If you've spent a summer Saturday in Port Dover, you probably know the routine. You walk down Main Street toward the lake, and before you reach the sand you stop at the Arbor for a foot-long hot dog, fresh-cut fries and a cup of something orange called Golden Glow.
The Arbor has been feeding Port Dover for more than a century. And when the Arbor changed hands this year, the new owners made a point of saying they wouldn't touch the menu.
The story
The spot has roots that go back before the Arbor name. According to Norfolk County, George Holden opened a stand called the Wigwam in 1912, built on marshland at the foot of Main Street. The county credits Carl Ryerse with creating the Arbor, which at first sold mostly ice cream. Exactly when the Wigwam became the Arbor isn't spelled out in the sources we found. The business itself dates its start to 1919, and it marked its 100th season in 2019.
Ryerse's lasting contribution was the drink. Norfolk County says he patented the Glow in 1929 and kept the recipe to himself, sharing it only with his sons, Vic and Vern. After the Second World War, the sons joined their father in the business and the menu grew to include hot dogs, hamburgers and fries, turning an ice cream stand into the hot dog stop people know today.
The Ryerse brothers ran it until 1984, when they sold to the Schneider family, who also owned the Erie Beach Hotel a short walk away. The Port Dover Maple Leaf reports that Tony Schneider was 19 when he moved over to run the Arbor that year. He'd started in the family business as a kid in the mid-1970s, pouring water in the hotel's Cove Room in a white shirt and bow tie. The Schneiders would run the Arbor for the next 42 years; by the end, Tony, his brother Andrew and Andrew's wife, Pam, were the owners.
They kept a lot the way they found it. For their first 22 years, the Maple Leaf says, the Arbor had no fountain pop at all, and Golden Glow was king. In 2005–06 they rebuilt the whole restaurant. In 2019 they celebrated a century of seasons, and the Port Dover Harbour Museum marked it with an exhibit, Basking in a Golden Glow, filled with old signs, cutlery, photos and menus.
In early 2025 the Schneiders announced they were ready to retire. CHCH News reported that the Arbor, the Erie Beach Hotel and Arbortown Mini Golf were all up for sale, and that the family hoped a buyer would keep the traditions going.
That buyer turned up. In March 2026 the Maple Leaf reported that Tony Zeng and Victor Lu would take over the Arbor on May 28, after the Schneiders saw it through the opening weeks of the season. Lu, who owns the Shire Pub and Restaurant in Simcoe, told the paper the plan was to keep the classic menu and keep it affordable. He described the new owners as custodians rather than reinventors. The current staff are coming back and the Arbor stays seasonal.
Why people keep coming back
It's simple food, and that's the point. The Arbor's own page lists the same short roll call it's been known for: Golden Glow fresh fruit drinks, fresh-cut fries, Ritz Red Hots foot-long hot dogs with a big spread of condiments, and ice cream. CHCH's coverage describes the Glow as an orange drink, and it's the Arbor's own: the recipe goes back to Carl Ryerse.
Location helps. The Arbor sits at 101 Main Street, which its own page calls the hub of the town's busy activity, steps from the beach. A Canadian Boating writer called a dog at the Arbor mandatory for visitors to Port Dover, and pointed out the vintage mini-golf course across from what he called the hot dog landmark.
Few Norfolk County summertime traditions are as sacred as having an Arbor Dog and Golden Glow on the shores of Lake Erie.
Norfolk County
The people behind the counter are part of it too. The Arbor is staffed by summer students, and Tony Schneider told the Maple Leaf he thought of them as "my kids," and loved watching them grow into young adults. When he talked about selling, he said the Arbor was all he'd ever done.
Before you go
The Arbor is at 101 Main Street in Port Dover, at the lake end of the street near the beach. It's seasonal: its official page says it is open from mid-March to Thanksgiving weekend, so plan a spring, summer or early-fall visit. The details are on the Arbor's page on the Erie Beach Hotel site.
Making a day of it in Norfolk County? Our Southwestern Ontario retro road trip ends nearby, and if you like your lunch with some history, try our list of old-school Ontario diners.
Details checked October 2026. Hours and seasons change — confirm with the business before you go.
