Cozy Dog Drive In

Taking a road trip from Champaign, IL to St. Louis, MO... why not stop in Springfield to try out the original hot dog on a stick?!?  I made my way to the Cozy Dog Drive In with a couple friends, excited to try out the famous hot dogs featured on various tv shows.  The price of a Cozy Dog was $1.95, a bit high, but with a special price on 6 dogs for $9.75 that day, we opted for the bulk order to save a bit of coin as well as a large fries order to share.  The price after drinks was about $20 for 3 people... not too bad for a taste of history...

Onto the taste.  The hot dogs were some variation of an Oscar Mayer weiner, freshly dipped and fried in a not too heavily with cornmeal and just a hint of sweetness batter.  The outside was crisp, insides hot, batter cooked through.  Overall a success!  Is it the best corn dog I've ever had?  I'm not sure that I would say that, but they rank up there with the freshly dipped and fried corn dogs found at the state fair.  The extra bonus was that their fries were freshly cooked, hot, crisp... More of a step above your standard fast food french fry than the Cozy Dogs were a step above the fast food corn dog.

Other standard small diner and breakfast foods are available on the menu of course, so there may be some other hidden gems available that the standard corn dog tourist wouldn't pick up on.

I would go back, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back (it is just a corn dog after all).  So if you happen to be on the road and headed through Springfield, maybe a Cozy Dog would make a nice place to pop in for a pit stop.

Cozy Dog invented the corn dog, or so the yellowed newspaper articles affixed to the wall of the restaurant claim. While this may be of dubious veracity, it's a fact that the cozy dogs here are incredibly tasty. They're really the best items to get; even though I'm a health nut and eat this kind of food once every decade, I couldn't help but salivate over these golden brown battered hot dogs with a hint of sugar in every bite.  

Unfortunately, Cozy Dog has little going for it besides the cozy dogs; our chilli hot dog was positively gross in that "why am I eating this?" kind of way. I wouldn't wish a change in the ambiance and/or decor, because hey...it's Cozy Dog...not a Michelin rated place, but still...it's a fast food joint.

In short...if you really really really want an amazing corn dog, make the trip to Cozy Dog. If you actually want to eat a meal, go somewhere else.

Looks like you either love the place or hate it... count me among the lovers.

If I had a last meal on earth, it would be a hot dog. But you know what... a hot dog isn't really a hot dog to me. It was all I would eat for years growing up. Every day, same ritual after school, steaming a dog and bun. It is one of the foods that just brings me back to happy days every time.

Now Cozy Dog ain't a hot dog and it might be a corn dog but it really is a Cozy Dog. After all these years serving 'em up they have earned the right to stake their claim. The passion and the eccentricities of a true piece of Americana earns a rightful place in my heart. The memorabilia, the souvenirs, it's all part of the experience. A mini-museum and shrine all it's own, I'm happy to know that it's still family owned, and it shows. In the best way possible.

If you don't get Cozy Dog I bet we wouldn't agree on lots of things... music, beer, politics, the meaning of life... and you know what, that's cool. That's the beautiful thing about Route 66. You CAN keep on driving. Love, peace, and the Mother Road...