Oldest Coney Island, Red Hots of Highland Park, is closing

“Red Hots Coney Island, the venerable diner serving coney dogs in Highland Park, is celebrating its 100th birthday on June 26. Then, a few weeks later, the restaurant will close.

“Richard and Carol Harlans, who inherited the diner from an uncle of Richard’s around 1985, are calling it quits, Deadline Detroit first reported.

“Red Hots has long been a coney institution in the city, surviving the Great Depression, the Great Recession, the 1967 unrest, and a pandemic. But “now I can’t get no help,” Richard, 67, told Deadline Detroit. Carol has worked alongside Richard, dishing out coneys, sliders, chili fries, and loose burgers for 20 years. Now, they’re retiring.”

https://detroit.eater.com/2021/6/17/...th-anniversary

oh my. well, best of retirement to them both.

That's a real shame. It was a nice place run by very nice people that had survived under some tough conditions. But I can certainly understand why the Harlans want to retire and I wish them all the best.

It's certainly a shame to see it closing but it's not the oldest. American and Lafayette are both older. Duly's is also about the same age as Red Hots.

They are going to be marketing their chili in the Detroit area

I've never lived in Detroit, but visited twice, in 2011 and in 2014. Spent 6 days total. This is one of the places I ate at. So glad I did.

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Originally Posted by drjeff

It's certainly a shame to see it closing but it's not the oldest. American and Lafayette are both older. Duly's is also about the same age as Red Hots.

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I think they mean oldest in HP.

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Originally Posted by NSortzi

I think they mean oldest in HP.

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I did some digging years ago, and I'm pretty sure American is the oldest in Detroit, and Red Hot's is the oldest in Michigan.

Both founders seem to have gone into business the same year [[1921), Red Hot's in June as an actual coney island restaurant, and Gus [[later of American) began operating a shoe-shine cart. Later Gus started selling hot dogs, or perhaps coney dogs, out of the shoe shine cart, and then about 1929 he opened the actual restaurant, American Coney Island.

Shorty thereafter, the owner's brother or uncle came to the country and worked at American, and 3 years later, [[1932?) started Lafayette.

None of the dates are clear.

If you ask Grace, you'll get statements like "went into business in 1921", [[with no statement as to what sort of business),.. and "oldest coney in Detroit". Then the news writers will state in their articles that American is the oldest in Michigan, and that they've been there since 1921, which are 2 things Grace never said to them.

Anyway, in a few weeks it won't matter.

But for sure, it's time to get your Red Hots NOW. Just a week or so left.

Your years are WAY off. American opened in 1917 per countless sites and Lafayette in 1923.

Well, I've seen it listed as having started in 1917, 1916, 1921, 1923 and even 1932, with Lafayette having opened first.

Turns out news sites aren't very reliable.

I was just going by what the owner had said.


And I forgot about Coney Island Kalamazoo that opened in 1915, so I guess neither is the oldest in Michigan.

BUT, American's claims of being the oldest in Detroit seem to be true.