“It’s just like I remember.”
Josh Waldmire hears those words, or a similar sentiment, almost every day.
At times, they are spoken by a Springfield couple introducing their grandchild to a place they have loved since childhood. Other times, the words come from travelers who have driven hundreds of miles along Route 66 hoping to find something that has not changed. Visitors from England, Japan, and Mexico quietly wander the dining room studying the vintage signs, the weathered photographs, and the pieces of Americana that cover the walls.
A customer puts a judicious squeeze of bright, yellow mustard on their Cozy Dog, smiles and says, “Best corndogs in the world.”
Nearby, another customer looks around the room before saying something Josh never takes for granted: “Feels like home.”
For most businesses, hearing customers say that little has changed at a business might sound like a kiss of death. For Josh, who is president of a family restaurant that dates back to 1949, that feedback is the greatest compliment he could receive.
“One thing people like when they come back here is that we really haven’t changed,” he says. “I don’t try to change the atmosphere in the restaurant. I don’t even really try to change the operations too much unless it calls for it.”
Most businesses spend decades adapting to culture. Josh has spent decades protecting a culture of generations ago. In an era when businesses race to reinvent themselves, Cozy Dog Drive In has quietly built its future by protecting its past. The famous hot dogs on a stick may bring people through the front door, but they are not the reason customers return decade after decade. They come back because Cozy Dog reminds them of who they were.
The creation of a family business
Long before Josh became president of the family business, this journey started with his grandfather, Ed Waldmire Jr. While serving in the military in Oklahoma in 1945, Ed encountered an early version of a hot dog baked in cornmeal batter. He immediately saw potential but believed there had to be a faster, better way to prepare it.
“He asked his friend Don Strand if his father could come up with a batter that would stick to a hot dog, so it could be submerged in cooking oil,” Josh explains. “A few months later he got the recipe, mixed it up while he was still in the military, and tested it on the GIs in the mess hall. That became his experimental group.”
By the time Ed returned home, he had refined the recipe and began building what would become one of Springfield’s most recognizable businesses, but Josh is quick to clarify one common misconception.
“We’ve always said we’re one of the original hot dogs on a stick,” he stressed. “We’ve never claimed we were THE original. There were several versions being developed around the country at that time.”
What distinguished Cozy Dog was more than the product. Josh said his grandfather had “tremendous promotional and marketing skills,” and that he traveled and promoted the Cozy Dog at carnivals to get the brand established throughout central Illinois. That entrepreneurial spirit still shapes the business today.
Growing up inside the business
Unlike many business owners who discover retail later in their years, Josh says he does not remember a time when Cozy Dog was not a part of his life.
“Some of my earliest memories are growing up here while my parents owned the restaurant,” he says. “If you grow up in a small business family, you spend all your waking moments working on the business because that’s the lifeblood of the family.”
“We made the fun out of it,” Josh says with a nostalgic smile. “We’d play in the cup boxes, build robots out of things, and just find ways to entertain ourselves.”
Family vacations looked a little different than they did for most kids.
“Whenever we had vacation, it was spent at work cleaning, mopping floors, and doing the gritty work to keep the restaurant beautiful,” he recalls. “Maybe that sounds tragic to some people, but to us it was just our lifestyle, and it was a lot of fun.”
Those experiences taught lessons no classroom could. They instilled pride in hard work, respect for customers, and a deep understanding that every detail matters in the restaurant business.
A living chapter of Route 66
Cozy Dog Drive In opened on historic Route 66 at a time when America’s most famous highway was still thriving. When the road was eventually decommissioned, the restaurant remained.
That connection only grew stronger because Josh’s uncle, artist Bob Waldmire, became one of the most passionate ambassadors of Route 66.
“My uncle kept telling us, ‘Support the road, and it’ll support you,'” Josh says. “It’s a two-way street.”
He was right. Today, visitors arrive from across the country and around the globe hoping to get a taste of authentic Route 66 history.
“I think people love the nostalgia,” Josh says. “Route 66 was America’s first great highway that connected the country, and the stories have traveled all over the world. People in Europe, Japan and Australia have fallen in love with those stories about the small businesses and families that grew up along the road.”
Inside Cozy Dog, the history surrounds every guest.
“We’ve almost become a museum paying homage to Route 66,” Josh says. “Travelers bring us little trinkets and artifacts they’ve found along the road. Some of the old pieces aren’t even made anymore.”
Josh says that one of his favorite moments in his day comes when parents challenge their children to identify relics from another era.
“It’s fun listening to those conversations in the background,” he says.
Why restaurants belong in retail
Ask Josh what industry he is in, and his answer may surprise you.
“A lot of people I’ve talked to over the years don’t consider restaurants to be retail,” he says. “I don’t agree with that. Food retail is retail. We sell food items just like other retail stores sell their own products.”
At Cozy Dog, that philosophy extends far beyond the kitchen. Alongside its famous menu, the restaurant offers postcards, hats, magnets, books, mugs, chili spice, paper hats, paper sacks modeled after those his grandfather once used, and myriad souvenirs celebrating Cozy Dog and Route 66.
“I love retail because it’s always there,” Josh says. “Retail will never go away. People are always going to need to buy something. Whether it’s food items or home goods, retail will never die.”
For Josh, every item sold tells another chapter of the Cozy Dog story.
“We’ve been able to create all kinds of Cozy Dog memorabilia,” he says. “The ideas are endless. At one time we even had Cozy Dog pillows shaped like our logo.”
But merchandise is not what seems to excite Josh most. Instead, it is what those products represent. Every postcard mailed home, every T-shirt worn across the country, and every magnet placed on a refrigerator becomes another reminder of a stop along America’s most famous highway.
Josh recalled one anecdote, in particular, that made him realize just how far the Cozy Dog had traveled. The restaurant was able to secure a marketing deal with Walmart, in which the big box behemoth got the rights to develop its own Cozy Dog T-shirt, according to Josh.
“We started getting phone calls from people saying they had seen Cozy Dog shirts in stores in other states,” he recalls. “That was just a surreal moment. You think you’ve made it, and then suddenly you realize your family’s business is reaching people all over the country. I thought my grandpa would have been really happy about that.”
Taking care of the team
Creating unforgettable experiences begins long before customers walk through the front door for Josh. It starts with the team wearing the Cozy Dog uniform. In an industry synonymous with high turnover, Josh says employee retention is one of his proudest accomplishments.
“We actually have a really low turnover rate, especially for restaurants,” he says. “Almost all of my employees have been here three years or more.
“I honestly don’t know that there’s a secret,” he says. “I just try to treat people like people.”
That means paying what he believes to be fair wages, offering health insurance options, sponsoring a retirement program, giving employees time off when they need it and making sure they aren’t overworked.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Josh says. “I don’t believe enough businesses help teach employees how to plan ahead for their future.”
His approach reflects the same values that have guided Cozy Dog for generations. Take care of people. Whether they’re employees or customers, they will remember how you made them feel.
Lessons learned along the way
Like every retailer, Josh concedes that he has made mistakes. Looking back, he says there is one lesson he wishes someone had taught him much earlier.
“When I took over Cozy Dog, I wish somebody would have told me to delegate more,” he says. “Early on, I spent too much time cooking food and serving customers instead of giving more responsibility to my employees so I could focus on building and promoting the business.”
It is advice he now shares freely with other entrepreneurs.
“My advice for anybody wanting to open a restaurant or go into retail is to focus on your customers,” he says. “Their whole experience is what matters. If they don’t have a good time or don’t leave with a good feeling, they’re not going to come back.”
Returning customers, he says, are the heartbeat of every successful retailer.
“You need a clean place, good quality products, fair prices and great service.”
Carrying the legacy forward
Every so often, Josh pauses during our conversation to look back and think about the man who started it all at Cozy Dog.
“I’ve reflected on whether my grandfather would be proud of what we’ve done,” he says. “And I believe he would be. He was always a promotional guy. He loved seeing the business booming, and I feel like we’ve honored his legacy very well.”
Perhaps that is why Cozy Dog continues to mean so much to Springfield and to travelers from around the world. It is not simply because the food has stood the test of time, but because generations of the Waldmire family have devoted themselves to protecting something that has becoming increasingly rare.
“I think Cozy Dog matters because it’s more than just a restaurant,” Josh says. “It’s become a tradition. It’s become a memory. It’s become a symbol of Springfield. Then you tie that in with Route 66 and tourism, and it’s a boost for our community.”
