The Coney I-Lander restaurants are a regional chain based in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. Their signature dish is a small slow-grilled

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

topped with

chili Chili or chilli may refer to: Food * Chili pepper, the spicy fruit of plants in the genus ''Capsicum''; sometimes spelled "chilli" in the UK and "chile" in the southwestern US * Chili powder, the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties ...

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

, and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

, sitting in a steamed bun. The restaurants also serve small tamales, and spaghetti topped with the same chili used on the coneys. The name of the restaurant is derived from

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...

, the early-1900s

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and vacation destination in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The chain dates to 1926, when

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

immigrant Christ Economou opened his first location in

downtown Tulsa Downtown Tulsa is an area of approximately surrounded by an inner-dispersal loop created by Interstate 244, US 64, and US 75. The area serves as Tulsa's financial and business district, and is the focus of a large initiative to draw tourism, whi ...

. The restaurant was one of the first to sell chili and was named "Coney Island in Tulsa" until 1983, a year in which the eateries sold more than 600,000 hot dogs. At the downtown restaurant rows of "coneys" on the grill are visible to those standing outside on the sidewalk. Antique school desks are used as seating at the original downtown location, a tradition started by the founder, who believed they offered each customer a personal space. An oral history of the restaurant was given to Voices of Oklahoma in 2011 by the founder's son, Jim Economou.

References

External links

Coney I-Lander page (with photos) on roadfood.comVoices of Oklahoma interview with Jim Economou.
First person interview conducted on March 7, 2011, with Jim Economou, son of the founder of Coney I-Lander. Hot dog restaurants in the United States Restaurants in Oklahoma Restaurants established in 1926 Companies based in Tulsa, Oklahoma 1926 establishments in Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-stub