Nathan’s
About This Listing
Place Details
- Borough: Brooklyn
- Neighborhood: Coney Island
- Categories: Commercial, Food & Drink
Place Matters Profile
While Nathan Handwerker did not invent the hot dog, he did popularize it by making it affordable at a time when Coney Island was being transformed from a wealthy resort to the playground of the masses. His prime location near both the beach and the subway, and his enterprising sales techniques (early on he lured customers by hiring men dressed as doctors to stand at the counter under a sign proclaiming “If doctors eat our hot dogs, you know they’re good!”), made Nathan’s an essential part of every Coney Island visit.
Nominations
Jessica Radow
Ever since I was a young girl, Nathan’s was a place that my family went to for fun family outings. Everyone in my family from my grandma to brother flocks to Nathan’s to have what they think is the best hot dog around. On our way to a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game recently, my grandma said that a Nathan’s hot dog only tastes good when it is eaten at the original Nathan’s. Its original layout proves that is was the birthplace of fast food.
