NORTHERN KENTUCKY NEWS | NewsNKY.com NOTE: Headlines are deleted after two days Northern Kentucky FB > Michigan served up Coneys years before Cincinnatians tasted it Detroit Coney Islands Michigan restaurants were serving Coneys in 1914, eight years before Empress Chili in Cincinnati first did it in 1922. Because Cincinnati and Michigan/Detroit chili dogs have Greek chili sauce, with a hot dog served on bun, it can't be a co-incidence that Tom and John Kiradjieff, founders of Empress Chili, created it on their own. Just too similar. In other words, they probably copied the delicacy from Greek immigrants in Michigan, particularly in the Detroit area. But, the origin of the style is somewhat murky. There's that phrase "Coney Island", the name of a neighorhood in New York located near Ellis Island where immigrants entered the United States by ship. Coney Island was the nickname attached to hot dogs on a bun with condiments in that area. Jane and Michael Stern, writing in 500 Things to Eat Before it's Too Late, note that "there's only one place to start [to pinpoint the top Coney Islands as we know them], and that is Detroit. James Schmidt, in a debate at the 2018 National Fair Food Summit, noted that "Detroit is synonymous with the Coney Dog: you simply cannot have one without the other." The American Coney Island restaurant in Detroit was founded in 1914 or 1917 by Greek immigrant Constantine "Gust" Keros, and that was the beginning. Eight years later in Cincinnati, the dish was served by immigrants Tom and John Kiradjieff, founders of Empress Chili, in 1922. Did the idea to sell Coneys in Cincinnati come from Deroit? Probably, but that can't be proven. In 1949, another Greek immigrant named Nick Lambrinides opened a restaurant in Price Hill with similar Detroit fare. He called it "Skyline Chili".