Our History
Click on any of the pictures to see their sources, and to read the countless articles published about Der Wunder Wiener!
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Starting with our humble beginning...
Our history starts about 40 years ago, on November 19th, 1984 - Der Wunder Wiener's very first opening date! With a passion for entrepreneurship, Beverly and Jerry LaCrosse (pictured) co-founded Der Wunder Wiener, a hot dog quick-service business in the form of a "Wiener Wagon." At the time, they were about 40 years old! Jerry had dreamed of owning his own business since he was a little boy, and he even quit his job at AT&T to make it a reality!!
One of our favorite stories to tell is how we even ended up in front of the Beachwood Shopping mall! That was prime space for a business to be located, and we were somehow able to secure it...
How did we do it?
With a handshake... and a damn good hot dog.
No, really!!
Jerry entered into a handshake agreement with the former owner of the property, Jimmy Johnson. The owner only had one condition... that our hot dogs were good! So, Jerry cooked him up some hot dogs... and, well, we got the seal of approval!
Route 9 is one of the liveliest roads in NJ, and we were blessed to snatch up that location. That's the power of our mouthwatering hot dogs!
Here's another of our favorite stories to tell! Did you know that in our early years of business, we changed STATE LAWS in order to exist?? Before Der Wunder Wiener, there was no legal business structure in the state of New Jersey for “food trucks” that are permanent, stationary, and grounded.
Here's some context: When you think of a "food truck," you think of a literal truck - an on-the-go, mobile truck on wheels... e.g. an ice cream truck business.
Mobile food trucks have no built-in utilities, so City Hall legally requires the business to have a daily commissary. A commissary is a source from which a mobile business can get supplies/products, empty “gray water” (used water), replenish potable water, etc.
Here's the kicker... We do call ourselves a "wiener wagon," and our business is built on a mobile trailer, which sounds a lot like "food trucks" - but there is one hugely important difference! Der Wunder Wiener actually does have built-in grounded utilities, such as water, sewer, and electricity. So, we constantly insisted that we did not need a commissary.
Because of this, Jerry fought health inspectors for years on end! Local newspapers, like Ocean County's Observer, constantly wrote about the “war" between DWW and the health department. Eventually, this created a legal battle resulting in City Hall actually changing New Jersey law to accommodate for our completely new business structure! That's just another way that Der Wunder Wiener is a pioneer of the food industry!
Here's Jerry connecting our grounded utilities!
Here's Jerry hanging up a menu sign in 2009, along with some more pictures of him preparing one of our famous Italian Style Hot Dogs. Peppers and onions sizzling on the grill, and fried potatoes waiting to be piled on top - yum!!!
As a small family business, we've always updated our menu to reflect what our customers want!
Fun fact - in the beginning, we didn't even sell Italian Style Hot Dogs or Italian Style Sausages! It was YOU, the customers, who suggested these to us! So, we learned how to make them, and now they are one of DWW's most iconic and popular menu items. Another iconic menu item, our "Polish Pocket" (Kielbasa), was born in the same way.
There were also brief times in our history when we tried new things because of customer suggestions, like opening for breakfast, or even selling meatballs and soups. We've always said we are a customer-centric business!
As you know, the old site of Der Wunder Wiener was right in front of the once-bustling Beachwood Shopping Center. Through the years, as each business in the plaza closed down one-by-one, we outlived every single one of the stores! This should have been a reason to celebrate - but not when the now-vacant shopping center began to get more and more run-down and dangerous. Around 2009, it started to become an eyesore, and residents wondered what would happen to the dilapidated and decaying plaza.
The devastating superstorm Sandy hit in October/November 2012, and since the Beachwood Shopping Center building was vacant, there were no measures taken to try to preserve or protect it. So, it became even more destroyed, and most likely was the source of lots of flying debris in the high winds.
Der Wunder Wiener was constantly in danger of possibly having to move or close down, all because of the risks of being so close to the plaza and because of the plans to demolish it. Fortunately, Priscilla allowed Der Wunder Wiener to continue operating our business, by fencing in the mall and leaving a narrow parking area for the Wunder Wiener and its customers. Although this fenced-in parking area was much smaller than we were used to, we were just glad that we could continue to stay there and serve Ocean County.
The Beachwood Shopping Center was finally demolished in 2015, and thankfully, our business was able to stay there... amidst some very loud construction noises, of course. But it was all worth it to be able to stay!
Despite all of these obstacles, for over 35 years, we grew steadily and served countless customers with our high-quality food and service, and at great prices!
But our beloved business was ripped away from us unexpectedly...
On June 11th, 2018, at around 7:45AM, tragedy struck when an SUV plowed into the business while Jerry was inside, dragging the entire building 22 feet and completely destroying it. The impact of the crash left Jerry pinned and trapped under heavy equipment, severely injuring him.
Jerry was flown out by helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he underwent multiple surgeries and was treated for internal bleeding. He was hospitalized/in rehab for months. At 74 years old, these were extremely dangerous injuries for him. His spleen was removed, as were some of his intestines. Even now, after two shoulder replacements, he still cannot lift his right arm past shoulder level.
The building was unsalvageable, leaving a barren piece of land where we once stood. Despite all this hardship, Jerry assured family, friends, and news teams alike that Der Wunder Wiener would be back.
We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we have seen from each and every one of you through these tough times.
Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, our customers have always been there for us. These 'Get Well' and American Flag balloons (left picture) appeared on our Sabrett umbrella just 2 days after the crash.
Since then, we have seen Christmas decorations, more American flags, flowers, and other holiday decorations appear, either tied around the umbrella or placed under it (right picture). We did not put up any of these things ourselves!
These were all such heartwarming surprises for us to see whenever we drove by the old location, and they reminded us that we HAD to return for our loyal customers. To those of you who placed these decorations on our flag - thank you!
And you were there for us in more ways than one!
Two local PBAs, Berkeley Local 237 and Beachwood-Pine Beach Local 253, organized a fundraiser for Jerry's medical bills. Don Rowley and Philip Schena, presidents of Policemen's Benevolent Associations in Berkeley and Beachwood-Pine Beach, respectively, organized the event to give back to Jerry.
On July 5th, 6th, and 7th, they had a trailer and tables set up, and they sold hot dogs, snacks, drinks, chips, 50/50 tickets, and even DWW t-shirts.
The turnout was SO heartwarming!
Although Jerry himself could not be there since he was still in the hospital, he was able to speak to everyone over the phone, magnified by loudspeakers. He expressed his immense gratitude, but words fail to show just how touched we all were by the outpouring of support from the community.
Over the three days, there was always a line, and even when there was a torrential downpour, people were coming out in droves.
When Jerry was told how busy it was over the three-day fundraiser, he couldn’t believe it. In true Jerry fashion, he exclaimed over the phone, “Gee whiz, I’m at a loss for words, here!"
Needless to say, the community-led fundraiser for Jerry's medical bills was a huge success! Thousands of community members showed up over the 3 days, and they collectively ended up buying about 7,000 hot dogs and 400 t-shirts. Wow!!
When Jerry was finally out of the hospital, he met the organizers of the fundraiser and was officially presented his check.
It motivated Jerry, and all of us, to want to reopen, and repay all of you once more! For those of you who attended the fundraiser and helped us with Jerry's medical bills, we are truly so grateful.
Also shown here is the Fire Department's sign in support of Jerry's recovery - thank you for your well wishes!
Shortly after Jerry was finally able to leave the hospital, he made an appearance at Beachwood Community Day! He was bombarded by so many citizens of Beachwood, all asking him how he's doing.
This was the first time he had seen many of these people since the crash. He looked at the crowd at Beachwood Community Day, knowing that some of the people there helped out in the fundraisers, but with no way of knowing how to thank them.
The selfless acts of the community have brought us all to tears at one point, knowing that we had an entire village behind us as we went through these hard times.
Even with his arm still in a sling, and actively going through rehab to retrain his arms and legs, Jerry still found ways to make everyone laugh.
This caption by Jersey Shore Online describes it best: "Gerald LaCrosse, back to his usual antics, shows friends how he can turn his cane upside down and golf with it."
He's famously an avid golf fan, and he could not wait to make it back onto a golf course again. What better way to practice than with his own cane (which was supposed to be holding him up)!
Now, 5 years later, the process of reopening is finally underway! We heard your demands, and we wanted to return just as much as you all did! The fall of 2023 marks our grand RE-opening!
In May of 2021, this is where the very first baby steps in reopening took place - we drove all the way to West Virginia to get our new trailer! The new trailer is much bigger in dimension compared to the old trailer, allowing for bigger appliances and bigger crowds! Bigger is always better, especially when it comes to weiners! (Hehe)
On December 9th, 2021, the Berkeley Township Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously "yes" to give Der Wunder Wiener approval to build on the new lot! This is where the real work began - on the left is our first blueprint brainstorm for the layout of DWW.
The foundation of Der Wunder Wiener - it's so weird to see it like this!
With our new wagon being built on-site, everyone can track the progress of our highly anticipated comeback in real-time!
On June 30th, 2023, Jerry finally learned the name of, and met with, the nurse who saved his life after the 2018 crash. Before the paramedics showed up, a kind stranger pulled aside and came to his aid, crawling inside the crumbling building and even putting her own life in danger, to patch up his severe wounds. For years, he wondered of her identity, knowing she had likely saved his life that day.
Over 5 years later, the woman was finally found! Her name is Patricia Kunkle, and he expressed his deepest gratitude to her for her kindness and bravery that day.
And now, for the moment we'd all been waiting for for OVER 5 YEARS....
Our Opening Day!
Our Opening Day!
In September of 2023, we had our official opening day!
IT. WAS. AWESOME. SO many of you came out to support us, and the energy was just electric. We had kids in the bouncy house, we were taking hundreds of orders, everyone had a big smile on their face - if we could relive that day over and over again, we would!
It was such an inspiring day, and such a perfect culmination of everyone's help throughout the years. YOU all helped to make us what we are today, YOU made this reopening possible - and again, we cannot thank you all enough.
Here's to many, MANY more years of serving you our classic hot dogs, our famous double Italians, our crispy potatoes, our delicious homemade chili and onion sauce, and so much more!
Again, we cannot express how grateful and thankful we are for your support, patience, and help. We are so grateful to see you all at our window after all this time!! :)
Stay tuned for more fun events - especially as the weather starts warming up again!! We have some very cool ideas up our sleeves...
We will continue to update this page as more events take place!
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