the quest for zest

A food & travel community from The Crossroads of America.

Eat Local. Travel Global.

Fort Wayne’s Famous Coney Island

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A story for every Coney dog.

The sign above Coney Island Wiener Stand in downtown Fort Wayne reads, “Fort Wayne’s Famous Coney Dogs.” While it’s arguable that “famous” is a stretch, there can be no doubt that during it’s ninety eight year history, it has certainly become part of the fabric of Fort Wayne. The narrow building on Main Street, with it’s long lunch counter has been a silent observer to generations of people enjoying a quick, satisfying lunch. Virtually everyone from Fort Wayne has been there at least once and they all have a story about their visit. For some, it’s a once yearly trip on a cold Thanksgiving night to grab a hot dog before the annual lighting of the old Wolf and Dessauer Santa Claus display. For others it’s where they were engaged, was their second home as a kid, or simply a weekly ritual. My story begins with a shaggy haired art student who moved to Fort Wayne from Virginia in 1966.

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Best Boy Co.

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Making great things. Helping people in great need.

Wayne Shive has been building things his entire adult life. He started with apartment buildings and custom homes, before moving on to daycare centers, hospitals, and nursing homes across the country. Later, he started, and ran, an electronics manufacturing company based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Years later, he returned to Indiana and once again, founded and ran a new company; this time, manufacturing aluminum. “I’ve done a lot of things. I’m what you call a serial entrepreneur,” he says. Today he considers himself “kind of” retired, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to build businesses and create new things. His latest effort is named Best Boy Co., and was born out of his love of cooking hot fudge sauce, and his desire to help victims of natural disasters.

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The Mexican Ice Cream of La Michoacana

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Continuing a sweet tradition of success.

Victor Espinoza is a tough guy not to like. With his soft spoken-manner, he has a way of making you feel like an old friend as soon as you enter his shop. He also has a quiet dignity about him and a clear love of everything ice cream. His story is like that of countless others who came to this country with a dream, and it’s heartening to see him rewarded with success for all his hard work.

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Barr Street Market

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The historic farmers’ market with local flavor.

I love my summer Saturday mornings at the Barr Street Market. I get to roll out of bed, grab my reusable shopping bags, and admire beautiful produce while drinking a coffee and munching a gourmet pastry. There is no other event in town that offers the same experience or vibe. This Saturday, July 7, is the first day of the 2012 season and, as you can tell, my anticipation level is pretty high.

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Zesto Ice Cream

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A summer rite of passage.

As a kid growing up in Indiana, the only thing that really cut the heat of the steamy summer months was ice cream. Where we ended up usually depended on the nature of our visit to Fort Wayne. A stop at the mall always meant ducking into Breslers 33 Flavors for a scoop of orange sherbet on a sugar cone, and then eating it as sloppily as possible by the mall fountain. If we had brought our bikes in for a ride on the Rivergreenway, I knew my reward would be a scoop of strawberry or chocolate ice cream, again on a sugar cone, from the Atz location on Tilman Road. Curiously, even though there was a soft-serve ice cream shop in our little hometown of Churubusco, The Magic Wand, we rarely went there. There was a beautiful order to our ice cream universe, except for one wild card. No matter what we were doing, or where we were in town, it took very little convincing on my part to get my parents to take me to Zesto.

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Deli 620

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Thankfully, some things stay the same.

When I worked in downtown Fort Wayne, I rarely ate out for lunch. I preferred to pack my lunch because it was cheaper and it kept me from having to buy new pants every six weeks. Each month though, I would have to take a lunch break to drive out to the southwest side of town for a hair cut. For no logical reason, I used this regular event as an excuse to eat out for lunch. I eventually fell into a routine of heading straight to Deli 620 for a tuna salad sandwich, jalapeño kettle chips, and if there was a nip in the air, a cup of soup. It has now been over a year since I last worked downtown, or visited Deli 620, so I decided it was time for a return visit.

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