Cozy Dog Drive In

The Cozy Dog Drive In on South Sixth Street is one of the original Route 66 diners still operating in Springfield and one of the few remaining from the classic era of American road-food. The menu is simple: corn dogs (still called "cozy dogs" here), burgers, fries, and shakes. The food is the point less than the experience — eating a corn dog in the actual place that claims to have invented the thing while surrounded by Route 66 memorabilia has a certain pilgrim quality.

The walls are covered with Route 66 maps, postcards, and artwork by the late Bob Waldmire, whose intricate drawings of the Mother Road became iconic. A small gift shop sells Route 66 souvenirs and Waldmire prints. The Drive In is still family-run and maintains a refreshingly authentic lack of corporate polish. Springfield sits at about the geographic midpoint of Route 66, making this a logical stop on any complete run of the old highway.

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A story
The Cozy Dog Drive In claims to have invented the corn dog — the battered hot dog on a stick — when Ed Waldmire Jr. developed the recipe in 1945 while serving as a cook in the U.S. Air Force. He opened the Cozy Dog on the original Route 66 in 1949. The claim is disputed by several other establishments, but the Waldmire family has been making the same recipe for over 75 years and the café has become one of the most visited Route 66 landmarks in Illinois. Bob Waldmire, Ed's son, became a celebrated Route 66 artist whose hand-drawn maps of the highway are collector's items.