Carl's Coney Island celebrating 50 years

Jun. 22—Ed Truitt knows how much some people love the chili at Carl's Coney Island in Ne-Mar Center, West Will Rogers Boulevard.

One dark winter night, he recalls, he came into the restaurant to check things out and noticed the counter was covered with 10 styrofoam cups, every one of them full of chili.

"A young man popped up from behind the counter and said, 'I love this chili,'" Ed said.

He empathized. He loved the chili, too — perhaps so much he married the restaurant owner's daughter, Beth.

Ed's story is just one that could be told about the life and times of a family-owned business that continues to defy the trend toward new and different.

A golden anniversary celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 29, at Carl's Coney Island. Beth (Schloss) Truitt and husband Ed will open the doors for business, like they've been doing for 26 of those 50 years — with one slight variation.

A tent will be just out front of the small storefront on the east side of NeMar Center. Attendees can enjoy a coney, listen to live music, get a special anniversary T-shirt and enjoy a piece of a big birthday cake from Front Porch Bakery, Beth said.

Beth said they want to get the word out to all their loyal and regular customers, even people from Pryor and Oologah, Collinsville, Inola, Bartlesville, Catoosa and Tulsa — and beyond.

A Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting is planned for Friday, June 28, 2 p.m.

Beth explained why the business continues to thrive.

"I've kept it much the same," Beth said. "I want it to still feel like home."

She noted any changes are mostly regular maintenance details, like new floors, a new countertop and replacing the door windows.

In sharing their story, the couple provide a manila envelop bulging with newspaper clippings, all sizes and shapes, documenting the business's history. These read like a family love story.

Schloss and his wife, Yvonne "Jean" Schloss, opened Carl's Coney Island June 1, 1974. Beth's sister, Judi Schloss, was the sole employee in the beginning. Beth began working when she was 14 years old.

"Since we've owned it, the success is this lady right here," Ed said, recognizing his wife. "People come in to see Beth."

The Truitts have a blended family, including Tayler, Julie, Brooke, Tiffany and Matt — a third generation that is now a part of the family legacy.

When the Truitts took over in 1998, they quickly recognized Schloss had created a winning menu and a loyal customer base. They chose to continue serving his winning bill of fare — minus breakfast — because it works for them, and customers like it.

Ed, who was a customer before he married into the Schloss family, said he told Beth, "I'll marry you, but on one condition: I'm not getting up at 3:30 a.m. to cook breakfast."

A family decision supported no more breakfast on the menu.

Today, the old Wolf Oven, on which Schloss cooked biscuits and pepper gravy for members of the ad hoc Claremore "breakfast club," is gone.

"Back in those days, 10 of us — the breakfast club — ate breakfast every morning. Bill had been doing it for 20 years [when he sold]," Ed said.

"The story is, my dad — he was pretty devastated [about discontinuing breakfast]. He was worried we wouldn't be able to make it without breakfast," Beth said. "When he started, he was making $60 a day, and he was still running the restaurant in Tulsa."

He loved the restaurant, Beth said. Schloss died in 1999.

"It is still hard to step into his shoes," Beth said.

Schloss' background included working as a food salesman, managing a company restaurant and ownership of multiple restaurants in the Tulsa metro area. He then opened the Ne-Mar storefront in the city's newest shopping center in 1974. The calling card was Tulsan Carl Kennedy's famous Carl's Chili.

Selections displayed on a Pepsi menu board, with letters and numbers, still invite diners to grab a tray and order one or more of the famous coneys: hot dogs, polish or brat with or without all the fixings; a kraut dog; a steaming bowl of chili and crackers, with or without cheese and onions; an ample serving of three-way chili; a Frito pie; a large or small taco salad; tamales and nachos; a piece of homemade pie, or a cookie or two.

Visitors can expect the menu will be the same June 28-29, dine in or carry-out.