About Us
The Start,
End and
Revival
of the
Original
Original
Hot dog
The Birth of the Modern American Frankfurter
It all started in 1867. Charles Feltman, a German baker, brought his frankfurter recipe to Coney Island and began selling them from a pie cart along the sand dunes of Coney Island.
The Birth of the Modern American Frankfurter
It all started in 1867. Charles Feltman, a German baker, brought his frankfurter recipe to Coney Island and began selling them from a pie cart along the sand dunes of Coney Island.
The first hot dog on a bun
Looking for a way to avoid the cost of plates and cutlery, Charles baked a long bun upon which he could serve the frankfurter. Dubbed a “Coney Island Red Hot,” the first hand-held hot dog
was born.
More than just a pushcart
By the 1920s, Charles had built Feltman’s Ocean Pavilion. It covered a full city block and had nine restaurants, an amusement park, outdoor movie theater, hotel and more. It was considered the world’s largest restaurant at the time, serving more than five million customers a year. Hot dogs were still a feature on the menu, however, and he was selling 40,000 a day.
A New Competitor on Surf Ave.
Now this is where it gets interesting. Nathan Handwerker was an employee at Feltman’s, slicing buns and running hot dogs, until 1916 when he decided to start his own hot dog shop on Coney Island – known then and now as Nathan’s Famous. Today, they claim to be “the original hot dog.” But we know that Feltman’s is where it all began.
Brothers
Bring Back
Feltman’s
In 1954, Feltman’s Ocean Pavilion closed down. But in 2015, in memory of their brother Jimmy who was killed on 9/11, brothers Michael and Joe Quinn officially brought back the boardwalk favorite - the Feltman's Original Hot Dog. Today, distributed to thousands of supermarkets, the Quinn brothers are now making it possible for you to enjoy the one, the only, the true original hot dog - Feltman's of Coney Island.