{"id":1273,"date":"2024-07-01T22:36:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T03:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fatguyapproved-vgfvcengsr.live-website.com\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2024-07-08T21:10:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T02:10:32","slug":"coney-island-of-erie-erie-pa-reviewer-scott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fatguyapproved.net\/?p=1273","title":{"rendered":"Coney Island of Erie – Erie, PA Reviewer: Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As anyone from the Erie area knows Greek food here means something different.  Forget about your spanakopita, souvlaki, moussaka, salads and lamb dishes.  In Erie a Greek restaurant means they have Greek sauce and they will put it on just about anything \u2013 hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, even sometimes an omelet (which is great, by the way).  You will hear out of towners just call this \u2018coney sauce\u2019 or \u2018hot dog sauce\u2019 but usually not \u2018chili\u2019 which is different enough to be its own thing entirely (and is inferior to a good Greek sauce in these application).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will occasionally find an Erie Greek place that has a good gyro, such as New York Lunch on Peninsula Drive, but that is far less common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coney Island of Erie is in the building formerly occupied by Erie Donut Factory though it was not there long enough for many to remember it.  Oddly Coney Island of Erie had the sign up on the front for many months before opening \u2013 not sure of the story there but when I would go past I would look for something to indicate an opening date.  Recently as I drove by I found that they had opened so I stopped in for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Website and location info:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/coneyislandoferie.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5001 Peach St, Erie, PA 16509 in the Summit Plaza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand they had been open for about a month by the time of this writing (Late June 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A picture I took of the menu board:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Menu Board – June 30th 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For my first trip I did a burger and dog.  Went for a single hamburger with Greek sauce added.  The \u2018Greek Dog\u2019 on the menu had ketchup on it so I went for the Coney Dog which I noticed only afterward said it had chili (not Greek sauce) along with mustard and onions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coney Dog<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I tasted was the yellow mustard \u2013 there was at least twice as much on there as there should have been and it overpowered the sauce (which was not very strong to start with).  The hot dog itself was a Smith\u2019s skinless.  From the small amount of searing in only a couple faint lines it had not spent nearly enough time on the flat top.  It was not cooked long enough to plump properly and reveal the full flavor of the dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coney dog – Greek food is not known to be the most photogenic!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burger with Greek sauce<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patty was reasonably thick and fit the bun okay but was not seasoned at all and dry\/flavorless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point I am not even sure what I got on the dog and burger were actually Greek sauce.  Maybe it was their chili?  This has never been an issue before because no place with Greek sauce also has chili so they cannot possibly be confused or unwittingly substituted for one another.  Unfortunately, this means I have to go back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Burger with Greek sauce (actually chili! bamboozled!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The sauce itself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could taste no difference between the sauce on the burger and dog.  It was overly sweet and tomatoey.  Completely lacking in any spice flavor except cumin.  Dull and disappointing.  Thinking about it afterward the best way I can describe it was it tasted like a mediocre sloppy joe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say this as someone who has sampled (I think) nearly every Greek sauce in Erie and I also make my own recipe for it.\u00a0 Yes, I have had plenty of Pulos from the jar over the years as well, but never really loved it.\u00a0 Every single other Greek sauce I have had (from restaurants \u2013 even an Italian restaurant, Greek fest and any hole in the wall place that had it) was miles better than this sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sauce score: 2\/10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow up visit:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the name of science and journalistic integrity I revisited Coney Island of Erie about a week later. My brother was in town for a visit and I took him with me.  Chris cooked professionally for a time and has maintained a love of food AND criticism ever since.  He has traveled pretty extensively and lived all over the US \u2013 so I figured he would be a good \u2018second set of eyes\u2019 on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time I asked the worker at the counter \u2018you have chili and Greek sauce, what is the difference between the two?\u2019.  She did not have a good answer as she did not seem to know the difference herself.  I made sure that I was getting Greek sauce on my hot dog this time (otherwise plain with no other toppings) and my fries along with cheese sauce.  Chris ordered a burger with lettuce and pickles, a coney dog, and plain fries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First the fries.  They were fresh cut which is far less common for any restaurant.  Sadly, they were undercooked by at least a couple minutes \u2013 leaving them tasting like raw potato.  My fries were helped some by the \u2018greek sauce\u2019 and the cheese and but not by much.  I did not end up finishing them; even the magic of orange grease has its limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2nd visit – hot dog and fries with Greek sauce (actually Greek sauce this time)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chris found his burger to be dry and lacking in seasoning, as I had with mine.  It had a good sear on both sides but there is nothing else good to say about it. He was very underwhelmed, rightfully so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of our hot dogs had spent more time on the flat top than before, which was good.  This resulted in some nice browning on a good portion of the outside \u2013 see picture above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek Sauce<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sauce I got this time around was definitely a bit darker in color (less red) than before and was not sweet or overly tomatoey.\u00a0 So, I am assuming I had the chili before.\u00a0 Texture-wise maybe a slight difference. Still very much lacking the spice and flavor you expect in a Greek sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sauce score: 3\/10 – only a small improvement over the ‘chili’ from last time. Mostly because it lacked sweetness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chances are no matter where you live in the Erie area there is better Greek food close to you – unless you live right behind the Summit Plaza where Coney Island of Erie is located.  Go to one of those other places.  For that matter even go to Country Fair instead where they now sell Greek dogs (Smith\u2019s) with New York Lunch Greek sauce.  I did not see this on their website at this time but signs advertise it out front.  There is a Country Fair right across the street from Summit Plaza, in fact, that advertises this.  I went there and they were out of hot dogs.  Visited another location right after. You are never more than 5-10 minutes from a Country Fair within the greater Erie area.  I found those dogs to be a vast<\/strong> improvement over the food I experienced at Coney Island of Erie.  I have no plans to return there in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Note:  to my knowledge Coney Island of Erie is not<\/strong> associated with the Coney Island in Wesleyville.  As a former Harbor Creek resident that was my go-to spot for many years and I have always found their food to be good \u2013 certainly far better than what is described above.  See, as a Greek restaurant they made it a point to actually have a good Greek sauce \u2013 which is kind of the linchpin to the whole thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the subject of the Country Fair Greek dogs I was pleasantly surprised.  The Smith\u2019s skinless dogs were nice and plump.  The sauce was flavorful with a very fine texture and a bit of heat – exactly what you want. They do touch screen ordering at a good number of the CoFair locations now \u2013 just be aware if you want to add the Greek Sauce it is on the very last page of the ordering options.  You can even get the bun toasted if you are feeling like an Aristocrat.  At the time of this writing they were 2 for $4.50 \u2013 so quite a bargain.  I don\u2019t know if the sauce recipe was from the NY Lunch on East Ave or Parade \u2013 I have not been to either in some time but the Parade location is considered \u2018the original\u2019.  The sauce tasted different enough that I know it was not the Peninsula Drive location recipe which I have eaten at the most. Photographic evidence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A generous helping of Greek sauce on two nicely cooked dogs. Even the buns were above average and held together throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sauce score: 9\/10 for the Country Fair \/ New York Lunch sauce<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Well, another review done. I hope my next one will be more positive but hopefully I have educated, entertained, and helped our readers – or at least helped them avoid a bad meal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As anyone from the Erie area knows Greek food here means something different.  Forget about your spanakopita, souvlaki, moussaka, salads and lamb dishes.  In Erie a Greek restaurant means they have Greek sauce and they will put it on just about anything \u2013 hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, even sometimes an omelet (which is great,… <\/p>\n

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