Cityscape

Update: Coney Paczki Create an Instant Detroit Debate -- 'Awesome' vs. 'Nasty'

February 27, 2017, 5:52 PM by  Alan Stamm

There's lots of buzz about a Paczki Day novelty combining a pair of Detroit classics. Two posts at our Facebook page about coney paczki are shared more than 1,500  times and draw over 100 comments in the first six hours.

Reactions are as split as the glazed paczki that replace coney buns for this Tuesday-only menu addition at American Coney Island in downtown Detroit.

"Go home, American Coney Island. You're drunk," posts Matthew Whyte of Roseville. "Naw bruh, that ain't working," comments Robert Dulin III.

Ah, but taste is fickle. What looks like a disaster to some is welcomes as a delicacy by others.

"Best of both worlds! Serve me up," says Steve Rosneck of Macomb County. "This is a dream come true! Awesome," posts Sylvia Sobolak. Reader Joe Speer also sounds eager for his first bite: "I'll see you tomorrow. Hold the onions."

Chrysler assembly plant employee John Mohr of Toledo say: "If ever there was a time I thought about randomly driving to Detroit, I think this is it."

More from both sides are at the end of this article.

Original post, Monday afternoon:

This cool city is unlike any other, for sure.

Not only do we embrace Fat Tuesday with the wretched delightful excess of  glazed, humungous paczki that could double as hand weights, but now we also also can indulge in a pure Detroit pairing.

Grace Keros of West Bloomfield, third-generation owner of American Coney Island, tells us why her tricked-out Coney Paczki make perfect culinary sense even if you're not Guy Fieri: "Think about it -- you eat pancakes with syrup and bacon or sausage, so why not this?"

Last Fat Tuesday, she and a few open-minded testers tried the sweet-and-meat creation -- a hot dog with mustard, chili and onions between halves of a glazed packzi. "It tastes really good, actually," Keros says Monday morning by phone. "Don't knock it 'til you try it. It's real Detroit nostalgia food."

They'll be available only Tuesday at her landmark shop downtown, 114 W. Lafayette Blvd., for $4.65 each. (No-frlls coneys on steamed hot dog buns also will be available.) 

The glazed paczki come from a small Hamtramck wholesale bakery and won't have jelly or custard filling. (She's creative, not cruel; a merchant, not a maniac.)

"This is not a stunt at all," Keros replies to our question about her attention-grabbing stroke of genius.

At Eater Detroit, editor Brenna Houck calls it "a disturbing mashup" and says on her site's Facebook page: "We've finally hit peak paczki."   

► So, will you bite or is this a dog gone too far?
Tell us in a comment below, at our Facebook page or in a tweet

 

Reader reactions

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Admirers say . . .

  • "I'd try it if it's a beef hotdog. I love sweet and salty." -- Chantel Barlow, Detroit

  • "I'm all over these!" -- Aaron Demers, Redford

  • "Looks good to me." -- Allan Phillips

  • "Tempting. Oh so tempting." -- ​Tim Stotler, Novi

  • "Finally, one made for me." -- Carol Chantiny, Ypsilanti

  • "Why not? They make Krispy Kreme burgers in Atlanta!" -- Shelly Smothers, Roseville

  • "Dang, they beat me to it!." -- Bob Ankrapp, Plymouth

  • "OMG, I will take two with a side of coney fries please!" -- Greg Hensley, Flint

  • "Who's down to bring me one tomorrow?" -- Nikki Studstill

  • "I'd eat it. All of it. Plus there's no filling inside the paczki, so that makes it better." -- Kelly Schaal

  • "Wow, I actually want to try this. . . . Don't knock it till you try it, people." -- Nakea Simone [two posts]


Grace Keros: "This is not a stunt." (Facebook photo)

Skeptics say . . .

  • "Oooo, you nastay!" -- Cesar Joel Ledesma, Allen Park

  • "I love paczki and coneys, but this looks like a bit much." -- Jeff Burtka, Bloomfield Hills

  • "I didn't think it was possible for anything to be less appetizing than the Krispy Kreme burger, but here it is." - Jennie Preston

  • "This really sounds awful." -- Chace Wakefield, Grosse Pointe

  • "I don't think it can get much nastier then this." -- Alexis Gavelis, Royal Oak

  • "American has gone too far." -- Maura Casey

  • "Love both things, but EEWWW!" -- Joan DeSteiger Bernacik, Fraser

  • "That scares me." -- Dalton Dietrich 

  • "Oh man. Two glorious culinary masterpieces that are better kept separate, in my humble opinion." -- Jason Jaroch

  • "Gross." -- Sean von Schwarz

  • "Umm, no!" -- Johny Clarke

  • "I'm not gonna try it. I bet my kids in Sunday school would have a blast." -- Buena Hill-Plant

  • "Yuck!" -- Barbara Yancy-Braceful, Farmington

  • "Why?" -- Ruben Garcia

  • "That sounds nasty." -- Becky Holowaty, Warren

  • "My digestive tract has limits -- this mess far exceeds them." -- Beth Leroux

  •  "Instant diabetes." -- Eric Vincent, Detroit

  • "Can you say diabetes with a side of heart disease?" -- Charles Lautner, Traverse City

  • "What in the fuck is going on here?" -- DeAnn Asher, Detroit

  • "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.." -- Dion Degennaro, Detroit



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