Coney I-Lander - Tulsa, OK

Posted By Michael Stern on July 12, 2008 11:05 PM

In 1926, Christ Economou came to Tulsa, Oklahoma from Texas, where he had run a few hot dog restaurants, and opened the city's first Coney I-Lander. There are now a handful of these cheap chili-dog restaurants in Tulsa and environs, all based on the formula of a small hot dog in a steamed bun topped with mustard, raw onions, and no-bean chili. Shredded cheese is a popular option; and some folks get theirs with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

The chili is vividly spiced but not tongue-tingling hot, and it is nothing like the stuff you would spoon up from a bowl as a meal. It is more a spicy beef paste, eminently suited as a dressing for a snappy little weenie or as a topping for a plate of tamales. A Coney I-Lander Coney is a two or three bite affair. Three or four are a modest meal in the single-digit price range; big eaters think nothing of having a half-dozen for lunch.

Ambience is drive-in, fast-food plain. Service is virtually instantaneous.

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Posted By Greg Larkin on October 21, 2011 5:41 PM

I've been eating here since I was a little tyke (about 49 years). Delicious; best coneys on earth. Dad let me eat as many as I wanted, when I was about seven, for my birthday; I ate 12. And I'm not even a porker. I love 'em!

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Coney Island Hot Dog

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Posted By Jay S. on August 16, 2011 2:56 PM

Stopped by for a quick hot dog. I asked how big they are and she said, "You can easily eat two or three" after looking at me up and down! Gotta admit they were good. She recommended the works: onions, cheese, and chili. I don't normally like hot dogs but these sure tasted good. Don't mind if I will have a few more next time I'm at this local historical restaurant.

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Posted By Shannon McRee on July 21, 2011 2:26 PM

It was my first visit to the restaurant on Admiral, and I had expected to find the style, flavor, and quality that had made me a long-time customer of James Coney Islanders in Houston. Sadly, however, this expectation was soon crushed.

The food was bland, the dog mediocre, and the chili sauce sadly underwhelming. I have many friends here in Tulsa that dearly love the chain. Because of them, I have gone to several locations over the last 10 years, but I've not found anything to change my mind.

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Posted By Gary Scott on January 4, 2008 9:43 PM

The atmosphere at Coney I-Lander is odd but comfortable, and that's part of the charm of the place. How many places offer not only cayenne pepper to sprinkle on your dogs, but also pepper sauce? Never having tried that combination, I was cautious, but now I'm sold.

But the real beauty to someone who appreciates restaurants and style is in the preparation of the food. Master garnishers are at work preparing coneys the way that only someone highly skilled at their craft can do. How much skill is involved in making a coney, you ask? That skill can be appreciated when you realize that they cover the entire coney smoothly with chili with a single fluid motion of their ladle, a single motion for the coating of cheese, and onions, if desired. Not a movement is wasted and their output is nothing short of phenomenal. I sat and watched in amazement as coney after coney was made without missing a beat. This is true craftsmanship in motion, of the kind that was common in the 50's, but is often unknown today.

The flavor of the hotdogs and the chili are perhaps a little above average, but the show is phenomenal!

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