State Journal Staff Writer
Detroit's Coney Island offers fresh food at fast-food prices.
Owner and Manager Charles Martha says the restaurant's prices are comparable to Arby's, but nothing is heated up in a microwave.
"I want to get back to before volume was more important than quality," Martha said. "We want quality to be more important. We want people to taste the food and like it."
The restaurant, open for nearly a month, offers a variety of food including its "World Famous" fish sandwich, which Martha said is a contender in the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest fish sandwich. He also said along with the fish, Coney Island makes chilidogs, hamburgers, gyros and homemade chili sauce.
"Everything is fresh," Martha said. "We know it's a good product."
That good product keeps people coming back, according to Martha, who said that so far he's had several repeat customers.
"We have people who will come in and try something different every time until they've tasted the entire menu," Martha said. "We just want to make sure people are happy when they leave."
Along with a variety of fresh food, Coney Island caters to a variety of people. Martha says his target audience is baby boomers.
"We get a lot of state workers on their lunch breaks," he said. "A lot of blue-collar, white-collar workers. We even get lawyers and judges."
Coney Island accommodates guests by recognizing that lunch breaks can be short. The restaurant takes both carry-out and call-in orders, Martha said.
"We try to assist people who only have an hour for lunch," Martha said. "Our food doesn't take long to make, even though it's fresh. We can get them in and out quickly if they need to be."
Martha also stresses the importance of keeping business local.
"We currently have eight local employees," he said. "I get my produce local, my bread local. I try to use everyone that's local."
Even though Martha is not from Frankfort, he's no stranger to the business. His great uncle began the first Coney Island in Detroit, which is Martha's native city. Martha said that he and his parents have been running the business for almost two decades.
"It's all family-owned and operated," Martha said. "We opened the one in Lexington 16 years ago. We are hoping to open more in the future."
For now, however, Martha is pleased with the restaurant's new home.
"The location is great," he said. "The people are so nice. I'm thinking about doing an annual hotdog-eating contest. We like to have fun with it and this is such a good place."

Location: 11 Carson Place
Phone: 352-2499
Hours: Mon. " Fri.: 10:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: noon " 6 p.m.
Summer Hours beginning in May
Mon. " Sat.: 10:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.