Fascinating! I did a newspaper archive search based on your article. It appears that the Der Wienerschnitzel outlet in Alexandria was part of a planned DC-area expansion that never took off. From the Washington Daily News, 4/29/1968:
"Der Wienerschnitzel International, a wiener and sausage restaurant chain, plans to open 25 units in the D.C. area within three years. Most or all will be franchised. The first unit will be in Alexandria and construction on it is expected to begin next month. Currently, the company has more than 200 restaurants."
I don't see any evidence that they ever got past that single Alexandria location, however. That planned expansion is apparently so long forgotten that even the company doesn't remember it!
Oh awesome! Do you have a link to that article archive so I could include it as a note or is it like a private link? What archive service/source did you use for that?
Upon further research, I can also prove that the Hampton location was a Der Wienerschnitzel. Here's a 1969 ad in the Newport News Daily Press which they offer discount tickets a horror feature at the local movie house:
After you gave me that link I searched all of Virginia for more on the Hampton Roads stuff! I have not looked at the results but a bunch came back.
A fellow with the Virginia Dept of Historic Resources who I emailed while researching this told me he remembered eating at a Richmond Wienerschnitzel in the early 80s. That may be the case as well then! (It's Richmond and Hampton where they're entering in 2025 - basically just repeating their modestly successful attempt back then without saying it's a repeat!)
Awesome! Yes, if they were in Hampton and Newport News, then it would be plausible for them to be in Richmond too. And since the Hampton location (at least) was still around in 1980, the East Coast push clearly stuck for a while.
I'm 68 and originally from Alexandria, lived in Northern VA all my life, but moved to Tuscon last year. Never had food from Wienerschnitzel until today.
Though for some unexplained reason, whenever passing the buildings, I got this feeling. Nostalgia? My high school years in German club?
Found out today about their new funnel cake (an unusual fast food item). Was curious. Used it as an excuse to finally try out the place. First I searched Reddit to see if it was any good. Came across your article. Mention of my hometown caught my eye.
Memory jogged, I remember that Wienerschnitzel on Duke Street.
Hence, the warm fuzzies when passing Tuscon locations.
Yeah, hot dogs in the DC area by the late 60's were mostly limited to sidewalk "dirty dogs" in DC federal building areas. The grounds of Howard University which allowed independent vendors to service students who needed a quick, cheap bite. (I used to work in their law office.)
Also, hot dogs could be found at few places that mainly sold "half smokes" in black neighborhoods. (Probably mainly an option for kids, half smokes being somewhat spicy.)
The half smoke is a descendant of the German sausages of Texas barbecue fame. Which now makes me wonder if they brought to the DC area by recently freed slaves from Texas. Since the ex-slaves typically migrated to DC with the understanding that the government would protect them from recapture, I wonder now whether half smokes evolved as a "DC thing" because of this. An influx of people from Texas who found out they were free before others did.
Most enslaved persons in Texas were not told of their freedom until a Northern general rode down to an organized gathering and made an announcement. This was two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. (Which is the sole origin of the Juneteenth holiday. Maybe the timing of discovering your article (June 20) is what got me thinking.) :)
I was fortunate enough to grow up around the corner from a half-smoke place in Old Town Alexandria on the south side. (Your Wienerschnitzel was just outside of Old Town.) I could walk to George Washington's townhouse from my half smoke joint if I wanted to.
The half smoke place on the north side (Weenie Beenie, still there), was also was way better than Ben's Chili Bowl in DC. Perhaps you've heard of it? Again, they served grilled hot dogs, but mostly chili dogs in addition to plain and chili half smokes. They had a big revival in the 2000-aughts and now have a refrigerator and frozen food line.
And now there are several GOURMET half smoke spots where hipsters and Gen-Z hang out in the DMV. They don't bother to offer hot dogs, though.
Five Guys, whose first location was Alexandria, has kept hot dogs (choose your toppings, they're free!) on its menu since it opened in the early 90's. (When their first bun was absolutely heavenly, but unfortunately the bakery closed.)
But I'm sure their dogs do better here in Tuscon than in my hometown.
If what I'm surmising about the ex-slaves from Texas is true ... and if I'm recalling correctly the other East Coast areas you or your informers mentioned ... these other locales would've had half-smoke joints back then ... which would've sold chili dogs (as well as chili half smokes). Maybe that was behind Wienerschnitzel's targeting.
But the design of the place (Fachwerk) was likely to feel unwelcoming. Smacking of Old Europe. Not the friendly bright colors the franchises have. And the name.
And maybe a few tried it out, but found the chili on the hot dogs didn't taste like what they were used to.
I'm a little different, so I recall walking inside the Duke Street location one day. I recall it being empty. Didn't even have a smell.
That would've been in the mid-70s at least. Probably by then, their time had been up for a while.
If the Wienerschnitzel folks had really thought it through, they would've put it in nearby Fairfax. Heavily German back then, down to the street names. Might have had a fighting chance.
ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION: This corporate "erasure" stuff -- I don't know how common it is. However ...
There's one that kinda ticked me off. A wonderful ice cream place called Thomas Sweet in Georgetown, DC (recently changed some of their formulas, but I'd still take it over anything).
Their website does not acknowledge that they had a NYC location.
But they did. I first had it there in 1979. According to Google AI, their Princeton, NJ location was their first location, also open in 1979 (supposedly). It's in the list of stores on their website.
I don't recall why, but somehow when I first went to that store in NYC (clean, but very unspiffy), I didn't get the impression it might have a second location.
But the NYC location I went to was at the corner of Christopher and Gay street. Ten years after Stonewall, people walking the streets just being themselves. Their next door neighbor was a cake shop that sold cakes in ... well, let's just say in a very provocative shape. Like you see drawn on public bathroom walls. Colored light orangish pink, with accents. Kept in the front window.
A few years back, they had a "Our Story" page. It was barren of any mention of Christopher St., Gay St., or New York City.
I now see that "Our Story" still shows on the website menu. But it won't click.
Guess I wasn't the only one PO'd.
Do you have a blog story on this already? I'd totally love it if you or someone could find a photo of the old NYC Thomas Sweet.
Feel free to use any of what I've said, and I'll check the blog now and then to see if you've chosen to pursue it. (Though maybe you don't want to harass. They did go so far as to remove their "Our Story" page. Decided their ice cream, fudge and chocolates are so good, who gives a hoot?)
Thank you! Yes you know I hope my work seems like a respite from everything, and that it has a real point even when it isn't about something immediately important
I, too, immediately thought of Der Wienerschnitzel when I saw the shape and size of the building. I remember vividly the one in Newport News, having grown up less than a mile away.
Oh cool! Apparently those ones survived much longer than the Alexandria attempt. The reader who found the newspaper clip found a reference to one of them in 1980! Someone else I corresponded with re this article thinks he remembers one in Richmond too!
I grew up in Central California and live in rural Northern Virginia now. For the first few paragraphs of the article I was yelling “dude, it’s clearly a Der Weinerschnitzel!” at my phone. Glad some evidence surfaced!
It does lack the iconic middle drive thru, and the other ones in Virginia seemed to have it, so it isn't a 100% match for what they built elsewhere and there really was nothing at all except people's memories and those two written pieces of evidence I found!
Great piece. I’d love to see you track down a photo of the old 1950s Krispy Kreme in Old Town Alexandria at the corner of Prince & West. The company once used it in a mural in a Nashville, Tennessee location.
Thank you! I'll see about that! Is that the origin of the one on Rt 1 with the big old neon? I think was a central bakery once. Did the Old Town location move or just close?
I don't recall *Der Wienerschnitzel* location at 3110 Southwest Freeway in Houston, though I am familiar with the office building that replaced it. I saw a photograph of a location on Lower Westheimer, and I don't remember that IRL, either. I am failing at finding a digital photo of it online. I shudder to think that I may have missed an opportunity to dine at *Der Wienerschnitzel* on Lower Westheimer. That must have been a circus on Saturday night.
Fascinating! I did a newspaper archive search based on your article. It appears that the Der Wienerschnitzel outlet in Alexandria was part of a planned DC-area expansion that never took off. From the Washington Daily News, 4/29/1968:
"Der Wienerschnitzel International, a wiener and sausage restaurant chain, plans to open 25 units in the D.C. area within three years. Most or all will be franchised. The first unit will be in Alexandria and construction on it is expected to begin next month. Currently, the company has more than 200 restaurants."
I don't see any evidence that they ever got past that single Alexandria location, however. That planned expansion is apparently so long forgotten that even the company doesn't remember it!
Oh awesome! Do you have a link to that article archive so I could include it as a note or is it like a private link? What archive service/source did you use for that?
I do! It's from Newspapers.com; here's the link.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1042213793/?match=1&terms=wienerschnitzel
Thank you so much! Updated it!
You're welcome! Glad I could help! I love these retail-history pieces that you do.
Upon further research, I can also prove that the Hampton location was a Der Wienerschnitzel. Here's a 1969 ad in the Newport News Daily Press which they offer discount tickets a horror feature at the local movie house:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/233380664/?match=1&terms=wienerschnitzel
And here's an article from 1980 in which a reporter taste-tests hot dogs from around the area, including Der Wienerrschnitzel:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/234799087/?match=1&terms=wienerschnitzel
That includes the street address, which matches the current Dog House location. Bingo!
After you gave me that link I searched all of Virginia for more on the Hampton Roads stuff! I have not looked at the results but a bunch came back.
A fellow with the Virginia Dept of Historic Resources who I emailed while researching this told me he remembered eating at a Richmond Wienerschnitzel in the early 80s. That may be the case as well then! (It's Richmond and Hampton where they're entering in 2025 - basically just repeating their modestly successful attempt back then without saying it's a repeat!)
Awesome! Yes, if they were in Hampton and Newport News, then it would be plausible for them to be in Richmond too. And since the Hampton location (at least) was still around in 1980, the East Coast push clearly stuck for a while.
Despite the owner's sketchy history that falafel franchise is delicious, glad we have one
I love this kind of detective work!
I'm 68 and originally from Alexandria, lived in Northern VA all my life, but moved to Tuscon last year. Never had food from Wienerschnitzel until today.
Though for some unexplained reason, whenever passing the buildings, I got this feeling. Nostalgia? My high school years in German club?
Found out today about their new funnel cake (an unusual fast food item). Was curious. Used it as an excuse to finally try out the place. First I searched Reddit to see if it was any good. Came across your article. Mention of my hometown caught my eye.
Memory jogged, I remember that Wienerschnitzel on Duke Street.
Hence, the warm fuzzies when passing Tuscon locations.
Yeah, hot dogs in the DC area by the late 60's were mostly limited to sidewalk "dirty dogs" in DC federal building areas. The grounds of Howard University which allowed independent vendors to service students who needed a quick, cheap bite. (I used to work in their law office.)
Also, hot dogs could be found at few places that mainly sold "half smokes" in black neighborhoods. (Probably mainly an option for kids, half smokes being somewhat spicy.)
The half smoke is a descendant of the German sausages of Texas barbecue fame. Which now makes me wonder if they brought to the DC area by recently freed slaves from Texas. Since the ex-slaves typically migrated to DC with the understanding that the government would protect them from recapture, I wonder now whether half smokes evolved as a "DC thing" because of this. An influx of people from Texas who found out they were free before others did.
Most enslaved persons in Texas were not told of their freedom until a Northern general rode down to an organized gathering and made an announcement. This was two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. (Which is the sole origin of the Juneteenth holiday. Maybe the timing of discovering your article (June 20) is what got me thinking.) :)
I was fortunate enough to grow up around the corner from a half-smoke place in Old Town Alexandria on the south side. (Your Wienerschnitzel was just outside of Old Town.) I could walk to George Washington's townhouse from my half smoke joint if I wanted to.
The half smoke place on the north side (Weenie Beenie, still there), was also was way better than Ben's Chili Bowl in DC. Perhaps you've heard of it? Again, they served grilled hot dogs, but mostly chili dogs in addition to plain and chili half smokes. They had a big revival in the 2000-aughts and now have a refrigerator and frozen food line.
And now there are several GOURMET half smoke spots where hipsters and Gen-Z hang out in the DMV. They don't bother to offer hot dogs, though.
Five Guys, whose first location was Alexandria, has kept hot dogs (choose your toppings, they're free!) on its menu since it opened in the early 90's. (When their first bun was absolutely heavenly, but unfortunately the bakery closed.)
But I'm sure their dogs do better here in Tuscon than in my hometown.
If what I'm surmising about the ex-slaves from Texas is true ... and if I'm recalling correctly the other East Coast areas you or your informers mentioned ... these other locales would've had half-smoke joints back then ... which would've sold chili dogs (as well as chili half smokes). Maybe that was behind Wienerschnitzel's targeting.
But the design of the place (Fachwerk) was likely to feel unwelcoming. Smacking of Old Europe. Not the friendly bright colors the franchises have. And the name.
And maybe a few tried it out, but found the chili on the hot dogs didn't taste like what they were used to.
I'm a little different, so I recall walking inside the Duke Street location one day. I recall it being empty. Didn't even have a smell.
That would've been in the mid-70s at least. Probably by then, their time had been up for a while.
If the Wienerschnitzel folks had really thought it through, they would've put it in nearby Fairfax. Heavily German back then, down to the street names. Might have had a fighting chance.
ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION: This corporate "erasure" stuff -- I don't know how common it is. However ...
There's one that kinda ticked me off. A wonderful ice cream place called Thomas Sweet in Georgetown, DC (recently changed some of their formulas, but I'd still take it over anything).
Their website does not acknowledge that they had a NYC location.
But they did. I first had it there in 1979. According to Google AI, their Princeton, NJ location was their first location, also open in 1979 (supposedly). It's in the list of stores on their website.
I don't recall why, but somehow when I first went to that store in NYC (clean, but very unspiffy), I didn't get the impression it might have a second location.
But the NYC location I went to was at the corner of Christopher and Gay street. Ten years after Stonewall, people walking the streets just being themselves. Their next door neighbor was a cake shop that sold cakes in ... well, let's just say in a very provocative shape. Like you see drawn on public bathroom walls. Colored light orangish pink, with accents. Kept in the front window.
A few years back, they had a "Our Story" page. It was barren of any mention of Christopher St., Gay St., or New York City.
I now see that "Our Story" still shows on the website menu. But it won't click.
Guess I wasn't the only one PO'd.
Do you have a blog story on this already? I'd totally love it if you or someone could find a photo of the old NYC Thomas Sweet.
Feel free to use any of what I've said, and I'll check the blog now and then to see if you've chosen to pursue it. (Though maybe you don't want to harass. They did go so far as to remove their "Our Story" page. Decided their ice cream, fudge and chocolates are so good, who gives a hoot?)
Great research. Really well done. And, with all eyes on the global news, it's comforting to see old friend Duke Street on Substack.
Thank you! Yes you know I hope my work seems like a respite from everything, and that it has a real point even when it isn't about something immediately important
Not world-stage important but personal. Like finding out one's grandparents were at Woodstock.
Thanks to an assist from a local archivist, enjoy this photo of a pride parade on Lower Westheimer with Der Wienerschnitzel in the background: https://cdm17006.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17006coll195/id/4033/rec/1
Nice! I see a Radio Shack in the background too!
Happy accident.
I, too, immediately thought of Der Wienerschnitzel when I saw the shape and size of the building. I remember vividly the one in Newport News, having grown up less than a mile away.
Oh cool! Apparently those ones survived much longer than the Alexandria attempt. The reader who found the newspaper clip found a reference to one of them in 1980! Someone else I corresponded with re this article thinks he remembers one in Richmond too!
I grew up in Central California and live in rural Northern Virginia now. For the first few paragraphs of the article I was yelling “dude, it’s clearly a Der Weinerschnitzel!” at my phone. Glad some evidence surfaced!
It does lack the iconic middle drive thru, and the other ones in Virginia seemed to have it, so it isn't a 100% match for what they built elsewhere and there really was nothing at all except people's memories and those two written pieces of evidence I found!
Great piece. I’d love to see you track down a photo of the old 1950s Krispy Kreme in Old Town Alexandria at the corner of Prince & West. The company once used it in a mural in a Nashville, Tennessee location.
Thank you! I'll see about that! Is that the origin of the one on Rt 1 with the big old neon? I think was a central bakery once. Did the Old Town location move or just close?
It was additional
I don't recall *Der Wienerschnitzel* location at 3110 Southwest Freeway in Houston, though I am familiar with the office building that replaced it. I saw a photograph of a location on Lower Westheimer, and I don't remember that IRL, either. I am failing at finding a digital photo of it online. I shudder to think that I may have missed an opportunity to dine at *Der Wienerschnitzel* on Lower Westheimer. That must have been a circus on Saturday night.