Chilidogs at Lafayette Coney Island

You know what really grinds my gears??? People who insist that the Chilidogs at Lafayette Coney Island are “the best in the world.

After the 2011 North American Auto Show, a couple of my closest friends and I decided to give it a taste.  I had heard the hype around this culinary masterpiece and I had to try it. What kind of a Detroiter would I be if I didn't? Lafayette Coney Island and its famous Chilidogs were featured on Man vs. Food, and being a fan of the show combined with a love for the City of Detroit was a combination I couldn’t resist.  We walk in and we were instantly greeted by a smell that my nose had trouble recognizing and my synapses trouble deciding if it was good or bad. The place was friendly and people there seemed delighted to overpay for a chilidog. We sat down at the counter 2 ft. away from the guy doing the dishes, a process that I would call bathing rather than washing. The counter stool I sat  down was too small for my medium (large in some cultures) ass and too close to the floor.  Our water came quick in tiny glasses that told me two things:  one, they don’t want us there for an extended period of time; and two, they don’t like washing dishes. Regardless, I wasn’t going to let anything prevent me from having an orgy of cheese and chilly inside my oral cavity. Pictures of famous people lined the walls; this Coney had to be good. “Two and one” the waiter yelled to the cook after placed my order. Only a few minutes later a plate with two sloppy chilidogs and a small plate of double dipped fries stared me in the face. Mediocre at best; absolutely nothing special, a disgrace to the status it held and everyone that has ever bragged about it. We overplayed and left vowing never to return. Maybe I don’t understand American Culture I said to myself so I asked for the opinion of “white people” (I will explain what I mean by the term white people in future blogs).  One of them said what I believe everyone else was thinking: I have to admit, I only like them, because it is cool to like them.