American & Lafayette Coney Island

Two narrow diners, side by side downtown, locked in Detroit’s most delicious feud. American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island sit shoulder to shoulder on West Lafayette, both founded by the Keros brothers — Greek immigrants from a tiny mountain village who came to feed autoworkers — and they’ve been rivals ever since a falling-out split the family.

The dog is pure Detroit: a natural-casing beef frank from Dearborn Sausage, a steamed bun, a beef-heart-based chili sauce, yellow mustard, diced raw onion. (Ketchup is heresy.) Honest history note: the famous founding dates are murky — American claims 1917, Lafayette claims 1914 — but city directories suggest the brothers actually opened together in the early 1920s before splitting, so take the “since 1917” signage with a grain of (well-seasoned) salt. The only way to settle it is to eat one at each, back to back, and pick a side. Everybody does.