What’s up with Wienerschnitzel in Houston?

Wienerschnitzel has a complicated relationship with the Houston area. They arrived here in 1966, only five years after the chain was established in California. They were here consistently from the 60s to 1984, and other than a few co-branding attempts, didn’t attempt a return until 2019. When the first new location opened in New Caney, the franchisees had ambitious plans to build out 32 locations across the area over the next 15 years. We’re now just over six years from that announcement, and only one store richer. Wienerschnitzel’s second location arrived in late 2021. This location near Westpark and Highway 6 was the first in Houston proper and, as of this article, still the only one. The building was a reused Twistee Treat location, which had left Highway 6 sometime in 2019. Still, the return to Houston gained significant traction for Wienerschnitzel, with its opening coinciding with the beginning of the end for James Coney Island. Still, development stalled out for quite a while after the second location.

However, in late 2023, that changed when Wienerschnitzel filed plans to construct a location in a planned shopping center in Katy. The location was built out in 2024, and by the end of that year, a grand opening was set. Except it never happened. The date was punted around a few times, eventually landing in early 2025. However, in April of last year, after months with few updates, the project was canceled. The restaurant was essentially complete, even with most kitchen equipment ready to go. Wienerschnitzel’s stance was that structural issues with the building prevented them from opening. The restaurant also promised they would find another location within Katy. However, the building’s realtor denied the claims and suggested that the Wienerschnitzel operator was simply unhappy that they couldn’t open and was shifting the blame. The exact truth remains to be determined, but while photographing this story, I found an interesting side note.

Adjacent to the planned Wienerschnitzel was a planned bar that was in a semi-complete state. Next to that was a planned wing restaurant, which has also been abandoned. Seeing those in person, I figured that obviously, Wienerschnitzel was in the right here, three different businesses wouldn’t just abandon their leases at the same time, right? When I got home, I researched the different businesses and found their names, Baxter’s Bar and Texas Craft Wings. After a bit of searching, I found this enlightening article that shows these three outlets were all under the same ownership. As of this article, Tikkia and Tacos is rennovating the planned wing space, and the property is for sale. The Loopnet brochure indicates that a lease is pending for the bar and that the Wienerschnitzel has a new tenant, Cajun Street. So draw your own conclusions from that. Getting back to Wienerschnitzel, from what I can tell, they’ve been through at least two franchisees in Houston since their return. I have serious doubts they’ll hit 32 locations by 2044, but we’ve still got plenty of time to see. In the meantime, just like Twistee Treat, I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere.