Olneyville New York System was opened in the 1946 by Anthony Stevens and his son Nicholas after emigrating to Brooklyn from Greece in 1920.   They ran a candy shop in NY then opened a restaurant serving hot wieners and a small lunch menu when the family moved to Rhode Island.  The original restaurant at Olneyville Square moved in 1953 to its present location on Plainfield Street and then was open 24 hours a day.  In 1981 they opened a second location in Cranston and to this day the Stevens family operates both restaurants.  The compact place has 2 rows of small booth seats in bright yellow and orange next to a row of counter stools that run the length of the place.  You ordered as you entered where you can see the wieners roasting on the griddle.  They have some other options but this place is about hot wieners ‘all the way’.  Staff were very friendly and super efficient.  It’s worth a visit.

Facility

Food

The wieners are made custom for the restaurant and contain beef, pork and veal.  They come in long stings and are sliced to size in the back. ‘All the way’ is the way to order one and that means it comes with all the toppings – mustard, meat sauce, onion and celery salt on a steamed bun.  Be warned this is not a hot dog, it’s a wiener.  If you ask for a hot dog they’ll send you to the ball park.  The soft bun was just a tad bigger than the wiener but it was nicely topped with good proportions.  The Hot Wiener Special includes 2 wieners, fries and a drink.  Be fore-warned the iced tea only comes as sweetened.  What we sampled was some ‘coffee milk’ which was also slightly sweet but way better in flavor.  The fries were mostly crispy and just needed a little salt.  It feels like a piece of history and that makes it fun to eat here.  It’s not the best thing you’ll ever eat but it’s far from the worst.  It’s good and satisfying.