 | |
| Company type | Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant, pre-packaged foods |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founder | Tony Packo |
| Headquarters | Toledo, Ohio, United States |
| Number of locations | 5 |
| Key people | Bob Bennett, Tony Packo Jr. |
| Revenue | $5 Million (2003) |
| Owner | Bob Bennett |
| Number of employees | 190 (2010) |
| Parent | TP Foods LLC |
| Website | www |
Tony Packo's Cafe is a restaurant that started in the Hungarian neighborhood of Birmingham, on the east side of Toledo, Ohio, at 1902 Front Street.
Founded in 1932, the restaurant became famous when it was mentioned in several episodes of the 1972-83 M*A*S*H television series. Dubbed "Toledo’s most famous eatery" and “a Toledo institution”, it is noted for its signature sandwich and large collection of hot dog buns signed by celebrities.
History
During the Great Depression in 1932, Tony Packo used a $100 loan to open his shop, which originally sold only sandwiches and ice cream. In 1935, the Packo family purchased the current wedge-shaped (flat iron-shaped) building on the corner of Front and Consaul streets next to the Maumee River, which includes the former Consaul Tavern.
Packo invented his signature "sausage-and-sauce sandwich" on rye after he decided to add a spicy chili sauce to his sandwiches for more flavor. The sandwich features a Hungarian sausage called kolbász, not unlike the Polish kielbasa; slicing the sausage in half yields about the same amount of meat as a conventional hot dog. This creation became known as the "Hungarian hot dog", even though no such thing had come from the Old Country.
When Tony became seriously ill in 1962, his daughter Nancy Packo Horvath took control of the business. Tony died in 1963 at the age of 55; his son Tony Jr. (Horvath's brother) joined the company in 1968 at the age of 20. The company had a long period of growth in the late 1960s under the leadership of the siblings. The Packos started in the packaged food business in 1980 after Merco Foods agreed to carry a line of pickles under the family brand.
In July 2002, Horvath and her son Robin (himself a Packo's vice president) sued Tony Jr. and his son Tony Packo III for libel, breach of duty, and trying to force her out of the business. A week later, Tony Jr. and Tony III counter-sued to dissolve the business, claiming that as each family owned 50 percent of the company they were at an impasse. The families settled their dispute in October 2002 by adding an impartial third person to the company's board of directors. Tony Jr. said that the problem occurred because there was no formalized succession plan. Soon after the dispute was settled, Horvath was diagnosed with cancer; she died on April 23, 2003.
Robert G. Bennett bought Tony Packo's, Inc., in October 2011 for $5.5 million in a court-ordered sale. Bennett died in May 2013.
In October 2019, Packo's opened two concept stores in Kroger grocery stores in Perrysburg, Ohio, and Holland, Ohio.
Bun signing
When actor Burt Reynolds visited Toledo in 1972, he made a stop at the restaurant on the suggestion of Tony's daughter, Nancy. Reynolds was the first big name to eat at Packo's, and he also began the tradition of "bun signing" when he inscribed his signature on a Packo hot dog bun. Ever since then, celebrities who visit the restaurant sign a "bun"—now a foam, air-brushed look-alike—and have it placed on the walls of Packo's.
M*A*S*H
Tony Packo's Cafe gained world-wide fame when M*A*S*H character Maxwell Klinger, who was portrayed by Toledo native Jamie Farr, mentioned the restaurant as his favorite eatery. Tony Packo's was mentioned in six episodes of the series.
In the season 4 (1976) episode "The Interview", Klinger says to interviewer Clete Roberts, "Incidentally, if you're ever in Toledo, Ohio, on the Hungarian side of town, Tony Packo's, greatest Hungarian hot dogs, with chili peppers, 35 cents, and a cold beer!"
In the Season 6 (1977) "The Grim Reaper", Klinger and a wounded soldier, Private Danker, exchange nostalgic memories of Toledo. Danker says he had his last Hungarian hot dog just three days before he shipped out for Korea. After Danker has been sent home, he sends Klinger some Packo's Hungarian hot dogs and chili peppers, which Klinger shares with Hawkeye Pierce, B.J. Hunnicutt, and Charles Winchester.
In the Season 7 (1978) episode "Dear Sis", Klinger relays to Father Mulcahy about his dream of "Christmas tree, 10 feet high. Strung with an endless chain of Packo's Hungarian hot dogs. And up on top, dressed like an angel, is my ex-wife, Laverne."
The season 8 (1980) episode "Dreams" features the visual of Tony Packo's in the M*A*S*H series. Here, Klinger falls asleep out of exhaustion and dreams he is walking through the windswept deserted streets of Toledo. He looks through the shop window of Tony Packo's, but he only sees the 4077th Operating Room with Colonel Potter gesturing to him. The patient turns to look at him and Klinger finds that the patient is himself. (The address as seen on the restaurant store front, 1902 Front Street, is accurate, but the scene was filmed on a set and not on location.)
In the Season 9 (1980) episode "A War for All Seasons", the hospital unit orders a batch of sausage casings from Tony Packo's to use in a blood-filtering machine (a crude artificial kidney).
In the season 11 (1983) finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" (the series' two-and-a-half hour final episode), when Klinger finds out that B.J. has received his orders to return home, he says, "Boy, what a lucky guy. I'd give anything to be back in Toledo. Sitting in Packo's with the guys, having a beer and eating a dog while the chili sauce drips down your arm..."
The actual Tony Packo's restaurant exhibits memorabilia from M*A*S*H on the premises, including the prop box used for the sausage casings in "A War for All Seasons".
See also
References
Notes
- "Tony Packo's". Lakeland Boating. 49. Petersen Publications: 61. 1995.
- Zurcher 1995, p. 104.
- Zenfell 2000, p. 126.
- Traylor & Traylor 1998, pp. 164-165.
- ^ Grauer, Stephanie; Miksanek, Jonathon (January 2017). "FOOD + DRINK: The Original Tony Packo's, Toledo". Ohio Magazine. www.ohiomagazine.com. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
As Tony Packo's celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2017, Tony Packo Jr. welcomed us in for a bite to eat and a look back through the landmark Toledo eatery's storied history.
- ^ "Packo's Caf co-owner nurtured legacy". Toledo Blade. April 24, 2003. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
- ^ Seewer, John. "Future of Cpl. Klinger's beloved hot dogs in doubt - Yahoo". Yahoo!. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- Zaborney, Mark (May 9, 2013). "Robert G. Bennett, 1937-2013: Restaurant exec bought Packo's chain". Toledo Blade. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
- "Tony Packo's restaurants to open up shop in Toledo-area Kroger stores". www.wtol.com. WTOL. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- Zurcher 2008, p. 59.
- Canto 1995, pp. 212-213.
- Fodor's 2003, p. 731.
- ^ Kelby 2009, p. 140.
- Hufnagle 2009, p. 99.
- Wood 2003, p. 79.
- Zimmermann & Zimmermann 2009, p. 187.
Bibliography
- Canto, George (1995). Pop Culture Landmarks (Hardcover). Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Research. p. 212-213. ISBN 9780810393998.
- Fodor's (2003). Fodor's USA, 28th Edition (Paperback). United Kingdom: Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 731. ISBN 9781400010882.
- Hufnagle, Bill (2009). Biker Billy's Roadhouse Cookbook. n.p.: Rowman & Littlefield, Lyons Press. p. 99. ISBN 9781599216935.
- Kelby, Nicole M. (2009). A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts Stories (Paperback). Borealis Books. p. 140. ISBN 9780873517676.
- Traylor, Jeff; Traylor, Nadean Disabato (May 1998). The Great Ohio Roundabout: Circle Tour of Ohio Towns and Country Along Scenic and Historic Highways (Paperback). Papillon Press. pp. 164–165. ISBN 9780941467087.
- Wood, Andrew F. (2003). Road Trip America: A State-by-state Tour Guide to Offbeat Destinations (Paperback). United States: Collectors Press. p. 79. ISBN 9781888054743.
- Zenfell, Martha Ellen, ed. (November 6, 2000). United States on the Road. Insight Guides. Singapore: Langenscheidt Publishers Incorporated, Ingram Publishing Services. p. 126. ISBN 9780887293696.
- Zimmermann, George; Zimmermann, Carol (2009). Ohio Off the Beaten Path (12th ed.). p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7627-5051-1.
- Zurcher, Neil (April 1995). Neil Zurcher's Favorite One Tank Trips and Tales from the Road (Paperback). Gray, Publishers. p. 104. ISBN 9781886228016.
- Zurcher, Neil (2008). Ohio Oddities: A Guide to the Curious Attractions of the Buckeye State. Grey and Company. p. 59. ISBN 9781598510478.
Further reading
- Barber, Katherine, ed. (2004). Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd. ed.). Toronto: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-541816-6.
- Christoff, Chris (April 1, 2014). "Detroit’s Coney Island Hot Dogs Are Edible Solace for City". Bloomberg.
- DeWitt, Dave; Evans, Chuck (1996). The Hot Sauce Bible (Paperback). United States: Crossing Press. ISBN 9780895947604.
- Jakle, John A.; Sculle, Keith A. (1999). Fast Food. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6109-8..
- Levine, Ed (2005-05-25). "It's All in How the Dog Is Served". The New York Times..
- Lindlar, Charlie (April 11, 2012). "Pizza Hut To Pioneer New Hot Dog-Stuffed Crust In UK Branches". Huffington Post (United Kingdom). Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- Varricchio, Taryn; Raucheisen, Nicole (7 Dec 2019). "How Nathan's Famous turned one hot dog stand on Coney Island into a household name". Business Insider. Business Insider.
- Yung, Katherine and Joe Grimm (2012). Coney Detroit. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814337189.
External links
41°39′36″N 83°30′08″W / 41.659958°N 83.502223°W / 41.659958; -83.502223
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