IsItEDible in Detroit Again (sort of)

OK. So technically I am currently in Dearborn (which is located just outside of Detroit) for an Alliance for Nonprofit Management Conference. Being carless (that's CARless not CAREless), I didn't have much of an opportunity to explore the good eats in Dearborn.

Until tonight that is. Luckily, I met up with my colleague Naomi whom I've had the pleasure of speaking and emailing with for the past 2 years but had never met face-to-face. She mentioned that one of the things she likes to when she travels is to ask the locals where they like to eat (a la Rachel Ray). One of the local conference participants explained to her that chili cheese fries are one of the "can't miss" dishes when tourists come to Detroit.

So while other conference participants were gathering for fancy dinners in trendy restaurants (not that there's anything wrong with that), Naomi, her friend/colleague Gordon, and I headed out in Naomi's rental car in search of a certain "El George's" restaurant for a sampling of Detroit-style chili cheese fries. I secretly thought to myself why would a Mexican restaurant have chili cheese fries on the menu. I also secretly thought to myself why is the name of said Mexican restaurant "El George's" instead of "El Jorge's." Things that make you go hmmm....

Nevertheless, we embarked upon our quest with Naomi's trust GPS in hand. Unfortunately, "El George's" didn't come up on the GPS, but we had also been told to head to the intersection of Evergreen and Joy. Upon arriving at said intersection, we discovered that "El George's" was in fact "L. George's" and only the drive through was open.

Luckily, Gordon is a brazen man and walked up to a nice local in the drive through lane. She pointed us to another L. George's location a few miles away and suggested that we try their Coney Island hot dog. According to her the hot dog is so good because "it has a certain snap." Thank you random, nice, local lady. You were so right!

L. George's Coney Island Restaurant
7335 Middlebelt
Westland, MI 48185
(734) 421-7500

The special snap in L. George's Coney Island hot dogs is due to the fact that they "serve only Michigan's finest natural casing hot dogs." You have several choices for hot dogs including: the plain hot dog ($1.25); the Coney Island Hot Dog ($1.70) with hearty chili, mustard, and onions; and the Coney Special ($2.65) which is a hot dog topped with ground beef, chili, mustard, and onions. Feeling like delving into the sin of gluttony, I ordered the Special with cheese (an extra 30 cents), Naomi had the Coney Island Hot Dog, and Gordon had the Coney Island Hot Dog with cheese. We all agreed that the hot dogs indeed did have a "certain snap."

Sinking further into our gluttony, we also ordered the fried mushrooms ($3.65), the onion rings ($2.40), and the holy grail of our quest...the chili cheese fries ($2.95). The fried mushrooms were round-shaped, almost like hushpuppies and were quite satisfying with a side of ranch dressing. And the chili cheese fries were quite good; a nice balance of crispy french fries topped with ooey-gooey chili cheese mess. My suggestion is that one eats the chili cheese fries first as the fries will get soggy if you wait too long and the chili cheese doesn't look quite as appetizing after it cools and congeals.

Rounding out our menu for the evening was a small Greek salad ($4.75) and a chocolate shake ($3.05) which was so thick you could stand a spoon in it.

After our meal, we headed across to street to partake of another suggested local favorite beverage, Red Faygo ($.49 cents plus CRV for a 20 oz bottle). Red Faygo tasted a lot like the Red Fanta I used to drink as a kid on my trips to Thailand. And what a bargain!

All in all it was a wonderful way to round out my conference experience. Good greasy food + good company = GOOD TIMES!

Ed's Note: I hope to have the opportunity to come back to Detroit/Dearborn soon. For those of you who live in Detroit/Dearborn or have visited, what are some of your favorite places to eat?