When you do a summer hot dog eating tour in Peoria and beyond, there’s a few places that you have to go to and one of those places is Emo’s Dairy Mart on the corner of War Memorial Drive and Prospect Road.
It’s one of Peoria’s best known landmarks due to the somewhat (in my opinion) creepy clown that sits on top of the roof. That clown has been there since the owners, Elmer and Marge Harms thought it might be a way to bring attention to the building. And it worked. If you live in or around Peoria, you’ve driven by the Emo’s clown, many times.
And so today, we’re taking a trip to Emo’s to sample a hot dog and maybe get a sweet ice cream treat as well. Hot dog!
Here we are at Emo’s Dairy Mart, one of the most recognizable businesses in Peoria, due to…
This somewhat creepy clown on the roof top! Yes, clowns frighten me.
Why, oh why do I always pick the wrong window?
Okay, here’s the correct one and there’s a little line here, so let’s take a gander at some of the treats and drinks available at Emo’s.
They have a wide selection of flavors of milkshakes and I’ve decided on a flavor I’ve never had before. It will be revealed soon, keep on scrolling!
As I approached the window, I met Sami Jo and Ashley, the two pretty woman taking and getting the orders prepared today.
I placed my order and they had it ready in minutes, fantastic service here at Emo’s!
The have tables that face War Memorial Drive up in front…
But I prefer these picnic tables off to the side of the building. It’s a little quieter over here, so I picked a spot to settle in to and enjoy this dog day afternoon (pun inspired by an Ilene Casebeer comment on facecrack)!
Now it’s time to reveal the mystery flavor of this week’s milkshake…I got the peanut butter flavored milkshake and it was a sweet and thanks to the peanut butter in the mix, a somewhat salty treat.
This was a rich and thick milkshake and a great start to this hot dog lunch!
I was hungry so I also got an order of French fries. I wasn’t expecting much from these, French fries at ice cream stands are usually pretty mediocre, so I was pleasantly surprised as I dug in my bag of fries.
They were cooked to perfection, super crisp on the outside and nice fluffy inside, had just the right amount of salt and they were very flavorful!
So far this is a fabulous lunch, and now, on to the star of the show, this week’s hot dog!
My usual go-to hot dog is a chili-cheese dog, but I want to try all different kinds of hot dogs on this tour, so this week I’m sampling a cheese dog with onions.
It looks fabulous, let’s dig in to this dog!
This was a delicious and flavorful hot dog!
The cheese was rich and it was complimented by the crunchy and savory onions. The hot dog was tasty and the bun was steamed and bakery fresh!
I’m not rating these hot dogs because I want to try different styles and to be fair rating them, you’d have to be eating the same style every week and I want variety on this tour!
Having said that, I highly recommend the Cheese Dog With Onions at Emo’s Dairy Mart. And the peanut butter milkshake is a sweet and somewhat salty treat!
Check out the ATM, this is new and it’s wrapped with the Emo Clown at the bottom. For some reason, he’s not quite as creepy as when he’s high up on the roof.
Emo’s is a wonderful Peoria summer tradition, so stop by and get a hot dog and a sweet treat and support this unique and local Peoria business!
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3618 N. Prospect Road
Peoria
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Related Post: The Dog Days Of Summer @: The Spotted Cow.