A new cycloisomerization strategy for the synthesis of coumarins and quinolinones is described. The addition of ethoxyacetylide to 2‐hydroxyacetophenones directly resulted in 4‐substituted coumarins by 6‐endo‐dig cycloisomerisation of the intermediate 3‐ethoxy‐1‐(2‐hydroxyphenyl)‐2‐propyn‐1‐ols. Under similar conditions, 2‐aminoacetophenone produced 2‐ethoxyquinoline, a masked quinolinone, which was converted into the quinolinone by acid treatment. N‐Protected intermediate 8 was isolated and converted into the quinolinone [with In(OTf)3 or H2SO4] or the 3‐iodo‐2‐quinolinone (with I2 and H+).