Will Hollywood Dig Detroit Coney Dogs?

Detroit Free Press: Can the coney cut it in Hollywood? Will the loose burger find love on Sunset Boulevard?

Actor-comedian-director Mike Binder has no doubt they'll be a smash hit when he and several other famous Detroit ex-pat pals open a 24-hour coney restaurant late next month in the heart of Hollywood's nightclub district.

The 65-seat Coney Dog will serve natural-casing hot dogs and spicy chili inspired by Lafayette Coney Island, along with Faygo pop, Better Made chips, Stroh's beer and several Detroit-area microbrews, said Binder, a Birmingham native.

"We're doing it right," he added. Joining him in the project as investors, he said, are comedian Tim Allen, "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi, comedian Adam Sandler, Red Wings center Kris Draper and former University of Michigan football player Braylon Edwards, now with the New York Jets. All but Sandler have Detroit roots.

News of the project has created a frenzy on the restaurant's Facebook page, where more than 3,000 former Detroiters in the Los Angeles area and beyond have logged on to plead for a quick opening.

"As soon as I got out here, I said, 'If anyone ever put a coney island on Sunset Boulevard, it would be huge,' " said Binder, who came to Hollywood 25 years ago as an aspiring comic. "And as the years went on ... I had so many other Detroit friends say the same thing."

To get them all a coney fix -- and introduce other people in the entertainment world to Detroit's most famous delicacy -- Binder has had coneys and chili shipped to his home once a year for a huge, all-day hot dog party in his backyard. As many as 400 people would show up, "and they'd all just love it," Binder said.

Then one day, he said, he was driving down Sunset Boulevard and saw the perfect location for Hollywood's first coney restaurant: a new building going up at the corner of Sunset and Clark in West Hollywood, next door to Whisky a Go Go, across the street from the Viper Room and two doors from the Roxy -- "in the middle of all the big rock 'n' roll nightclubs."

Binder is planning a grand opening for a Saturday at the end of May or early June, with a guest list that will include scores of entertainers who have had coneys in his backyard or at Lafayette, when they've come to Detroit for film projects.

"I've turned so many people on to coney islands -- Tom Cruise, Owen Wilson, Will Smith" and many others, he said. "Kevin Costner came to one of our hot dog parties and called the next day and said, 'Where can I get those hot dogs?' "

Read Entire Article