About Gillie's Coney Island Restaurant

Gillie's Coney Island Inc. was designed and built in 1985 by David Gillie, with the help of a great many people.

“Coney island” is a well-known style of restaurant in the Mid-Michigan area. They are generally a full-service casual-style restaurant with an American menu featuring chili dogs. Denoting a restaurant “Coney island” is a way to let the public know what to expect, somewhat like a free open source franchise. Many Coney Islands have been 24 hours and used drive-thrus long before the chain places copied these practices.  

Flint-style coneys differ from Detroit-style in that our hot dog topping is almost all meat (beef & spices) whereas in Detroit the style is quite soupy with pureed bean/tomatoes and sometimes no meat at all. Both these are distinct from chili dogs found in much of the rest of the country.  

Gillies's food has evolved over the years. We now use 100% vegetable shortening to deep fry with and have added items like chicken and salads to the menu.

The bulk of our customers still demand the ole meat, potatoes, and fatty foods that satisfy rather than just tease!

In 2021 with money from being extra busy and disaster loans, David turned ownership of Gillie's over to 17 long-term employees who had worked through Covid, showing just how essential they were as much of the economy shut down. They also exhibit the ability to keep Gillie's going into the future.