In California, Hollywood was booming. "West Side Story" was the hit movie. The population was growing. And the miracle happened. Yes, in the same year I was born, John Galardi opened the first DerWienerschnitzel. For you young people, the first 15 years of the company's history there was a Der in front of Wienerschnitzel.

 As I grew, so did DerWienerschnitzel. In the 1960's DerWienerschnitzel grew from a single hot dog stand to almost nation wide. I don't know how far east they made it, but I know they went as far as Birmingham, Alabama. It was one of the "A" frame buildings with the drive thru in the middle of the building. It was located on Center Point Parkway. I don't remember my first DerWienerschnitzel hot dog. I remember going to that groovy "A" frame building with the red roof. It had a drive thru in the middle of the building, but we liked going to the walk up window. There was a patio with metal umbrellas over the tables. We would sit at those tables and eat those great hot dogs and corn dogs. They had the best milk shakes in town, too.

 

MY EVOLUTION

 

 I didn't think of DerWienerschnitzel hot dogs as being special as a kid. Getting to go out and eat was a rare event. It was a thrill to go. As a kid, I only topped my hot dogs with mustard. I still love a good mustard dog. As I matured, so did my taste buds. About the time I hit my teen years I started adding onions to my mustard dog. I know it doesn't sound drastic, but I was a picky eater. I was evolving into someone who could enjoy the different textures of food, plus the delicate spices that change food from substinance, to enjoyment.

 When I turned 16 I started looking for a job. I didn't have a car, so I needed to work close to home, and I would not work on Sunday.  To the best of my recollection, DerWienerschnitzel was the first and only place I applied. Glynn Houston was the franchisee and manager. Although they were open on Sunday, I think Mr. Houston respected my beliefs, and agreed to hire me. I think there was another reason, too. Employees at that DerWienerschnitzel were allowed to eat all they wanted, for free. I was 5'8" tall and weighed about 130 lbs. He must have thought I wouldn't eat into his profits. Wrong! I was an avid runner and burned up a lot of energy!

 Working at DerWienerschnitzel for Glynn Houston was a lot of fun, and important to my future. Carrying on with what my parents taught me early in life, Mr. Houston taught me to work hard for rewards. While working for him I gained responsibility as I earned it. Over time, he trusted me to basically run the operation at night and go to the farmer's market for fresh vegetables.

 The most important thing he taught me was to constantly check on quality. He would often grab a wiener of the grill and take just one bite out of it, to make sure we were getting a quality product for our customers. Meat salesmen would come around and try to get us to buy their wieners. He used Oscar Meyer (all of this is to the best of my recollection) hot dogs, and when a salesman came in he would make them try to prove that they had a better hot dog at a better price. The price was always cheaper, and the quality never as high. He wouldn't buy the cheaper product. He always bought the best quality meats for the chili, the best buns, the best polish sausages, the highest quality toppings. I remember when McDonald's changed their Milk Shake machines to the faster and cheaper shake mix. That's when they stopped calling them "milk" shakes, and just started calling them "shakes". People could taste the difference, and came to DerWienerschnitzel for our shakes. Mr. Houston just wouldn't switch to an inferior product for the cost savings. It just wasn't in him.

 At some point while I was working at DerWienerschnitzel, I tried a chili dog. Big mistake. I didn't know that I was starting a life long addiction. If I had known how addicting the chili would be, or that it wouldn't be available to me later in life, I would have stuck with the mustard dog. I quickly changed my favorite hot dog to the chili cheese dog. As my tastes developed, so did my favorite hot dog. Eventually my favorite hot dog became the chili cheese, with swiss cheese in stead of american, with onions. On a wild night, I would add a little sour kraut or mustard.

 Now, in my 40's, I have deversified my tastes. I enjoy different types of sausages. I love a good "chicago" style dog. But beyond any doubt, my favorite hot dog of all time, is the chili cheese dog, swiss cheese, and onions, with WIENERSCHNITZEL chili. Any other type of chili doesn't cut the mustard.

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO DERWIENERSCHNITZEL IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA?

 

 Honestly, I don't really know. I worked at DerWienerschnitzel until 1979. I hated leaving Mr. Houston and DerWienerschnitzel, but there were higher paying jobs and more responsibilities in the horizon.

 I still lived in the same place, and went to DerWienerschnitzel often. No one had a better chili dog. No one.

 In January 1981 I joined the military. I went off to fight for my country (we weren't in a war, but I did get into a few fights) and lived in Germany and New Hampshire. Guess what they don't have in Germany or New Hampshire. DerWienerschnitzel. I was able to get some when I came home on leave. At some point, while I was serving our nation, Wienerschnitzel left Alabama. If I had known what was going on, I never would have allowed it. I would have started this movement 20 years earlier. I would have tied up Wienerschnitzel in the courts. I would have brought in a squadron of my Air Force friends and stopped it. I didn't know about it until it was too late.

 I don't know what officially happened to DerWienereschnitzel in Center Point (suburb of Birmingham), Alabama. I never had the nerve to ask Mr. Houston. I have talked to him a few times over the years, as late as 2003. He is in the grocery industry and doing well. I can tell you the rumors about the missing Wienerschnitzel. I remind you, these are rumors, and not known to be factual. Wienerschnitzel started selling hamburgers. That is fine and dandy, as long as you don't get rid of the hot dogs or chili. The problem was, Mr. Houston didn't think we had enough room for the hamburger business in our building. Wienerschnitzel was playing around with a new franchise, The Original Hamburger Stand. Basically cheap verisions, really cheap, of the McDonalds hamburger. I understand Wienerschnitzel sued Mr. Houston to get him to add hamburgers to the menu. They won, he lost and the Wienerschnitzel was gone. Wienerschnitzel put a "Original Hamburger Stand" in the building. Unfortunatly there was a Krystals, Burger King, McDonalds, and an indepent hamburger stand, all within one block of the "Original Hamburger Stand". Why in the name of all in heaven Wienerschnitzel thought Center Point needed another hamburger place is beyond me. The losers were everyone in the area who loved a good hot dog. And that was a lot of people. We did a lot of business there as DerWienereschnitzel. Now the building is a hot wing  (or is it tacos, or chinese food, or pet supplies?) place, I think. That building has housed a lot of resteraunts in the past 20 years.

 The closest place to get a Wienerschnitzel to Birmingham, is Baton Rouge, Louisianna. For more fun, read about the "Louisianna Chili Dog Quest".