Today we are reviewing the Beef Kraut Dog from Wienerschnitzel. It’s a hot dog with sauerkraut offered by Wienerschnitzel.
Wienerschnitzel was established in 1961 in Southern California by founder John Galardi. If you’re located east of the Mississippi River, you may not be familiar with this chain, but it’s proud to claim the title of the world’s largest hot dog chain, serving over 120 million hot dogs every year. Primarily operating as a franchise, its presence is most notable in the western United States. Although it shares its name with the well-known Austrian dish of Wiener Schnitzel—a dish featuring a thin, breaded, and pan-fried veal cutlet—it doesn’t actually offer that dish on its menu.
While Wienerschnitzel has expanded to include hamburgers, sandwiches, chili, and desserts, hot dogs ultimately remain a core of the menu at Wienerschnitzel. Each hot dog offering gives you a choice of three hot dogs: Original World Famous is a hot dog built around pork and beef. The Polish Dog is a bit of an unknown, but it’s a bolder, more savory hot dog (it’s not a kielbasa, and the Wienerschnitzel Polish Dog is believed to be pork-based). The Premium Beef is disclosed as 100% beef offering. The Kraut Dog we are assessing today uses the Premium Beef Hot Dog.
The Construction
There are a variety of customization options available with the Kraut Dog. This includes hot dog selection (Original World Famous, Premium Beef, or Polish Dog) as well as additional toppings and a pretzel bun option. In this case, I ordered the Premium Beef Hot Dog with all of the default options and no customizations.
- Hot Dog: Premium Beef (Selected)
- Hot Dog Bun (Default)
- French’s Yellow Mustard (Default)
- Sauerkraut (Default)
- Length: n/a (Remote Review)
- Weight: n/a (Remote Review)
- Location Purchased: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Price: $4.68
- Items Purchased: 2
The Appearance (*)
The photo on the Wienerschnitzel website of the Kraut Dog was the same whether the Original World Famous, Premium Beef, or Polish Dog was used. Based on that, a comparison appearance score is incomplete. There were two notable differences. First, the bun on the website had no splits, but second, the mustard on the website was put over the sauerkraut. On the Kraut Dogs I ordered, the mustard was on the hot dog but under the sauerkraut.
Comparison Score: Incomplete
The Experience
We use the same scoring algorithm we used to assess other types of hot dogs with toppings.
- Meat (Hot Dog): 4 points
- Bun: 2 points
- Condiments: 2 points
- Intangibles: 2 points
Meat (Hot Dog)
I’ve had all three types of hot dogs before, but the Premium Beef Hot Dog is definitely the way to go at Wienerschnitzel. Wienerschnitzel grills its hot dogs. The Premium Beef Hot Dog has a good smokiness and good snap. The saltiness level seemed perfect, and the grilling gives the casing a slight caramelization effect, which is very nice. Finally, the beef flavors are well pronounced here.
Score: 3.0 out of 4.0 points
Bun
Wienerschnitzel serves its bun steamed. It’s a soft bun, but not a soggy bun. This bun has mild flavors and a very subtle sweetness. The bun also had a decent, but soft crust on it.
Score: 1.25 out of 2.0 points
Condiments
There are two condiments on the Kraut Dog. The first is French’s Yellow Mustard. French’s is a pretty average yellow mustard on the milder side, with a decent vinegar component. It’s not the best mustard I’ve had, but it does the job.
Sauerkraut is something that I enjoy. A good sauerkraut has sour, tangy, and salty components. When sauerkraut has this going, it meshes with a hot dog nicely. Unfortunately, the sauerkraut here was way too mild – and it was weak in the sour, tangy, and salty components. The cabbage used in the sauerkraut by Wienerschnitzel is good quality. Overall, the problem is it lacked robustness.
Score: 0.75 out of 2.0 points
Intangibles
As always, the first thing I look at with any hot dog is whether the overall experience exceeds the sum of the parts. In this case, the answer is no. The Kraut Dog does not deliver an elevated experience. Much of this is because the sauerkraut is not robust enough. It’s not that it’s a detriment; it simply didn’t do what I expect it to do.
This offering is a bit messy, with some of the sauerkraut falling out, although not excessively. The bun holds the hot dog and toppings well. I appreciate that Wienerschnitzel serves its hot dogs in a box, as this helps prevent the sandwiches from being served sloppily. As I mentioned earlier, the mustard is placed under the sauerkraut, which is something I prefer—having the mustard directly touching the hot dog.
Finally, this won’t fill you up, so I’d recommend two or getting a combo meal offering.
Score: 1.00 out of 2.00 points
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
As I mentioned, I had been to Wienerschnitzel before, and I have had positive experiences with the Premium Beef Hot Dog. On the other hand, I had never had the Kraut Dog. As I said, the sauerkraut was just too mild and not robust enough. While this scored a respectable six out of ten points, I think with a different set of toppings, a Premium Beef hot dog offering by Wienerschnitzel could score higher.
Summary
| Meat (Hot Dog) (4) | 3.00 |
| Bun (2) | 1.25 |
| Condiments (2) | 0.75 |
| Intangibles | 1.00 |
| Total | 6.00 |
Score: 6.00 (out of 10 points)
Value: Slightly Above Average
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted
* Not scored in the overall numeric assessment rating.
