SCRANTON — Hot dog! Coney Island Lunch in downtown Scranton is back in business.
John Basalyga’s retro remake of the restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. opened Monday to brisk business from a steady stream of customers with a hankerin’ for hot dogs.
His revamp of the building features brick facades, fabric awnings, a large “Coney Island” sign across the front and 10-foot-tall sign of a grinning, cowboy-hatted Texas Lunch weiner character giving a big thumbs-up.
The revival also includes the newly constructed Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe next door at 513 Lackawanna Ave. that will open Saturday.
The three-story building and one-story addition has a new “vintage” look that’s a departure from the prior exterior. The original facade of the building collapsed in 2024 during interior renovations.
The renovation project also involved putting five apartments in the upper two floors. The uppermost part of the front section of the building, which previously appeared to have been a sort-of windowless crawl space or attic, now has been configured into a fourth-floor that is part of the third-floor apartment in the front. That design makes that dwelling a two-floor apartment.
The ice cream shop, named after Basalyga’s younger daughter, occupies a formerly vacant lot next to the eatery. Previously, that lot sat under a three-story, blank stucco side wall. As part of the restaurant reboot and for apartments above, Basalyga installed numerous windows on the side and front walls.
Along with refreshed retro interior décor, the counter now is on the opposite wall from the prior counter’s location. A wall in the rear opens into the ice cream shop addition.
“We tried to bring it back, like retro a little bit, like the 1950s,” Basalyga said. “A little over a year ago, this building was laying out on Lackawanna Avenue (from the front-wall collapse). To be what it is today, it’s awesome.”
Decorations also pay homage to the prior owners, brothers Pete and Bob Ventura, and their founder ancestors and the restaurant’s history. A 2-foot-long knife with a rounded front and a wooden handle displayed in a glass case has a nameplate saying, “Coney Island Lunch 1923. This knife was used to cut the first Texas style weiner at Lacka. Ave. Scranton, PA.” Baseball-themed items and other memorabilia also adorn the walls.
Prior restaurateurs retired
In December 2023, Basalyga’s JBAS Realty purchased the Coney Island Lunch property from C.I.L. Associates and Pete and Bob Ventura for $300,000. Basalyga also acquired the adjacent vacant lot and outer western wall attached to the Coney Island Lunch building from the Scranton Redevelopment Authority for $32,500.
The Venturas, who ran the restaurant for nearly 50 years and had been involved much longer, decided to retire and closed the landmark shop in December 2023. Their grandfather, Steve Karampilas, launched the business on Cedar Avenue in 1923, and their stepfather John Karampilas moved the eatery to 515 Lackawanna Ave. in 1988.
Basalyga in 2024 embarked on his plan to redo and revive the Coney Island Lunch restaurant but hit a big snag on Dec. 30, 2024, when the front wall of the building collapsed during interior renovations. Undeterred, he stuck with renovation instead of a total demolition and rebuilding from the ground up.
In May 2025, when the Coney Island Lunch building’s front wall was still boarded up, Basalyga bought the adjoining, former Scranton Hobby Center building at 517 Lackawanna Ave. Basalyga also has renovations underway at 517, where the street-level retail spot will get Ross Jewelers relocating from 211 N. Washington Ave. and the upper floors will get five apartments.
Quiet opening goes viral
Basalyga and his crew intended to have a “quiet” opening day of the revived Coney Island, to get their feet under them. And he did not want to open the restaurant and ice cream shop on the same day. But their social media post of the Coney Island opening quickly got around and brought out the crowds.
“We thought it was either going to be quiet or we were just going to get an exercise, but we were slammed,” Basalyga said. “Before today, we cooked five Texas weiners. Today, we cooked 800 or 900. It got really busy with takeouts, 20, 30 at a time.”
A prolific developer in the region, Basalyga has numerous building and business holdings. A decade ago, he bought and revived the formerly moribund, mostly vacant Mall at Steamtown at 300 Lackawanna Ave. in Scranton and converted it into The Marketplace at Steamtown, and has since filled it with “eds and meds” and other non-traditional mall tenants, including an aquarium.
Elsewhere in Scranton, he dramatically overhauled the Farr Street Tavern and completely remade the former Tinks/Levels bar nightclub at 519 Linden St. into the A’tera 519 fine dining restaurant with Sergei’s Live music venue below and apartments above.
Coney Island is Basalyga’s 10th restaurant, but it’s his first short-order eatery and hot dog hotspot.
“I just wanted to bring something really cool back to Scranton. I wanted it to be a landmark, as far as even the signs, the location,” Basalyga said. “I think it’s an asset to the downtown.”
John Basalyga inside his revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, and a new addition next door of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., at left, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The interior of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., which is a new addition to John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. The revival includes a new addition next door of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., not visible in photo. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The new, retro 1950s-style interior of John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The interior of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., which is a new addition to John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, and a new addition next door of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., at left, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The interior of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., which is a new addition to John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Some of the decorations inside John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The interior of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., which is a new addition to John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Some of the decorations inside John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, including framed photos of members of the original Ventura family owners. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Decorations inside John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, included a 2-foot-long knife with a rounded front and a wooden handle displayed in a glass case with a nameplate saying, “Coney Island Lunch 1923. This knife was used to cut the first Texas style weiner at Lacka. Ave. Scranton, PA.” (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The new, retro 1950s-style interior of John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton, and a new addition next door of Raegan’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 513 Lackawanna Ave., at left, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Some of the decorations inside John Basalyga’s revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Show Caption
1 of 15
John Basalyga inside his revived Coney Island Lunch restaurant at 515 Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)