Tony Packo's Cafe

Tony Packo's has been a Birmingham-neighbourhood institution on Front Street since 1932 — a Hungarian diner serving Hungarian hot dogs (a slit sausage in a soft bun with chilli, mustard, and onion), chicken paprikash, stuffed cabbage and pierogis, all in solid working-class portions for solid working-class prices. Mains 12-18 USD.

Order the hot dog, a side of chilli and the pickles plate (the pickled hot peppers are made on site and have made it to grocery stores nationally). The walls of signed hot dog buns, mostly under glass, are the most-photographed wall in Toledo. There's a second branch downtown, but the Front Street original is the one to visit.

eating out restaurant hungarian
A story
Klinger's repeated mentions of Tony Packo's on M*A*S*H turned the East Toledo Hungarian diner into a national name. The custom of signing hot dog buns started in 1972 when actor Burt Reynolds, in town to perform a play, asked for something to sign and was handed a hard-crusted bun. Over a thousand signed buns now line the walls, including Jimmy Carter, every recent president, and most of the Mud Hens line-ups.