MANSFIELD — Wiener King celebrated 50 years in business Saturday with $1 coneys, live music and a crowd that reminded owner Jimmy Smarjeff just how much the Mansfield community means to him.
“It’s a big deal,” Smarjeff said. “It really is a big deal.”
The anniversary celebration featured a ribbon cutting, music from Mark King and the Roadhouse Band and a 50/50 drawing benefiting the Domestic Violence Shelter in memory of the late Johnny Mathis.
Smarjeff said the significance of the milestone was overwhelming.
“I can’t even express what it means,” he said. “50 years. It still hasn’t hit me yet.”
The celebration also drew people who had never visited Wiener King. Shauna Davidson, a Bellville resident whose husband played drums for the band, visited Wiener King for the first time.
Davidson said she enjoyed seeing the community gathering to support the restaurant.
“I think everybody should come out,” Davidson said.
Davidson had not eaten dinner yet, but said she planned to make a coney her first meal at Wiener King.
A business built on community
Smarjeff said the support he saw Saturday reflects the people who have helped Wiener King survive over the years.
He pointed to Lee Hale of Hale’s Harley-Davidson, who has sponsored his bike nights from the beginning, as one of the people who has boosted the restaurant.
“He’s been sponsoring my bike night from the very beginning,” Smarjeff said. “Most generous man I’ve ever met.”
The restaurant’s history began in 1976, when Smarjeff’s father, Christ Smarjeff, brought the Wiener King franchise to Mansfield.
Within a decade, the franchise’s parent corporation filed for bankruptcy, and locations across the country closed or changed names.
Smarjeff said he took over the restaurant around 2013.
I can’t believe we’re still here, but with a little help from my friends.
Jimmy smarjeff, owner of wiener king
He said word-of-mouth helped bring customers through the doors, while car nights and bike nights introduced Wiener King to a new group of people.
“When I first took over, maybe once a week, I’d get somebody come in and say, ‘I’ve never been here before,’” Smarjeff said. “Now I get people coming in here all the time saying that.”
The restaurant also benefited from the community’s support during the COVID-19 pandemic when customers could only order takeout, Smarjeff said.
“People came out of the woodwork to support small businesses and to support us,” he said.
For three years, he said, the business improved month after month without the usual seasonal decline.
“I have a lot of support,” Smarjeff said. “That’s exactly it.”
Remembering the people who helped
Smarjeff said Johnny Mathis played an especially important role in keeping Wiener King running after Smarjeff suffered a heart attack and spent six weeks away from the restaurant.
Mathis came to Smarjeff’s hospital room, asked for the restaurant keys and told him he would make sure the business stayed ready to operate.
“He came to my hospital room,” Smarjeff said. “Jimmy, give me your keys.”
Mathis then spent seven days a week at Wiener King preparing food and getting the restaurant ready for the staff, Smarjeff said.
“He did that for that entire six weeks,” Smarjeff said.
The 50/50 drawing at Saturday’s celebration honored Mathis while raising money for the Domestic Violence Shelter.
For Smarjeff, remembering people like Mathis made the anniversary about more than Wiener King’s survival.
The restaurant’s 50th anniversary gave Smarjeff a chance to celebrate the customers, friends, business owners and community members who helped him keep the doors open.
“I can’t believe we’re still here,” Smarjeff said. “But with a little help from my friends.”
(Photos from the celebration for 50 years of Wiener King. Credit: Hannah Martin)
