Their hot dogs can fill your stomach and soothe your appetite. But can that be the reason generations of families keep coming back to the same downtown coney counter in Detroit, Michigan? It might have more to do with filling your heart and soothing your soul. Because there’s something else served here that does more than any coney can. To start, it’s comfort, consistency and the multi-faceted element of nostalgia.

In my recent Voreen Podcast conversation with Grace Keros, the third-generation owner of American Coney Island, I listened to the story of Grace’s grandfather coming to the U.S. from Greece, how he made a life here despite being illiterate — from shoes and speakeasys to hats and hot dogs. It’s a story of a restaurant built on grit and resilience that became the genesis of a family-run business and a staple of a beloved American city.

In 1917, the Ford Model T had become the best-selling car in the world, the U.S. was entering World War 1, and a man named Gust from Greece was starting a business on a downtown street corner in the Motor City. More than a century later, the grill still sits in the same spot, still cooking up the coneys that have become part of Detroit's identity. There are said to be more than 500 coney spots in the Detroit metro area, and as you’ll hear Grace say, every one traces back to this one. The menu here looks, well, retro. It hasn’t changed. And neither has the devotion of the employees to customers and customers to staff.

The restaurant has become part of the backdrop of thousands of lives. Located at the intersection of three downtown streets, it’s a crossroads of people too — business suits sitting shoulder to shoulder with t-shirts. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is comfortable. That’s part of the Keros family legacy.

To return to the beginning and the story of comfort, consistency and nostalgia, there is one thing they will not serve. They will not, under any circumstance, put ketchup on your hot dog. If you want something so blasphemous, you can do that yourself. In the place of acquiescence, you’ll get generous portions of heart-centered authenticity. In combination with the food and friendship, it seems to be a 109-year-old recipe that Detroit keeps coming back for.

To listen to the conversation, click here or find the Voreen Podcast anywhere you like to listen.