DETROIT – Robbers broke into Detroit’s American Coney Island on September 22, but unfortunately for them, left with only an empty cash register.

The break-in occurred around 5:35 AM at the restaurant on West Lafayette Boulevard. A restaurant spokesperson said the cash register didn’t contain any money since the business was closed during those hours the break-in took place.

The total damages are expected to cost thousands of dollars, however, as the thieves crashed one of the restaurant’s glass doors to enter, the spokesperson said. The attempted burglary wasn’t confirmed by Detroit’s Police, but said they were investigating.

Zach Sgro, an employee of American Coney Island, noted that even in the midst of chaos, the restaurant still opened on the same morning, serving customers with take-out only while cleaning up.

American Coney Island is a Detroit restaurant institution which originally opened in 1917 by Constantine ‘Gust’ Keros, a Greek immigrant. Both American, and its neighbor, Lafayette Coney Island, are famous for their coney dogs, hot dogs with beef chili, yellow mustard, and chopped white onion.

The Today Show’s Al Roker visited the restaurant earlier in the summer and mentioned it during his web series.

Both American and Lafayette are facing a rocky period as Lafayette was closed down two weeks ago due to health department violations involving rodents.