Irvine-based Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, hits the big 5-0 this year.
Not bad for a misnamed company in an era when about 29% of U.S. businesses survive 10 years, according to the Office of Advocacy in the U.S. Small Business Administration.
John Galardi, then 23, was itching to start his own restaurant after working four years for Glenn Bell, founder of Taco Bell.
He decided on a hot dog stand on Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington because “no one else was doing hot dogs,” says Tom Amberger, current Wienerschnitzel Vice President of Marketing.
Bell’s wife was looking through a cookbook and saw a recipe for Wiener Schnitzel, a Viennese version of breaded cutlet – which has nothing to do with sausages, hot dogs or sauerkraut – and suggested the name to Galardi.
“He thought it was the silliest thing he ever heard of, but it stuck,” Amberger says.
The original name was Der Wienerschnitzel, but the company dropped the Der in 1978.