SPOKANE, Wash. – What might just seem like a chili dog to some, is pure nostalgia served piping hot, on a perfectly steamed bun to others.
More than two years after it was announced, Spokane’s first highly anticipated Wienerschnitzel location is now open at the corner of US-2 and Hawthorne.
“High school memories after football games going here, there’s nobody else that has better chili cheese dogs,” said longtime Wienerschnitzel fan Julie Platko.
“We grew up on these chili dogs in California,” Darren Kessinger said. “There’s nothing like the chili, it’s just great.
“It brings me back to where I first started,” said Hector Tovar.
Opening the restaurant was a labor of love for franchisee Brian Harshbarger and his 80-year-old father.
“We said, ‘hey we’ve always loved Wienerschnitzel,’ you know we grew up with it,” Harshbarger said. “We wanted to bring something new and different to Spokane that the people would love. We found it, and we’re very excited about it.”
Harshbarger said he fought through several bumps in the road and pandemic-related delays to finally reach their opening day on Friday.
“The ice cream machine took a year and a half [to get here], the chili bun steamer took well over a year and a half,” he said.
All the reactions–and people following their every move on social media in anticipation of their opening–was well worth the wait for Harshbarger and his team.
“I’m just shocked at how many people just love the Wienerschnitzel product,” he said. “It is an amazing product and it’s an amazing company, so we’re really excited to bring it to Spokane.”
