Coney Island Lunch!

Pennsylvania is a strange place. James Carville described Pennsylvania as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between. It makes for some interesting characters for sure.

This weekend was filled with all types of Pennsylvania. The most memorable occurred this Sunday. My daughter attended the Indoor Soccer State Cup hosted in Scranton, PA. Home of da'U and the fictional Dunder Mifflin. It is an interesting place with interesting architecture and interesting food.


My husband is an alumnus of da'U. He has met some incredible people there and looks back fondly, especially at particular teachers who helped to form his world view. Last summer we found ourselves passing by the exit for Scranton. He veered off the interstate and barked, "Quick, google texas wieners, scranton!" I did and this came up - Coney Island Lunch. I punched the address into the GPS. As we followed the directions, John muttered under his breath, "This is wrong. I don't remember it being in this area. Wrong..." The sign came into view. John announced that the sign was right, but the location wrong. "They have a beat up black and white tile floor. I will know it is the right place if the floor is right." We walked through the door. No black and white tiled floor. John went right up to the counter and spoke with the waitress. Coney Island Lunch had moved. In 1987! Talk about feeling old.

We sat at a formica booth with vinyl seats. The texas wieners are served with dusseldorf mustard, fresh onions and chili on a local National Bakery roll. The hot dog is split and grilled on a flat grill until crispy. The National Bakery roll is almost square and the split hot dog fits perfectly. It is soft and a delicious home for the dog, uh, I mean wiener.


We are not big chili dog fans so we all ordered our wieners with dusseldorf mustard and sauerkraut. Fries with a side order of gravy and fountain birch beer rounded out the lunch. Wow. It is a colossal experience. One dog was enough for me, but it seems that the thing to do is to start with two and continually order until you are stuffed. The local tables all ordered several times, as well as John.

I highly suggest that if you find yourself in the Scranton area, stop in. Michaela and I grabbed the opportunity this weekend. John was so jealous. In 1923 a Greek immigrant built Coney Island Lunch and has since been serving a delicious dog. The place is a haven for baseball lovers. The walls are decorated in the local Yankee's history, as well as neighboring Wilkes-Barre's Red Barons. It is a fantastic place. Trust.

Oh, did I mention that a Texas Wiener is $2.05? Huge. Leaves plenty to splurge on the rice pudding.