DETROIT (WXYZ) — The idea for this story began when a curious viewer sent an email to our newsroom wanting to know how many Coney Dogs Lafayette Coney Island sold during the NFL Draft in Detroit.
We found out then posted the answer to Facebook. The response led us to reach out to more iconic Detroit eateries to find out how they fared as well.
When we stopped by Lafayette on Monday, it was back to business as usual. They spent three nonstop days whipping up orders for Detroiters and visitors during the NFL Draft.
“Three days of the draft, we sell 10,000 hot dogs,” said Lafayette Coney Island co-owner Addeja Buodic.
The 10,000 hot dogs is not even counting the orders of loose burgers, beers and chili cheese fries also sold over the three days.
Buodic says he's been a co-owner of Lafayette for 42 years. He says the draft weekend was the best weekend he's ever seen for business, beating the 2006 Super Bowl.
"It mean lot," Buodic said. "We need more. This is good for Detroit. It's good for everybody, businesses around here.”
That also includes their rival next door — another iconic Detroit establishment — American Coney Island.
"This weekend was amazing," said Jhazeel Alsyadi, an employee with American Coney Island. "Wish we could have it more often.”
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Alsyadi said for 17 straight hours each day of the draft, there was never a slow moment. The biggest seller, of course, was their famous Coney Dogs, but he didn't know exactly how many were sold.
“I try to count by trays. Each tray fits about 400 hot dogs. I couldn't even keep up with how many trays we went through," Alsyadi said. "I gave up the second day and I'm like, I'm not even trying. There was no way."
After visiting the two coneys, we checked with another Detroit icon that counts by the slice: Buddy's Pizza.
"We sold 16,000 slices of pizza,” said Nicholas Rye, general manager of Buddy's Pizza downtown. "Good ole square, Detroit-style."
That's 16,000 slices of Buddy’s Detroit-style pizza at just the downtown location alone, which is more than double the amount sold on a typical weekend. Rye noted they had lots of visitors come into the restaurant from all over the country and the world.
“There's places all over the country popping up doing what we do best," Rye said of Detroit-style pizza popularity. "People come into town, they want to be able to get the original.”
After a record-setting weekend, these business owners say there's no debating that Detroit is now on the map. However, there's still another debate that's far from over. We asked both Coney Islands what they heard from visitors who compared the two.
“A lot of people love this place better," Alsyadi said of American Coney Island. "They like the vibe in here.”
“They say Lafayette is number one,” Buodic said.
