is widely credited with beginning a Jackson Coney business near the Michigan Central depot in 1914. The restaurant later appeared as Jackson Coney Island, changed sites and owners, and helped shape Jackson’s distinctive chili-topped Coney tradition. The historical restaurant is closed, while Todoroff Foods continues the sauce brand.
No. Todoroff's Original Coney Island no longer operates as a public restaurant in Jackson. The business’s sauce legacy continues through Todoroff Foods, but the former brick-and-mortar restaurant should not be treated as an active dining destination.
No. Jackson Coney sauce became associated with ground beef heart during World War II, when beef rationing made heart a practical substitute. Historical accounts say George Todoroff’s original sauce used ground beef, and a 2024 report says current Todoroff sauce does not contain heart.
The restaurant is closed. Todoroff sauce is a retail product rather than an on-site dining experience; confirm current retailer availability directly with Todoroff Foods.