CHAMPAIGN – Wienerschnitzel is returning to Champaign after a 10-month absence.

The old Wienerschnitzel restaurant at West Springfield Avenue and Country Fair Drive is expected to reopen in early December as a Tastee-Freez restaurant featuring Wienerschnitzel sandwiches.

It's a bit ironic, said Tim Mulks, general manager of Tastee-Freez for the California-based Galardi Group.

The old Wienerschnitzel restaurant served Tastee-Freez ice cream, along with the usual Wienerschnitzel lineup of hot dogs, chili dogs, chili cheese dogs, Polish sausage and corn dogs.

The new Tastee-Freez will serve an extensive array of ice cream treats, plus hamburgers, cheeseburgers and all the old Wienerschnitzel favorites, Mulks said.

Target date for the opening is Dec. 5, and it will start out as a corporate store, he added.

The new operator, Eyad Al-Sweiti, said he'll start out as a limited franchisee, but hopes to become a full franchisee in a few months.

Al-Sweiti said he expects to hire a minimum of 20 employees, but he's already received 200 applications and "more are coming." He said he hopes to start notifying promising applicants Friday and Saturday.

Al-Sweiti arrived in town from Colorado about two weeks ago and has been preparing the restaurant for reopening since then.

Hours are expected to be 9 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, with the store closed only on Christmas and Thanksgiving, he said.

Wienerschnitzel has a long history and strong following in Champaign, Mulks said.

"Customers definitely seem anxious for us to reopen," he said.

In fact, Al-Sweiti said, one woman noticing activity at the building came up to ask what was going on. When told the restaurant was reopening, "she got down on her knees and said, 'Thank you, God.'"

Originally an electrical engineer, Al-Sweiti decided to switch careers because he liked dealing with people and moving about during the day.

His brother-in-law worked for the Galardi Group, which operates the Wienerschnitzel, Tastee-Freez and Original Hamburger Stand chains.

Al-Sweiti decided he was interested in operating a restaurant. He got training for the Wienerschnitzel system, but ended up operating Original Hamburger Stand restaurants in Denver and Englewood, Colo.

When the Champaign opportunity came up, Al-Sweiti took advantage of it. He said he wants to build a reputation for cleanliness, quality of food and customer service.

The Champaign Wienerschnitzel was the only one east of the Mississippi River.

Tastee-Freez, however, has 15 restaurants in the Chicago area and five others around the state, Mulks said. In addition to soft-serve ice cream, Tastee-Freez will offer sundaes, parfaits, banana splits, shakes, malts, floats and Freezees, the chain's answer to Dairy Queen's Blizzards.

Wienerschnitzel has also introduced a new sandwich in the past year, a 100 percent Angus beef hot dog.