Not only is Galesburg’s Coney Island the oldest restaurant in town, it also is a staple of the community. It’s the kind of place that current residents take visitors and one that former residents seek out during return visits. They come for a variety of reasons.
For many, it’s a delicious serving of nostalgia, bringing a flood of memories. For others, it’s a step back in time, where the smells, ambiance and decor are familiar. Stepping into Coney Island, guests see a restaurant unchanged by decades.
The flattop grill is still in the window, and the original 40-foot bar runs the shop’s length. Vintage decorations, from advertisements for bygone soda brands to old sports images, dot the walls. There’s even an antique children’s pedal car on display. It, of course, is a Wienermobile.
For all patrons, however, the coney dogs bring them back time and time again. Much of the iconic taste comes from the coney sauce, the recipe for which is a closely held secret. It’s the same recipe that’s been used since brothers Paul and George Nickopolous started the restaurant in 1921. In fact, when owner Jesus Valdez purchased Coney Island in 2004, he got more than the keys to a building and restaurant equipment.
“When I bought the place, I got a really fragile piece of paper with the recipe on it,” Valdez says. “Every previous owner has signed it, and it’s been passed on from one owner to the next.”
Valdez says it is a unique recipe that defies decoding. “Over the years, I’ve spent nights on the computer searching coney sauce recipes, and I’ve read hundreds and thousands of different ones, but none of them match ours. Plus, I have people who come in saying they’ve figured it out, but they haven’t.”
While the amateur dog detectives may not have the formula, they will have the coney dogs: a pork hot dog in a steamed bun, topped with brown mustard, the elusive beef sauce and freshly chopped onions.
Valdez realizes that coney dogs might not be for everyone, so there are more than a dozen other choices, too. There are regular hot dogs, taco dogs, polish sausage and barbecue dogs, just to name a few. There are also several side dishes.
All told, Coney Island sells thousands of hot dogs every day — to tourists, students from nearby Knox College and generations of regulars.
“We have people who are in their 80s and 90s and still come in here and get a coney dog, down to [teenagers] who come in here after school,” Valdez explains. “We also have doctors, lawyers, tradespeople, all sorts of customers who come in every day.”
Many feel a sense of ownership of Coney Island, so much so that they enter the restaurant’s back entrance. Valdez says this sense of belonging has been a key factor in Coney Island’s longevity.
“It’s that hometown feeling,” he says. “It’s the community. People come in through our back door and walk through the kitchen. They say it’s like walking through their grandma’s kitchen. It’s home, and it’s comfortable. They bring their kids, and then they bring their kids. It passes from generation to generation.”
Coney Island
