In the summer of 1961, Elvis Presley arrived in a quiet part of Florida to film his ninth movie, Follow That Dream.
For a few weeks, towns including Yankeetown, Inverness and Ocala were suddenly dealing with one of the most famous men in America. Filming began in July, with much of the movie shot on location around Florida’s Gulf Coast.
But one of the smallest stops from that trip is still remembered more than six decades later.
About 50 miles from the main filming area sat Coney Island Drive-Inn in Brooksville, a roadside restaurant that had opened only the year before, on July 7, 1960.
According to the restaurant’s own history, Elvis made the trip to Brooksville while filming and stopped in for one of its famous foot-long hot dogs. Even Coney Island describes the visit as local “legend,” rather than pretending every detail was formally documented.
That one meal became part of the restaurant’s identity.
Today, the Brooksville location still proudly uses the phrase “Eat Where Elvis Ate!” Visitors find Elvis photographs, memorabilia and a special corner devoted to the King inside the restaurant.
Visit the Florida Hot Dog Stand Where Elvis Reportedly Ate
The restaurant has built an entire piece of local history around Elvis’s 1961 visit, and modern visitors still come specifically to try the famous foot-long hot dogs associated with his stop.
Some later accounts go even further.
Current ownership has said Elvis actually visited twice, reportedly returning after enjoying his first hot dog. Another food-history account identifies his order as a foot-long topped with chili, onions and mustard. Those details come from restaurant tradition and later retellings, so they are better treated as part of the story surrounding the visit rather than unquestionable fact.
The larger Florida trip produced plenty of Elvis history.
While shooting Follow That Dream, Elvis worked in extreme summer heat, stayed around Crystal River and filmed scenes on roads, beaches and inside the old courthouse in Inverness. The production became so closely connected with Yankeetown that a nearby highway was eventually named Follow That Dream Parkway.
Yet the Brooksville story survives for a much simpler reason.
Elvis could stay in expensive hotels, travel with an entourage and eat almost anywhere.
But during one movie shoot, he reportedly walked into a little roadside restaurant that had barely been open a year and ordered a hot dog.
More than 60 years later, Coney Island Drive-Inn is still serving them — and still telling customers they can eat where Elvis ate.