I fulfilled a lifelong (well, nearly) dream today – I visited the legendary Tony Packo’s in Toledo for the very first time! If you’re asking why a restaurant in Toledo, Ohio most well known for hot dogs would be on my personal bucket list, well, take a few minutes and watch this:
That, my friends, is one of my all time favorite skits in the history of professional wrestling. Actually, it goes way beyond that – it’s one of my favorite ANYTHINGS in my life as it features my number one performer in wrestling, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and his trusty cohort Gorilla Monsoon during a famous on-location shoot for Prime Time Wrestling. I’ve said it a million times – if it weren’t for Bobby, there would be no RD Reynolds, no WrestleCrap, no wrestling fandom at all. In this outing, the pair were at Tony Packo’s hot dog restaurant. Since this originally aired in 1988, I always had it to watch if I was having a bad day, as it never fails to make me howl with laughter and puts a giant smile on my face. You could tell there was no script, no nothing, just two friends who were cutting loose and ad libbing the entire time. I hold it near and dear to my heart, and I always thought, one day, ONE DAY, I will visit this place.
Fast forward 37 years (!!!!) and I did just that! With RD Jr. attending University of Toledo, you’d think I would have done it on his first trip, but things just never lined up. Today, though, I scheduled to have time to go, visit, dine, and just take it all in. As I got in, Mrs. Deal was literally laughing, telling me how I looked like the happiest kid ever unwrapping his presents on Christmas morning. And I WAS that happy from the moment I saw the exterior. It looked EXACTLY the same as it did on that skit I’d watched countless times. As I walked in, it looked like a restaurant frozen in time. And I say that as the biggest compliment possible.
Now the primary gimmick of this restaurant was that famous people would visit and they would sign hot dog buns that would then be hung up on the wall. The entire week before, I just kept wondering the same thing – would Bobby & Gorilla’s buns still be on display? An internet search revealed that in the early days they actually used real hot dog buns, so I was more than a bit concerned. So we got in and were seated at our table. The very nice waitress explained how they were famous for the signed buns and that Jamie Farr of M*A*S*H* used to work there. She then said they stopped using real buns in the late 1970s…and I immediately started smiling, because I knew the skit would have been much later than that. We told her about how much I loved Bobby Heenan and about the skit, and while she didn’t know him or Prime Time Wrestling, she had an idea where his may be located. I almost ran to where she pointed to and lo and behold…
BOBBY’S BUNS WERE STILL ENCASED ON THE WALL!!!
And not just his – Gorilla’s were still there too, along with Randy Savage! With the good Lord above as my witness and I am NOT making this up, I almost started crying. And do you know whose buns were on the opposite wall?
UNCLE BURT’S!!!!
Yes yes yes! He was actually the first person to ever sign a bun at Tony’s, and it started the tradition that goes on to this day.
And remember how I told you it felt like the place hadn’t changed, like, ever? This was the precise location where Bobby and Gorilla filmed their bit. Only difference is when we were there it was decked out for Christmas.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the food….which I completely forgot to take pictures of so here’s one from Yelp. Don’t fret, my hot dog looked exactly the same and it was really, really good. Mrs. Deal loved hers as well, and liked the German potato salad that came with it even more. In fact, I think she liked the food even more than I did!
There was even a really nice gift shop tucked away in the back of the store, and I nabbed a hat, some cans of the hot dog sauce, and Mrs. Deal made sure to get some of the German potato salad sauce. So tasty, so fun!
Soon enough, it was time to leave…but not before one more more photo with me and Bobby’s signed buns. Not gonna lie, I legit thought about ripping it off the wall and running to the car. Mrs. Deal was the voice of reason of course, rightly pointing out that I should leave it for others to enjoy. And also that getting arrested for stealing a hot dog bun may be the stupidest thing ever. Who knows – maybe next time I visit I’ll be riding solo and that bun will be all mine!