A busy and bustling day inside the famous Cozy Dog Drive In and owner Josh Waldmire is behind the counter and working the deep fryers.
"Oh yeah, we've been slammed all morning," he said.
The landmark restaurant is best known as the birthplace of the corn dog.
"Well, the Cozy Dog started back in the 40s with my grandfather. Right after he got out of the military, while he was still in the service, he saw a corn dog being baked in Oklahoma, and he thought there should be a quicker way to do that. So he had a friend of his whose father owned a bakery come up with a batter that could stick to a hot dog that he could then immerse in cooking oil, and that's how the Cozy Dog got started." he said.
And that batter recipe has remained unchanged since 1946.
"Well, we have our mix. We mix it up in the back to get it into the batter form, and we have to hand stick the hot dogs beforehand because they don't come with sticks in them. And then we have our patented Cozy Dog racks that we insert the stuck hot dogs into, and then we dip them down in their batter, put them in the deep fryer, and it takes about four to five minutes for them to come out golden brown." said Waldmire.
Waldmire is the owner of the Cozy Dog. For three generations, his family has kept the business afloat.
"I've been running it since 2013, going on a little over 13 years."
Lisa: "Did you think this would be your legacy?"
"Absolutely not," he laughed. "I left and I tried not to work here, and I ended up coming back, and it it ended up sticking, and it felt good." he smiled. "I wanted to come back and help my mom and dad, and or help my mom because she had it at the that time, and ended up taking over from her, and decided it'd be nice to keep Grandpa's legacy going and keep it out there a little bit longer."
Cozy Dog Drive In is a huge Route 66 attraction and Waldmire says they have had record traffic especially this summer as they celebrate the centennial.
"Summer, because of the 100th centennial, it's been absolutely crazy. We've had a big boost in sales, customer traffic. It's just, we're scrambled. We're trying to keep up, and it's I will say it's been difficult, but it's been fun, and we're handling it, and we're ready for the winter." he laughed. "But I think next year will be just as busy."
The iconic Cozy Dog has even been featured on the Food Network’s popular Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. During the interview with WBBM, Waldmire was even asked for an autograph by a young boy.
Lisa: "You're a local celebrity!"
"Apparently so," he laughed, embarrassingly.
The restaurant still has a diner feel. Patrons order and pick up at the counter and tables are surrounded with memorabilia.
"Well, I mean, as you look around, you'll just see a lot of old stuff, memorabilia signs. Some of it's stuff that we've collected ourselves, and a lot of it is stuff customers have brought in and left that they just wanted to put on display. Things that they found on the road, or things from 50s and 60s that just goes to the motif of the restaurant." Waldmire said.
He estimates they make about 500-600 of the "Cozys" a day and he ships the batter all over the world.
"I ship 26,000 pounds of Cozy Dog mix to Canada. They make them up in Canada. All the carnies and fairs up in Canada. If anybody has gone to Niagara Falls in probably the last 20 years, if you got a corn dog up there, it was probably a Cozy Dog. We've been selling our mix up there for over 20 years."
These days, travelers from around the globe visit Cozy Dog Drive In to learn about the origin of corn dogs, and sample these tasty treats.
"We've just we've had people from all over the world: Japan, Australia, New Zealand. Just if you can think of a place, they've probably been here, and they are just fascinated with Route 66. They love the Cozy Dog history of being a family-run restaurant, third generation that's kept it going, and it just it gives people a sense of, I guess, humanity and just well-being that the world's still going to be a good place. As soon as I ask people where they are going on Route 66, everyone says you got to go to Cozy Dog, and they're like, "Oh, I've already got it on my list." I know. But it's whenever they say Route 66 in Springfield, Cozy Dog comes up."
Waldmire says they've always had that family friendly theme in mind but never expected their location would serve as their destiny and boost their popularity around the globe.
"Honestly, all I can really just say is it's a blessing. It's pure luck being where Grandpa picked on the road. We're close to the interstate, so this section of Route 66 has held up fantastic over the years. It's still thriving. There's still plenty of businesses around, and I mean, just feeling just blessed and honored. That's basically the best we could say because you have no idea when you pick a location if it's going to last, if it's going to get better or worse, and we feel like it got better. So totally blessed. The whole Route 66 thing, we weren't originally thriving for, you know, our main focus is just fast food, good food, clean atmosphere, just everything a person would want when they come to eat somewhere. And us doing that all these years has gotten us that recognition of being a good restaurant and becoming a great iconic place on Route 66.:
A 25 foot Cozy Dog, complete with neon mustard and ketchup, has been added to the Illinois Route 66 Experience at the State Fairgrounds. The installation was unveiled Aug. 13 and celebrates one of Springfield's best-known Route 66 attractions.
"Yeah, we we've been honored with at the the Route 66 sign display out at the state fairgrounds. They've added a 25 foot cosy dog in honor of us, which he was just thrilled to be honored in. Just what's the word I'm looking for? You really made it now. Yeah, just yeah. If you think you've made it, and then all of a sudden something else happens, and it's like, oh my gosh, we're we're still popular. People still love us." he smiled.
A hot dog on a stick. A simple idea and a place that has become part of American roadside history.
What would your grandfather think of all this?
"He'd love it," Waldmire smiled. "Well, back in the time when my grandfather saw the corn dog being made, and he came up with the idea of doing one too, there were other ones being developed across the United States, but my grandfather he was a very go-getter. He loved to promote, talk to people, so he went full-fledged promotion and advertising through the Midwest, and that's how the Cozy Dog became so popular."
Afterall, everything good in life comes on a stick, especially on Route 66.
"You can eat them on the run, they are the best."
Lisa: "Corn Dogs bring us together."
"They do bring us together," Waldmire smiled.
For more information or to visit Cozy Dog, click here.
