Have you heard the ones about brisket chili coneys in Crown Heights?

The target of Detroit social media quips is a food stand launched Thursday at a trendy Brooklyn beer hall (wait, is that redundant?) by Huntington Woods natives Eli and Max Sussman. (An earlier post below has details.)


New menu at a Brooklyn beer hall.

Their "Detroit-style coney," priced at $7.50 with brisket chili and onions, or $5 plain, is an irresistible invitation for mirth. The fact that it and cheeseburgers have "organic, grass-fed, hormone[-free] and antibiotic-free meat products" is a bonus.

Here's a taste, or six-on-one with everything:

► I actually predicted this would happen -- but here in Detroit, not there. Why didn't one of you local hipstepreneurs think of this first? This would've been perfect next to wherever that $167 T-shirt factory opens up shop. -- Aaron Foley, author, journalist and copywriter (from two posts)

► Dissertation: Hot Dog Prices As Accurate Economic Indicators. -- Brian Abrozy, Midtown company online community manager

► Perfect with a side of gentrifries. -- Matt Eaton, partner at Library Street Collective art gallery 

► Well at least I don't have to explain a Detroit "Coney" to someone from New York anymore. -- Dave Frazee, Ann Arbor architectural designer 

► Says all you need to know about Brooklyn! -- Karl Weclas, Detroit literary blogger 

► The Sussmans should call [brisket coneys] West Bloomfield-style. -- Jake Carney, Detroit artist


This "Detroit-style" item also is $7.50.

In a more serious vein, entertainment website partner Ben Bator posts: "Detroit commenting on how expensive things are in Brooklyn is just as bad as Brooklyn commenting on how cheap things are in Detroit." Local adman Toby Barlow adds Saturday: "I see we're moving on from going after entrepreneurs in Detroit to going after entrepreneurs in other cities too. Got it. Detroit Hates Harder. That should be our tee." 

Well, yeah -- but don't step on our coney cracks, guys.

Original article, Friday afternoon:

Here's a fresh sign that a Brooklyn-Detroit connection goes both ways: Two chefs from Huntington Woods just opened a coney island stand in a popular Crown Heights beer hall that has three other food stands.

In addition to the iconic dogs, they offer Vernors, McClure's pickles and Better Made chips.

Call it geographic justice, a boomerang effect or bragging rights. 

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Max and Eli Sussman, raised in Huntington Woods, are cookbook authors and New York culinary stars.

"We want to let all you Detroiters and New Yorkers know that yesterday we launched Ed and Bev's Detroit Style Coney Island inside Berg'n," brothers Eli and Max Sussman post Friday on Instagram. It's next to a shawarma stand they opened earlier.

Ed and Bev's is based on our love for the Detroit "coney island," which is a Greek-style diner specializing in coney dogs (hot dog with chili, white onions and mustard), Greek salad, saganaki (flaming cheese) and other Detroit delicacies. . . .

We're . . . bringing in cool things from Detroit. We'll be serving Vernors, McClures, Better Made Potato Chips and a bunch of other rotating small-batch Detroit products. If you know a great Detroit product we should carry, let us know!

We just opened yesterday so we're still tweaking, but expect a Sanders Ice Cream dessert, perhaps a Faygo flavor here and there and maybe even some Mackinac Island fudge down the line??

Although menu items evoke the D, prices are pure Brooklyn.

A plain dog is $5, a coney dog (with brisket chili) is $7.50, fries topped with chili and onions also are $7.50, and a serving of Vernors is $2.50. (Reality check: Lafayette Coney Island gets $2.35 per coney.)


A narrow slice of saganaki and a half-dozen bread slices go for ten bucks.

Another sign of Brooklynification: "We are using organic, grass-fed, hormone[-free] and antibiotic-free meat products."

The metro Detroiters also offer a thin wedge of saganaki and six bread slices for $10.

The Sussmans, who're having a high-profile week, are the focus of a New York Times video and a style magazine article about their recent Detroit visit. A Zagat item Friday calls them "unofficial Motor City posterboys" 

In Friday's announcement, the food entrepreneurs explain their new site's name:

The restaurant is named after our incredible Papa Edward and our endlessly loving and caring Nana Beverly.

They loved incredibly together and today is our Nana's birthday. So we were able to call her on her birthday and share with her the news that we just opened up our second restaurant and named it after them.

Hat tip to Brian Ambrozy of Detroit for inspiring this post with his tweet:


This popular beer hall in Crown Heights gains a Detroit-style food stand as its fourth pop-up.