Hot Dog Mini Meet - Thurs June 8th - NY

Hello all ,

Its that time of the year again for a mini meet . Anyone interested in NY or NJ area for a mid week meet between June 5th and 9th .

We can also discuss plans for our Fall Hot Dog Tour that has been relegated to the Miscelaaneous - Food Related section .

Benzee

I will be traveling I84 from Hartford to Scranton on either 6/7, or 6/8 or 6/9. I can be flexible on the dates if the mini meet is somewhere in that area.

Walt

Is the meet going to be in Ny or NJ

I've been thinking about going to the joint in Middletowm NY for an excellent chili dog - how about around noon on the 7th or 8th ?

cheers, John

The place in Middletown is what I was thinking of.

I think that this is the info on the place

Johnny D's Coney Island Hotdog
(next to Middletown Shortline Bus Station)
10 Railroad Ave
Middletown, New York 10940
845-344-FOOD

http://www.johnnyds.net/

6/7 or 6/8 at noon works for me.

Why the Hell has this ACTIVE TOPIC been relegated to the search function?
We are trying to get a few Roadfooders together to share some hot dogs next week - why do the authorities do all they can to make our little project more difficult?

Cheers, John

Happy to see it is back .

Cheers, John

Hello John and all ,

Thanks John for getting this back where it belongs for another week at least until after our mini meet.

Thurs the 8th works good for me also .
Lets say high noon at Coney Island Restaurant ,or as its called now Johnny D s hot dog .

I will be bringing Mrs Benzee and Joey also .
Same location as last years mini meet we had with Seafarer John , Brooklyn Bill their wives and Coney Island Lou .

Walt and John , hope you can join us also

Benzee

Thursday the 8th at 12 noon is fine for me- I'll try to recruit Brooklyn Bill, but he may be off on a trip in his trailer.

Cheers, John

count me in!!!! Benzee, get a count so if we need more than 5 or 6 places I can have them hold the back table for us! I will say the sauce went thru a slight slump for some reason this winter, but has recoverd nicely,thank you...

and its still 'Coney Island'...it just doesnt have a separate website...no WAY I am calling myself

"Johnny D's hot dog Lou"

I will be there, on the 8th and I’ll bring Mrs. BrooklynBill. Roadfood started for me last year about this same time and in the same place. So, BRING ON THE DOGS!!

Bill

Count me in

Walt Powers

I guess if we dont post on this thread every hour on the hour it is relegated to the search area by the powers that be.

Anyhow, it loks like we have about 8 people for our chili dog hour at Coney Island in middletown, NY.

cheers, John

What are the correct directions and the name on the place?

Hello all ,

Coney Island Lou can give you all the details , but if I'm correct the place is still called Coney Island Restaurant . Johnny D 's a chain of diners in the area has bought it , do not know if the outside was changed .

Hey Lou reserve the back table for us for the 8th , we are looking at 8 to 10 so far .

Benzee

Put me down as attending.

How will I know you guys? Or is a group of Roadfoodies eating hot dogs self apparent?

Hello Avakar ,

The place really is not that big . We had a mini meet last year same place , same week and I believe CI Lou posted a few photos of the event under another Hot Dog post .

As you walk in go to the right , we should have a long table set up against the back wall . I will probably have on one of my Hawaian shirts , navy blue with white background .

If all else fails look for the big guys schmoozing about dogs .

If that does not work , just walk in and say " Hey is this Rutts Hutt??"
We will know its you .

That brings us up to nine , any more takers feel free to join us .

Benzee

Thanks Benzee.

I will probably have my roadfood.com hat on.

Hello all,

For pictures from last years mini meet , do a search for

Hot Dog Mini Meet 06/08/05 .

There are a few photos of the Coney Dogs

and

Seafarer John
Brooklyn Bill
Coney Island Lou
Benzee

in front of the restaurant .

I did not want to bring the old post back up to the front page , so just check out the photos if you can and you will know who to look for .

So far attending
Seafarer John and wife Gail
Mr and Mrs Brooklyn Bill
Coney Island Lou
Benzee , Mrs Benzee and Joey Benzee
Avakar
Walt Powers

Any more just let us know

Benzee

Just a reminder for those interested...

High Noon today

Coney Island Restaurant

Middletown NY

Hey Lou ,

Getting prepared as we speak , see you all soon.

Any last minute folks interested in joining us feel free.

Benzee

It was nice meeting all you fellow Roadfoodies. I am looking forward to seeing all of you again soon - no later than the September Hot Dog Tour.

I will be posting the pictures and the restaurant review as soon after Benzee sends me his pictures as I possibly can.

Lou - What is the name of the lady who runs the restaurent?

Also, some of you expressed an interest in the thread that I wrote about my recent trip to Texas to sample barbecue. Here is the link: http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13065

Hello all ,

Quick mini trip report from Coney Island Restaurant from today .
We all gathered at High Noon in the City of Middletown , a few blocks from Coney Island Lous home .
Roll Call looked like this , Coney Island Lou , Walt, Seafarer John and Gail , Mr. and Mrs Brooklyn Bill , Akavar , myself , Mrs Benzee and toddler Joey Benzee.
The ten of us all decided to enjoy Coney Dogs . Lous recomendation , as usual when it comes to dogs , was right on . The special was two coney dogs , fries and a drink . Most went with the special , a few stuck to only the dogs .
There was a slight drizzle outside and the dining room was about three fifths full for the lunch time rush . They seem to do a good take out business and in fact the register seemed to have a few in line at all times .
Shortline terminal is next door , so you have a lot of bus travelers waiting and transferring to other buses .
We met the manager , Lou got her name , she is a doll and even came outside to take a picture with our group and then took one so Mrs Benzee , who took the first picture could be in one .
Could not ask a stranger to take one as it was still drizzling .
As for the dogs , Coney Dogs are great here , nice taste . No complaints when I visit here .
Waitress was right on , coming back twice after our order was delivered to ask if we needed anything else.
Cooks in kitchen seemed to enjoy me taking a picture of their culinary dish , a nice smile , and I thanked them on our way out .
Brooklyn Bill as always a pleasure to talk to ,the traveler that he is , we discussed future tours . Akavar and Walt , the two newcomers were a pleasure . Walt was down the other end of the table with CI Lou , so they had some stirring discussions I'm sure . Wish I could've talked more with him . Akavar was a pleasure and it was interesting hearing his recent southern trip and barbecue visits . Another interesting note is that , the screen name is his first name , had to ask where he came up with it . Seafarer John , our elder statesman was a pleasure to talk to as always and talk hotdogs , and his trips with other roadfooders .

I will be emailing Akavar all the photos tommorrow I hope , so he can post them on this topic .

We were all looking at Sept 16th , a sat , for the next tour in Jersey . If not we will have to go with the 30th or into Oct. Dates tentative on John Foxs availability .

We will be reserving a motorcoach and school bus , depending on how many we sign up will decide which bus we can use . We can cancel either one up to a week before event .

Consensus was to keep Mannys on the list , plus and minuses for the others , except a resounding plus for Syds..
Manny treated us like celebrities , greeted us at the door , introduced us to his family , discussed his dogs and we all think a return is needed .

Thats all for now .
Great Food , Great Atmosphere with Great people .. Friends New and Known

Love and Mercy

Benzee

The manager's name is Jamie - yes she is a real doll!

a quick history of Middletown's Coney Island:

Started in 1924,for almost 70 years it was your typical Greek hot dog joint: storefront location with the dog griddle for takeout right in the front window, it was located almost right next to Middletown's city hall/police station, making it a natural meet and eat place for all of town. For many years, Coney Island was a soothing comfort in a town that was experiencing many of the changes small American towns were going through in the 70s,80s and 90s. Then the unthinkable happened : in 1991 CI was destroyed in a massive fire which one of the worst in Middletown's history. The next few days were something as Middletowners flocked to look at the ruins..and to smell which undoubtably were some of the most aromantic fire ruins ever, as the fire had heated wooden beams which had almost 70 years CI chili sauce curing! The current owner of the time vowed to reopen. The ownership had passed through a generation to the daughter-in-law of one of the original owners.After having found the new location, she reopened to the great relief of Middletown. The current location had been started as an add on to the bus station by the people who had the Shortline ticket agency/terminal. It was an actually pretty good establishment, but it unfortunately had to close because of 'problems', i.e., a divorce... After reopening th eplce, the woman who owned it wanted to retire...btu she knew CI was imprtant to the town. So she first sold it to ne management, selling them the premixed spices for the sauce. hese people turned out to be less than stellar, and the place started to go down. Fortunately, they ended up selling out to a family who already owned a couple of diners in the area. They have since put good management in the place, and it is back up to snuff!

The sauce itself is a great, and as John Fox commented, BALANCED one. It seems to have just the perfect combination of fairly hot spicing (cayenne perhaps), and the cinnamon/nutmeg flavoring Greeks like so much. I loves in the summer to buy small tubs of it to take home, warm up on the grill,and use on burgers and dogs at home! It goes REAL nice with bbq sauce on burgers and dogs as well as the mustard and onions that come as standard on a CI dog.


The dog,as has been mentioned, is a pork/beef one. Historically it has come from a packer in Albany called Thobin's 1st Prize..although yesteday I saw boxes unloaded with a local outfit called Temple Hill...a cause for investigation!

Also as said, it was great meeting Akvar and Walt, and great to see the Orange/Ulster chapter of Hot Dog Nation all there!

Sounds like everyone had fun and ate good.. Another spring tour has come and passed..

Good to hear that everyone had a great time. Wish I was there! As for the next Jersey Tour, Sept. 16th is fine. So is the 30th. Let me know when, and I'll put in for the day off.

I had a great time at the Coney Island. It shows that you can meet nice people on the internet; unlike the ugly news stories.

The dogs were so tasty that I stopped again today on my way back from PA.

Walt

My vote is for Sept. 16th.

Hello all ,

I just emailed Akavar the photos from the mini meet . He will be putting them on here soon.

Our plan was to go with the 16th of Sept if John could make it and use the 30th as a backup.

So it looks like the 16th of Sept it is . I will reserve the busses on Monday . We are looking at between $20 and 30 per person for the bus and will top off at 40 seats. More to follow on this .


Great to hear Walt returned for a second helping of Coney Dogs , Lou really is correct when he told me they can be addicting .

Jamie the manager , what a doll . I have stopped in occasionally when passing through the area and she always has a smile on her face.
Thanks Jamie for making our visit a pleasurable one !!!!!!!!!


Great history of the establishment Lou !!

Hey Signman looking forward to Crabfest III

Benzee

It was another fun dog downing high noon mini-meet. The movers and shakers, Benzee and CI–Lou, saw that all was ready. The chilidogs were as good as ever and the fries seemed even better. It was great to catch up with old Roadfood friends and to meet Akavar and Waltpiii.
September 16th is now on our calendar.
This meet marked the exact one-year anniversary of my active participation in Roadfood.com. AND – it started in the same place.

Bill