Tony Packo's Cafe
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Tony Packo's Cafe is located in the Hungarian/Polish neighborhood on the east side of Toledo, Ohio.
During the depression in 1932, Tony Packo used a $100 loan to open his shop, which originally sold only sandwiches and ice cream.
Tony's signature "sausage-and-sauce sandwich" on rye was first made when he decided to add a spicy chili sauce to his sandwiches for more flavor. Eventually, his creation became known as the "Hungarian hot dog", even though no such thing had come from the Old Country. The dish quickly became popular, and in 1935 the Packo family was able to purchase the current wedge-shaped building on the corner of Front and Consaul streets, which includes the former Consaul Tavern.
The "hot dog" is really a Hungarian sausage, probably a variety of kielbasa, about twice the diameter of a conventional hot dog, and slicing the sausage in half yields about the same amount of meat. This is also done with the Portuguese linguica sausage that is eaten in the coastal areas of Massachusetts. Like Packo's, it is slit lengthwise, fried, and put in a hot dog bun.
[edit] The M*A*S*H connection
Tony Packo's Cafe gained world-wide fame when M*A*S*H character Maxwell Klinger, who was played by Toledo native Jamie Farr, made mention of the restaurant in several episodes. Farr's character also mentioned the minor league Toledo Mud Hens baseball team on camera as well. In one episode, the hospital unit sent in to Tony Packo's for hot dog casings to be used in a blood-filtering machine. Packo's was also mentioned in the famous two-and-a-half hour final episode.
The cafe displays on the premises several mementos of the television series.
[edit] The most famous buns in the Midwest
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 brandished his signature on a Packo hot dog bun. Ever since then, celebrities and presidential candidates who visit the restaurant sign a bun, and have it placed on the walls of Packo's.
Tony Packo's Cafe is still family run today, by Tony and Rose's son Tony Jr. and their grandson Robin Horvath. Robin's mother (Tony Jr.'s sister) recently passed away.
