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Wienerschnitzel returning to Houston


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I saw an ad from Wienerschnitzel in the business section of today's Chronicle which reads "Wienerschnitzel is now offering new franchising opportunities in Houston." From what I hear, there hasn't been a Wienerschnitzel in Houston in 25-30 years.

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I never knew they were ever here. I saw but never ate at one in California. I doubt I will if/when they come as I've only eaten at James Coney Island like once or twice in my whole life.

you're too young so don't try and lead a discussion on this subject.

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I never knew they were ever here. I saw but never ate at one in California. I doubt I will if/when they come as I've only eaten at James Coney Island like once or twice in my whole life.

OK, I'll bite. What is Wienerschnitzel? I've never seen one.

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OK, I'll bite. What is Wienerschnitzel? I've never seen one.

Fast food hot dog joint (is that repetitive?).

you're too young so don't try and lead a discussion on this subject.

How young to you have to be? I don't think I have that many years on lockmat but have had my share of Wienerschnitzel. They have at least one in Baton Rouge, when we were feeling really cheap back in college we would make it there. The only thing that annoyed me were the really small drinks. And I think they only had 1 size, it was maybe 10 ounces. The place we went do didn't even have a dine-in area, it was drive through and walk-up to eat on outside tables only.

Edited by 20thStDad
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OK, I'll bite. What is Wienerschnitzel? I've never seen one.

It's a hot dog restaurant. Back in the day they were built as an 'A' frame building like some of the older Whataburger restaurants. I distinctly remember visiting one in Houston during January of 1968! I believe it was on Long Point Road. That neighborhood was quite a bit different than it is today. I also (sort of) remember a Wagon Wheel which was a drive up hamburger stand nearby.

My grandmother lived in Spring Branch at the time and my sister and I would spend the occasional Friday or Saturday evening with her when my parents would have an evening out (we were both in elementary school at the time). Nana was not a "cook" but she did seem to know what a couple of youngsters would like for dinner.

I'm certain of the January 1968 date because the garage at our home burned on 1/20 of that year (we think it was set as a diversion for several robberies in the neighborhood). Though the living space wasn't damaged the whole house was pretty smoky so we had dinner every night of the ensuing week at friends' homes or at fast food restaurants. My sister and I thought it was kinda fun - my parents, probably not so much.

Even though I remember going to der Wienerschnitzel I couldn't tell you now if they had good hot dogs. I was a little kid then and I think my tastes have changed. I might have enjoyed the novelty more than the food. I enjoy a James' Coney Island hot dog now and then. I also liked to visit Big Franks. There used to be one of those on Montrose just north of Westheimer.

I looked on the der Wienerschnitzel web site and the closest current restaurants are in Bryan and around Austin. A US map on the web site suggests there are some in the Houston area but I couldn't find them.

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I never knew they were ever here. I saw but never ate at one in California. I doubt I will if/when they come as I've only eaten at James Coney Island like once or twice in my whole life.

Then I take it you didn't take advantage of JCI's 87¢ chili dogs last Thursday? Too bad.

There was a Weinerschnitzel where I went to college. And my opinion is m'eh, they're hotdogs. It's tough to get excited about hotdogs.

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you're too young so don't try and lead a discussion on this subject.

I'm also too young to have seen Wienerschnitzel in Houston (but definitely old enough to remember Weiner's if that makes a difference.) I've lived here for 37 years. Or maybe we just didn't need them on the SE side, because we already had a JCI. :)

Only places I've seen a Wienerschnitzel are down in Corpus, in Amarillo, and on the West Coast. Never had one. How does it compare to JCI?

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I remember Der Weinerschnitzel... I went to the one in Pasadena, on Southmore, in the late 1960's. It was close to the Foley's.

You drove thru a short little tunnel in the A-frame, to the drive-in window to order your hotdog. I always thought the sauerkraut option was bizarre, I was only 6 or so.

For some reason, I remember the soda cups, probably paper "Dixie" cups, white paper wax with those horizontal green chain designs at the top.

As far as the food quality, I can't recall.

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I remember Der Weinerschnitzel... I went to the one in Pasadena, on Southmore, in the late 1960's. It was close to the Foley's.

You drove thru a short little tunnel in the A-frame, to the drive-in window to order your hotdog. I always thought the sauerkraut option was bizarre, I was only 6 or so.

For some reason, I remember the soda cups, probably paper "Dixie" cups, white paper wax with those horizontal green chain designs at the top.

As far as the food quality, I can't recall.

The building is still there. It's now called "9ers" and they sell burgers and fries.

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I'm also too young to have seen Wienerschnitzel in Houston (but definitely old enough to remember Weiner's if that makes a difference.) I've lived here for 37 years. Or maybe we just didn't need them on the SE side, because we already had a JCI. :)

Only places I've seen a Wienerschnitzel are down in Corpus, in Amarillo, and on the West Coast. Never had one. How does it compare to JCI?

We had one in Montrose, just east of the curve on Westheimer. There was also a Prince's drive-in where the Valero is now.

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I remember we had a Der Weinerschnitzel in SW Houston near the intersection of Hillcroft and Bissonnet just east of Bayland park. It was housed in a long red and orange A-Frame building that ran length wise along Hillcroft and the drive thru lane went right through the A-Frame and exited on Pine street.

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I never knew they were ever here. I saw but never ate at one in California. I doubt I will if/when they come as I've only eaten at James Coney Island like once or twice in my whole life.

Blasphemy!!

That's all I got to say about it.

I've had Schnitzel, but not WIENERschnitzel, but I'd be game. For some reason, I've had a hankering from some german food as of late.

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I remember the one on Westheimer. We lived in a little garage apartment at Fairview and Park. Very late 60's.

It's funny how some things are remembered and other things are easily forgotten.

I have no idea if they were good or not. File that under the 'forgotten' heading.

Jack in the Box was popular with my crowd back then. We'd go there most of the time. Cheap burgers with secret sauce!!

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I remember Der Weinerschnitzel... I went to the one in Pasadena, on Southmore, in the late 1960's. It was close to the Foley's.

You drove thru a short little tunnel in the A-frame, to the drive-in window to order your hotdog. I always thought the sauerkraut option was bizarre, I was only 6 or so.

For some reason, I remember the soda cups, probably paper "Dixie" cups, white paper wax with those horizontal green chain designs at the top.

As far as the food quality, I can't recall.

the one at southmore and witter is the same one my dad used to take me to. i, too, was around six.

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Wienerschnitzel, or "schnitzel from Vienna" is an Austrian dish made from flattened, tenderized veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried. It looks like chicken fried steak and is usually served with a lemon slice. It is also sometimes made from pork but in Austria the name is protected by law and can only be used for veal. "Wiener" of course, means "Viennese" in German. It always annoys me that this perfectly elegant European dish has had its name co-opted by a fast-food hot dog place.

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Wienerschnitzel, or "schnitzel from Vienna" is an Austrian dish made from flattened, tenderized veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried. It looks like chicken fried steak and is usually served with a lemon slice. It is also sometimes made from pork but in Austria the name is protected by law and can only be used for veal. "Wiener" of course, means "Viennese" in German. It always annoys me that this perfectly elegant European dish has had its name co-opted by a fast-food hot dog place.

Dude, der wienerschnitzel was fast food - hot dogs, corn dogs and such.

wiener.gif

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Wienerschnitzel, or "schnitzel from Vienna" is an Austrian dish made from flattened, tenderized veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  It looks like chicken fried steak and is usually served with a lemon slice.   It is also sometimes made from pork but in Austria the name is protected by law and can only be used for veal.   "Wiener" of course, means "Viennese" in German.   It always annoys me that this perfectly elegant European dish has had its name co-opted by a fast-food hot dog place.

Now you've made me hungry. May have to go to Rudi Lechner's after work. 

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Dude, der wienerschnitzel was fast food - hot dogs, corn dogs and such.

wiener.gif

Hot dogs and corn dogs are Viennese? And here I thought they were an American concoction to make us something tasty but fattening.

Damn.

Now I want a corn dog.

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Dude, der wienerschnitzel was fast food - hot dogs, corn dogs and such.

wiener.gif

As the last sentence of my post made clear, I thought. The "Der Wienerschnitzel" chain is about as German as Taco Bell is Mexican. I was just making the point that the actual dish "Wienerschnitzel" has nothing to do with sausage. They're just making a play on the common usage of "wiener" as a hot dog. This Wikipedia article has a lot of interesting information, not least of which is that "Der Wienerschnitzel" is grammatically incorrect in German and the restaurant chain dropped the "Der" in 1977.

Wikipedia article

My wife was once very upset to learn that the department store Weiner's (spelled E-I) did not sell hot dogs, nor any kind of food.

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As the last sentence of my post made clear, I thought. The "Der Wienerschnitzel" chain is about as German as Taco Bell is Mexican. I was just making the point that the actual dish "Wienerschnitzel" has nothing to do with sausage. They're just making a play on the common usage of "wiener" as a hot dog. This Wikipedia article has a lot of interesting information, not least of which is that "Der Wienerschnitzel" is grammatically incorrect in German and the restaurant chain dropped the "Der" in 1977.

Wikipedia article

My wife was once very upset to learn that the department store Weiner's (spelled E-I) did not sell hot dogs, nor any kind of food.

I was upset when Weiner's closed. That's where I used to by my Levi's for less.

Back to wieners, does anyone remember what the wiener shack was named on Montrose? It was where that Slider's place is now, even before the Chinese joint.

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I remember Big Franks on Kirby -- I have an ad somewhere but I can't find it!

Looks like Tex-Fried Chicken was at the Little Big's/Ming's location in the 1970s and at least until 1980. Not sure after that..

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I lived just a couple of blocks from the DR on Westheimer (at Graustark?) in the early 70s but went only once. In Austin I had eaten many times at the DR just off the Drag on 24th street but there were a lot more food options in Houston - lower Westheimer was Restaurant Row back then. Within a couple of blocks were Ari's Grenouille, Original Marini's Empanada House, Udder Delite, Los Troncos; further down were several including Hungry International and I think Michaelangelo's was around back then.

I went to a Wienerschnitzel on Braker Lane in Austin back in January, just to see what it was like after all these years. The basic wiener is a little bit better than the JCI but the toppings weren't. However, they now have an 'Angus Beef Dog' that I thought was pretty good - you could actually have the sense there was some meat included in the sausage.

The JCI Chili Cheese Coney is an iconic Houston dish and I have to have a fix every now and then but it's really a mediocre wiener - it's all about the toppings. And it's really hard to get excited about a hot dog, anyway.

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I remember Big Franks on Kirby -- I have an ad somewhere but I can't find it!

Looks like Tex-Fried Chicken was at the Little Big's/Ming's location in the 1970s and at least until 1980. Not sure after that..

Sev, I came to Houston in 1980; I don't remember Tex-Fried at all. I am almost completely sure that Big Franks was there in the mid to late 80s and maybe early 90s. I ate at the Kirby location a few times; as I recall they made a big deal about using Vienna Beef wieners. They were good but as several others have stated, it's hard to get real excited about going to a restaurant to eat hot dogs.

Edited by marmer
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I miss not having any all beef wiener options any more.

What has the world come to when we can get almost 30 comments in on a wiener thread and no one is willing to make the obvious joke? It's a sad day for potty humor everywhere.

And rsb, you're in Montrose. The beef wiener options are near limitless.

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