Wienerschnitzel
| File:Wienerschnitzel logo.png | |
| Company type | Fast-Food |
|---|---|
| Founded | Los Angeles, California, USA (1961) |
Wienerschnitzel is an American fast-food chain founded in 1961 as "Der Wienerschnitzel" that specializes in hot dogs, but is currently expanding to other items. Wienerschnitzel locations are almost entirely limited to California, Texas, and the Southwestern United States; this is despite the restaurant promoting itself as "The World's Largest Hot Dog Chain". The easternmost location, which suddenly closed early in 2009, was in Champaign, Illinois, is geographically isolated, as well as the westernmost location, in Tamuning, Guam, and the northernmost location (also isolated from the chain) in Burlington, Wa. The chain's advertising mascot is an anthropomorphic hot dog who runs from people who want to eat him.
The chain is recognizable by the tall and steeply pitched roofs of its restaurants, similar to the original structures used by IHOP and Whataburger. Structures that have been converted from Wienerschnitzels into other restaurants often retain the distinctive architecture.
Wienerschnitzel's sponsors the tongue-in-cheek Wiener Nationals, the de facto national dachshund racing championship series for the United States.
The first Wienerschnitzel was opened by John Galardi in 1961. This location, which is still in operation as of today, was a hot dog stand on Pacific Coast Highway, east of Figueroa Street, in the Los Angeles community of Wilmington.
A handful of Wienerschnitzels were converted into The Original Hamburger Stand restaurants in the Denver area and several other Western cities in the late 1980s by the founder, John Galardi. Wienerschnitzels now sell Tastee-Freez ice cream, a brand also owned by Galardi.
Wienerschnitzel does not actually serve Wiener Schnitzel.
Etymology
"Der Wienerschnitzel" is an example of incorrect use of German by native English speakers.
The expression der Wienerschnitzel is German—however the correct article to use in this case is the neuter form das, not the masculine der. This is true for both the actual food (das Schnitzel) and the restaurant itself (das Restaurant, das Lokal), though in the genitive plural, the article does change to "der": Das Restaurant der Wienerschnitzel would be grammatically correct though at least awkward; it literally translates to "the Wiener Schnitzels' restaurant".
Strictly, Wienerschnitzel might also be seen as incorrect, since the term is a two-word expression in German. As one word only it can suggest that natives of Vienna (Wiener) have been processed as Schnitzel. The grammatically correct usage would be Das Wiener Schnitzel.
Wiener Schnitzel actually means "breaded veal cutlet, Vienna style", a dish that the restaurant chain does not sell. Colloquially, however, a "Wiener", from "Wiener Würstchen", is another name for a hot dog. The chain changed its name to "Wienerschnitzel" (sans article) in 1977, though many franchises retained the older name on their restaurants and some older customers still refer to the chain as "Der Wienerschnitzel".
The etymology for this chain began as such:
"Galardi started his career in the fast-food business at age 12 as a soda jerk in Missouri. With his family he came to California at age 19 and, as fate would have it, got his first job from Glen Bell Jr., owner of Taco Bell.
'I went over and enrolled in Pasadena Junior College. I walked across the street and a guy was hosing the lot,' Galardi recalled. 'I said, 'Do you need any help?' Bell said he did and offered him a part-time job at 50 cents an hour. From this association, Galardi moved on to manage Bell's commissary at $150 a week and then into a partnership agreement with Bell to run a poor producing taco store.
Working two shifts, with his ex-wife working three part-time jobs, Galardi managed to save $6,000. Meanwhile, Bell was having financial problems and asked Galardi to loan him the $6,000. Bell was unable to pay back the loan in three months and instead offered to sell Galardi the store for $12,000 cash.
'So my folks borrowed $2,000 from Household Finance on their furniture, I let everybody go and I worked 30 days to get the other thousands and I paid $12,000 for a little taco store in Long Beach. That's how I got into the ownership position,' he said.
The next breakthrough came a couple years later when Galardi was approached by a man who wanted to build the hard-working Galardi a store on Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. It was next to one of Bell's taco stores.
Bell told Galardi to take the deal and sell something other than tacos. 'So I came up with hot dogs,' Galardi said. 'Nobody else was in hot dogs and Glen's wife named the company. I was at dinner one night at their house and Bell's wife was looking at a cookbook and said you ought to call it wienerschnitzel. I told my wife going home nobody in their right mind would call a company wienerschnitzel. Three days later, I said, 'Hell, it's better than John's Hot Dogs.'" (Orange County Business Journal. "Wienerschnitzel's John Galardi - No Ordinary Hot Dog". March 30, 1987)
Slogans
- Derlicious. (2009-present)
- America's Most Wanted Wiener
- Pushing the Boundaries of Taste (2006 - 2007)
- Chili Dog Diet (2005-2006)
- America's Most Wanted Hot Dog
- We're not just a hot dog anymore!
- Everybody loves a wiener.
- The world's largest hot dog chain.
- The world's largest wieners!
- Weiner dude attitude!
- Hamburgers and hot dogs; it's all together now (1979)
- Just thinkin about those hot dogs makes me hungry! (1970s)