The first Der Wienerschnitzel fast-food restaurant opened in Wilmington in 1961.
John Galardi was a student at Pasadena City College when he encountered Glen Bell Jr. in a chance meeting across the street from campus.
Bell hired him at 50 cents an hour for part-time work making hot sauce in a commissary he owned. Galardi worked his way up to manager, and, at the age of 20, Galardi took over one of Bell's restaurants in a partnership agreement.
The restaurant was a Taco Bell, an early location of the mammoth chain that Bell had founded. Eventually Galardi ended up owning his own Taco Bell location.
When investors came to him with the opportunity to start his own restaurant, Galardi jumped at the chance. It turned out that the site they had acquired to build on in Wilmington was right next to one of Bell's taco restaurants. Galardi checked it out with Bell, who was fine with the idea so long as Galardi promised not to sell tacos.
After looking around at the then-nascent fast-food market, it occurred to Galardi that none of his competitors - Taco Bell, McDonald's and others - were selling hot dogs. He decided to give selling grilled dogs at 15 cents a pop a try at his new location.
A young boy enjoys a Der Wienerschnitzel hot dog outside of the original restaurant in Wilmington. Photo: Wienerschnitzel.
Glen Bell's wife suggested naming the restaurant Der Wienerschnitzel. Galardi hated the name first, but then came to see it as an attention-getting device. German language speakers were quick to point out that the grammar was incorrect - the name should have been Das Wienerschnitzel. Some also have pointed out that the chain actually never has sold the German breaded veal dish - wienerschnitzel - from which it takes its name.
In any case, Galardi opened the first Der Weinerschnitzel 50 years ago at 900 Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington, just east of Figueroa Avenue, in 1961. It was an eye-catching A-frame building painted in red and white, with a striking yellow roof.
Galardi soon added one of the industry's first drive-through pickup windows, which became a popular innovation. His small buildings had no interior seating, so the drive-through window encouraged customers to eat the food somewhere else. It also cut down on problems the chain had with teens loitering in the restaurant's small parking lot. Drive-through sales eventually would account for 70% of the chain's business.
Der Wienerschnitzel took off in the mid-1960s, mushrooming from its sole Wilmington location to a high of 450 outlets in 1975, the majority of them franchisees. Currently, there are about 350 locations, mostly in the Southwestern states.
Wienerschnitzel founder John Galardi, right, and president and CEO Dennis Tase chomp on their product in this 2001 photo. Credit: The Associated Press.
Glen Bell Jr. died on Jan. 17, 2010 at 86. Galardi, 73, continues to head the chain he founded through his Irvine company, Galardi Group, Inc., which was renamed from Der Wienerschnitzel International Inc. in 1986. The Galardi Group also owns Tastee-Freeze and the Original Hamburger Stand.
The "Der" was dropped from the restaurant's name in 1977, and it has been known as just "Wienerschnitzel" ever since. The original gothic-lettered logo also was replaced with the simpler "W" logo the chain currently uses (left).
And the Wilmington location where it all started? It's still a thriving restaurant, selling its share of the 120 million hot dogs that Wienerschnitzel sells annually as the world's largest hot dog chain.
Though it has been remodeled, the original Wienerschnitzel restaurant still does business at its Pacific Coast Highway site in Wilmington. Daily Breeze photo, June 2011.
Sources:
"Galardi Group Inc.," Funding Universe website, www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Galardi-Group-Inc.
"History of the Hot Dog," Wienerschnitzel website, http://www.wienerschnitzel.com/about_our_history.php.
"Hot Dog King Tries Rice Bowls," by The Associated Press, Honolulu Advertiser, July 16, 2001.
"The Wiener King: How John Galardi Built a Fast-Food Empire," by Darren Dahl, American Express OPEN Forum, http://www.openforum.com/articles/the-wiener-king-how-john-galardi-built-der-wienerschnitzel.
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