OnkelC said:
slidewinder, thanks for the Wienerschnitzel pic. the chain was discussed in the first Home-Style-cooking thread, consensus there was that it's a sinking chain, only situated in less-popular neighborhoods. what are/is your impressions/verdict of wienerschnitzel (the place)?
Like I said, the food was really very nasty. My first reaction was to wonder how one such place could survive, never mind there being a whole chain of them.
My second was to realize that all of these places are
small. They've got drive-throughs running around these almost A-frame little 'huts,' and walk-up areas out front, and that's it. Very little parking, no eat-in to speak of (some have picnic tables in front of the walk-up window). And probably nearly nothing as far as a kitchen goes; I'd imagine that all the cooking happens between a freezer, microwave, and deep-fryer.
And I'd have to
guess that that's their business model: leasing these small, odd-sized lots cheaply, putting up the most minimalistic kitchens, and staffing every little wienerhut with exactly one teenage kid to serve what amounts to, basically, the worst kind of gas-station food.
In my town (Tucson), anyway, they aren't necessarily located in particularly bad places; the one I got that food from is located
here, which is a solidly middle- and upper-middle-class, very safe, entirely peaceful place. They're pretty well spread over
most of the city, although there aren't any in the very richest parts (but neither are there ANY kind of chains in those areas).
Anyways, I can't personally imagine eating at one again. If it were a matter of getting the maximum amount of grease/dollar, even McDonald's would be infinitely more appetizing. And the fact is that I can get a ridiculously good, huge, burro 24/7 from any of fifty places in this town even cheaper.
