History
Der Wienerschnitzel was the brainchild of John N. Galardi, whose first job upon arriving in California at age 19 was from Glen Bell (later the founder of Taco Bell). 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. Bell offered to sell the store to Galardi for $12,000, who later amassed enough money to make the purchase.
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 June 1961 as a hot-dog stand at 1362 Gulf Avenue in the Los Angeles community of Wilmington.[13] The article "der" was removed from the chain's name, and a new logo, designed by Bass/Yager & Associates[14], debuted at the beginning of 1979. The iteration currently in use is a slight redesign from 2007.
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.[15] She was the corporation's first and only woman in a managerial position, later appearing in reality television series Undercover Boss in 2016.[16]
In 2015, the company signed a franchise agreement with International Food Concepts Inc. to plan and open Wienerschnitzel locations in Panama.[4]
