Company type | Subsidiary of The Galardi Group |
---|---|
Industry | Restaurants |
Genre | Fast food |
Founded | Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1961 ) |
Founder | John Galardi |
Headquarters | , U.S |
Number of locations | 358 |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Cindy Culpepper (CEO, The Galardi Group) |
Products | |
Revenue | US$341 million (2019) [1] |
Number of employees | 5,000 (2019) [1] |
Parent | The Galardi Group |
Website | wienerschnitzel |
Wienerschnitzel is an American fast food chain that specializes in hot dogs and other food products. The brand was founded in 1961 by former Taco Bell employee John Galardi and originally named Der Wienerschnitzel. Despite the name, the company does not ordinarily sell Wiener schnitzel, doing so once as a promotion. [2] Wienerschnitzel locations are found predominantly in California and Texas; others are found in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Washington, as well as the U.S. territory of Guam. [3] Outside the United States of America, there are stores located in Ecuador. [4]
The chain is most notable for the A-frame roofs of its older restaurants, similar to the original structures used by IHOP, Tastee-Freez, Nickerson Farms, and Whataburger. The chain's advertising mascot is an anthropomorphized hot dog known as The Delicious One. [5] [6]
Wienerschnitzel sponsors the Wiener Nationals, the de facto national dachshund racing championship series in the United States. [7]
The word das Wienerschnitzel is German, and like Jägerschnitzel and Zigeunerschnitzel , was spelled as one word before the spelling reform of 1996. [8] The restaurant's name is a portmanteau of Wiener and Schnitzel, meaning "Viennese" and "cutlet" respectively.
In American English, wiener is a colloquial name for a hot dog, which is sometimes called Wiener Würstchen ("little Viennese sausage") in German. [9] The specific phrase Wiener Schnitzel denotes a "Viennese breaded veal cutlet", [10] [11] something the restaurant chain has served briefly as a limited menu item in 2017. [2]
The chain dropped the (in German wrong) "Der" from its name, shortening it to Wienerschnitzel in 1977, though many franchises have retained the older name on their restaurants. The restaurant paid homage to its original name in its 2009 marketing slogan, using the word "DERlicious".[ citation needed ]
The first Wienerschnitzel was founded by former Taco Bell employee John Galardi. When Galardi came to California at the age of 19, his first job was from Glen Bell, who would go on to later establish Taco Bell in 1962. Bell initially hired him on a part-time basis for 50 cents an hour at a taco store called Taco-Tia. Eventually, Galardi entered into a partnership agreement to run the store. He offered to sell the store to Galardi for $12,000, later amassing enough money to pay.
A couple of years later, a man wanted to recruit Galardi to start his own restaurant at a location on Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington, next to one of Bell's taco stores. Bell encouraged him to take the offer, but wanted to have Galaradi sell another kind of food; Galardi decided to sell hot dogs. According to Galardi, his wife came up with the name when looking through a cookbook. He was initially skeptical of the name, saying, "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.'" [12] The first location was opened in 1961 as a hot-dog stand at 900 West Pacific Coast Highway, east of Figueroa Street, in the Los Angeles community of Wilmington. [13]
In the late 1980s, Galardi converted several stores in Denver, Colorado, and other Western cities into Hamburger Stand restaurants. Wienerschnitzels now sell Tastee-Freez ice cream, another brand owned by Galardi. [13]
Galardi died of pancreatic cancer on April 13, 2013. [13] His ex-wife, Cynthia Galardi-Culpepper, who previously was a silent partner, assumed the role as CEO and chairwoman after his death. [14] She was the corporation's first and only woman in a managerial position, later appearing in reality television series Undercover Boss in 2016. [15]
In 2015, the company signed a franchise agreement with International Food Concepts Inc. to plan and open Wienerschnitzel locations in Panama. [4]
Soon after the rebrand, the current Wienerschnitzel logo was created by graphic designer Saul Bass in 1978. [16]
The former mascot of Wienerschnitzel was Wienerdog; he had kids' audiobook and sing-along tapes from the late 80s to the mid 90s along with Heather Hotspots, Roger the Rhino, and Rosa Iguana.
The Delicious One (TDO), Wienerschnitzel's mascot, has been put in advertisements since 1999. The slogan, "The World's Most Wanted Wiener", is used in all of TDO's commercials. Newer commercials have focused on describing their food products and are produced in live-action.
Wienerschnitzel uses the slogan "DERlicious" in advertising, alluding to the time before the company dropped the "Der" from its name in 1977. Some newer commercials use the slogan "Hot Dogs are DER again!", along with the DERlicious logo.
A campaign in the early 2010s saw the old Der Wienerschnitzel logo used on wrappers, fry boxes, etc.
Celebrating Wienerschnitzel, the restaurant created a new slogan that was released in 2011 to continue the "Der" theme: "Der fun since '61!".
Company type | Private |
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Industry | Restaurants |
Founded | 1970 |
Founder | John Galardi |
Headquarters | , U.S |
Number of locations | 379 (January 2022) |
Key people | JR Galardi (CEO) |
Revenue | US$501 million (2021) |
Owner | Galardi family |
Number of employees | 8,000 (2019) |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | The Galardi Group |
The Galardi Group, the parent company of Wienerschnitzel, Tastee-Freez, and Original Hamburger Stand, was formed by John Galardi in 1970.
In 1979, Wienerschnitzel attempted to expand its menus by adding hamburgers. With little success in the 1980s, the company established two chains in 1983, The Original Hamburger Stand and Weldon's Gourmet Hamburgers, [17] which was cast off in the 1990s. [18] Some Wienerschnitzel locations were replaced with The Original Hamburger Stands.
By 2003, The Galardi Group became a franchisee of Tastee-Freez and made its products available in Wienerschnitzel and Original Hamburger Stand. [19] Due to increased sales, The Galardi Group later bought Tastee-Freez. [19] [20]
The Descendents' song "Weinerschnitzel" from their 1981 release Fat EP takes the form of a satirical skit in which the band's frontman Milo Aukerman orders a meal from the restaurant. [21]
The cuisine of California reflects the diverse culture of California and is influenced largely by European American, Hispanic American, East Asian and Oceanian influences, and Western European influences, as well as the food trends and traditions of larger American cuisine.
Glen William Bell Jr. was an American restaurateur who founded Taco Bell.
Schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutton, beef, or turkey. Schnitzel originated as wiener schnitzel and is very similar to other breaded meat dishes.
The Dodger Dog is a hot dog named after the Major League Baseball franchise that sells them, the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is a 10-inch pork wiener wrapped in a steamed bun. The hot dog is sold at Dodger Stadium located in Los Angeles, California. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, the projected number of 2011 season hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium was 2 million—establishing Dodger Dogs as the leader in hot dog sales of all those sold in Major League Baseball ballparks.
Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently, under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and was then sold to STEN Corporation. As of April 2024, the company operates 1 location in Michigan. The majority of the chain's locations focused entirely on drive-thru service, featuring a small-footprint building with a tall, slanted roof style. Some previous locations were more traditional fast-food locations, complete with seating, and others were combined with gas stations.
Fosters Freeze is a chain of fast-food restaurants in California. Its first location, on La Brea Avenue in Inglewood, California, was opened by George Foster in 1946 and is still operating.
Pup 'N' Taco was a privately owned chain of fast-food restaurants in Southern California; the chain's headquarters were located in Long Beach, California. The business was begun by Russell Wendell in 1956 as a drive-in restaurant that served tacos, hot dogs, and pastrami sandwiches. Russell already owned Big DoNut, a chain of successful doughnut stores in Los Angeles that featured gigantic doughnuts atop a drive-in bakery. The first officially branded Pup 'N' Taco was opened in Pasadena, California in 1965.
Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. is an American franchisee company and is the largest Burger King franchisee in the world; Carrols owns and operates over 1,000+ Burger Kings, and 55 Popeyes restaurants. The company has operated Burger Kings since 1976 in locations across 23 U.S. states.
A hot dog stand is a business that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter. Hot dog stands can be located on a public thoroughfare, near a sports stadium, in a shopping mall, or at a fair. They are often found on the streets of major American cities. According to one report, some hot dog stands are paying up to $80,000 in rent for prime locations in Manhattan.
Tastee-Freez is an American franchised fast-food restaurant specializing in soft serve ice cream. Its corporate headquarters is in Newport Beach, California, and the chain has stores in four states. The first Tastee-Freez was established in Keithsburg, Illinois, and Tastee-Freez products are now available at four remaining ice cream stores and approximately 375 locations of quick-serve restaurants, Wienerschnitzel and Original Hamburger Stand.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
A vegetarian hot dog is a hot dog produced completely from non-meat products. Unlike traditional home-made meat sausages, the casing is not made of intestine, but of cellulose or other plant-based ingredients. The filling is usually based on some sort of soy protein, wheat gluten, or pea protein. Some may contain egg whites, which would make them unsuitable for a lacto-vegetarian or vegan diet.
Hamburger Stand is a regional fast food chain in the western United States. Besides its low-cost burgers, the restaurant's menu features items from its sister companies Wienerschnitzel and Tastee-Freez at some of its locations. It has locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Wyoming.
The Wieners Circle is a hot dog stand on Clark Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is known for its Maxwell Street Polish, Char-dogs, hamburgers, cheese fries, and the mutual verbal abuse between the employees and the customers during the late-weekend hours.
Nu-Way Weiners, Inc., is a company that operates a chain of fast food restaurants in the Middle Georgia area. The first Nu-Way restaurant opened in Macon, Georgia, United States, on February 27, 1916, at 218 Cotton Avenue in downtown Macon. Nu-Way is known for its iconic hot dogs – unique for their red color. Nu-Way also serves an extensive breakfast menu which includes egg platters, bacon & egg sandwiches, spicy dog biscuits, pancakes, etc. In addition Nu-Way is famous for their hamburgers which include their chili-burgers, cheeseburgers and Mega-Burgers.
Wiener schnitzel, sometimes spelled Wienerschnitzel, is a type of schnitzel made of a thin, breaded, pan-fried veal cutlet. Serving it with sauce is considered a sacrilege in Austria.
A Würstelstand is a traditional Austrian street food retail outlet selling hot dogs, sausages, and side dishes. They are a ubiquitous sight in Vienna.
A taco stand or taquería is a food stall, food cart or restaurant that specializes in tacos and other Mexican dishes. The food is typically prepared quickly and tends to be inexpensive. Many various ingredients may be used, and various taco styles may be served. Taco stands are an integral part of Mexican street food. Tacos became a part of traditional Mexican cuisine in the early 20th century, beginning in Mexico City, as what had been a miner's snack began to be sold on street corners in the city. Shops selling tacos have since proliferated throughout Mexico and other areas with a heavy Mexican culinary and cultural influence, including much of the Western United States and most other larger American cities. More typical taquerías specialize in tacos, as expected, but in some localities it can be used to refer to restaurants specializing in burritos, where tacos themselves are less of a point of emphasis.