100-year-old hot dog company is slated to open in 5 North Texas cities this year

Tulsa transplants, rejoice! Coney Island Hot Weiner Shop, a hot dog heaven in Oklahoma for over 90 years, is opening locations in North Texas.

People magazine recently named it the best hot dog in Oklahoma.

Coney Island's first Texas location is expected to open in Rockwall on Feb. 9. [Editor's note on Jan. 16, 2019: The first location was expected to open in fall 2018 and this story has been updated now that we have the later date, Feb. 9, confirmed.] 

A second Coney Island Hot Weiner Shop is planned in Allen in April 2019, says David Rutkauskas, managing partner of DCR Management, which is helping to franchise Coney Island.

Expect shops in Grand Prairie, Irving and Arlington later in 2019.

Over the years, countless coney joints have sported similar names. And while some of them might serve chopped onions and finely shredded cheese atop a beef and pork frank, none of them have that top-secret chili recipe from 1926. That's what makes Coney Island Hot Weiner Shop the first restaurant stop for many people who visit Tulsa.

Owner Vicki Economou's grandfather-in-law, Greek immigrant Christ Economou, was the founder of Coney Island Hot Weiner Shop. He opened the first on Ellis Island in 1919.

"He followed the railroad tracks down the East Coast and opened 26 locations," Economou explains. "He would open them, get them up and running, and sell them to another Greek immigrant so they could bring their families."

He stopped with location No. 27 in Tulsa back in 1926, and his family has operated Coney Island Hot Weiner Shop with his recipes ever since.

Owner Vicki Economou finally decided to franchise the business in 2018, but she insists that the new locations will have the same standards as the original.

"They lose their franchise if it's not done the same way," Economou says. "It's in the franchise agreement. We don't cut corners."

That means you can expect these popular orders at Coney Island: a hot dog in a bun topped with chili, cheese and onions known as a coney; a Frito-pie with chili, cheese and corn chips; and "three-way" chili with cheese on top of spaghetti. The new locations will use the same cheese, shredded finely and, of course, that chili, with a recipe that's literally kept in a safety deposit box.

"My chili never hits the freezer," Economou says. "We make it fresh everyday."

Like the original location in Tulsa, the 1,800 square foot building at 615 White Hills Drive in Rockwall will have those old wooden school desks and photos from the 1930s in the dining room. The new shop will also have a drive-thru.

The Allen shop will be opening at 107-A North Greenville Ave. Details are still coming for the shops in Grand Prairie, Irving and Arlington.

Do you live in the Dallas suburbs? Check out guidelive.com/the-burbs.

Correction, 2:10 p.m. June 4, 2018: A previous version of this story said the Tulsa restaurant was the company's 26th. It is, in fact, the 27th store.