California's Coney Dogs Have Shelby Township Flavor

As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Or in this case, the hot dog doesn’t fall far from the bun.

Except when it’s all the way out in West Hollywood, CA.

Nick Vlassopoulos, a Shelby Township native and the son of Phil Vlassopoulos, who owns the Apollo Coney Island in Sterling Heights, has brought a little Metro Detroit to the hills of Los Angeles. The Coney Dog on Sunset Boulevard has been serving up hot dogs, chili and Faygo, Coney-style, since its June 19 opening.

“It’s been a fun experience and we’re hoping (the restaurant) just continues to grow,” said Nick, the kitchen manager of the restaurant.

While the restaurant has seen great success in its opening weeks—attracting customers anywhere from celebrities and pro athletes to Michigan transplants and LA locals—the real recipe for success is Nick’s family right here in Shelby Township.

“Working in the restaurant my whole life, I didn’t realize until I started working out here how much of an influence (my dad) has on my philosophies in restaurants and in life,” Nick said.

And Nick has those philosophies and that experience from working in his father’s restaurant for more than 20 years. Nick, now 37, first began working at Apollo bussing tables when he was 14 and then started cooking alongside his dad at 15 years old.

“It was one of those things where my dad would say, ‘You have any homework?’ and if it was a no, I would go to the restaurant,” Nick said.  “And if I had homework then I’d stay home, but then I’d better study.”

By always working or studying, Nick feels that his busy schedule was key in keeping him out of trouble and away from the wrong people.  But not only that, his dad’s hard work ethic began to rub off on Nick during all those years of working side by side.

“He instilled in me that … if you’re lazy and you don’t want to work, that’s why you’re not going to succeed,” Nick said.

But Nick was anything but lazy. After graduating from Wayne State University, Nick moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue his acting dreams. Despite traveling back and forth for the next nine years, Nick landed a job on the TV Series The Mind of a Married Man. That’s how it all began. 

The show’s director was Mike Binder, a Hollywood star and Michigan native. Binder had always dreamed about having a Detroit-style Coney Island with him out in LA, and Nick was just the guy. 

“They just wanted to put together something that showed the spirit of Michigan and something that has our culture,” Nick said of Binder and the other investors, who include Tim Allen, Sam Raimi and Adam Sandler—most of whom are from Michigan.  “And what better guy than me? I’ve had 20 years of experience in it with my dad.”

This experience includes everything from how to perfectly cook the Coney dogs to achieving the ideal consistency of chili. According to Nick, these are trade secrets he was lucky enough to learn from his dad.

“(My dad) has his roots all the way back to the original Coneys because he used to work for some of the original owners in the sixties,” Nick said. “So he learned from them and I learned from him.” 

But even with Nick’s knowledge of food, he still needed some advice.  Nick went to his father Phil for something he knows a lot about: how to start a restaurant from scratch.  

Phil Vlassopoulos, who came from Greece in 1967, opened the Apollo Coney Island in 1972 and it has been a landmark in the community ever since.   

“Even though I’ve been (at the restaurant) my whole life, he just knows the little things I might not know all the time,” Nick said of his father’s experience. “But because I was always next to him, side by side, I’m always quoting my father out here saying ‘my dad always says …’.”

Nick misses his family and cherishes the time he got to spend growing up and working in the restaurant with them. While he still is working to get involved in the entertainment industry, Nick plans to continue being bicoastal and throwing on the apron whenever he is home. 

“I know (my dad) is happy that I’m doing something else with it,” Nick said of his work at Coney Dog.  “It was just meant to be.”