About Us

Coney Island was started by Jim Kapellas and Tom Sideras at the location of 114 S 4th Street in historic Downtown La Crosse. It has been in continuous operation at this site since 1922. In 1962 Tom Sideras passed away and Tom Kapellas (son of Jim Kapellas) bought the business. The following year, in 1963, Jim Kapellas retired, but continued to remain active in the business until his death in 1975.

Coney Island remains a family run business with four members of the third generation presently working in the company. These are Ann Zumach, Joan, Jim and Chris Kapellas. There are also members of the fourth generation working when school is not in session.

Since opening the original Coney Island restaurant in Downtown La Crosse, it has grown to three additional locations: Valley View Mall in 1980, Village Shopping Center in 2014 and Holmen in 2018. See our Locations page for addresses, maps, hours and more.

In 1998, Coney Island received a request from a former resident of the La Crosse area, now living in Hawaii, to ship 100 hot dogs and sauce. This was the start of something that has grown over the years. Coney Island has shipped their hot dogs and chili sauce to nearly every state in the Union. Most of these are to former residents who miss the great taste of a Coney Island hot dog or current residents who would like to share this Coulee Region specialty with their relatives. For more information on how you can order your own shipment of Coney Island hot dogs, go to our Dogs To Go shipping page.