What’s Good Here? The Wurst Wagen

The Wurst Wagen likes to say it serves the most authentic German food and sausages in town.

The authentic German food is prepared by a native German using meats prepared by a German-trained master butcher. There is no artificial coloring, fillers, liquid smoke or MSG.

Each of the wursts is grilled to perfection and served on a roll that is just the right amount of chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s served with a good selection of mustards: homemade, special recipe or spicy.

Owners Gerard and Erin Lin are all about education, so they impart their knowledge of the meats.

Knack Wurst is a mild pork and beef sausage, while Kaesekrainer Wurst is an Austrian delicacy made with pork and beef that is smoked and filled with cheese.

Bavarian Bierbrat Wurst is herb-filled veal and beef marinated in beer.

The Nuerenberger Wurst is a special recipe that dates to the 1300s and is made with veal, beef and spices.

Many who have experienced German food are familiar with schnitzel, which is a hammered pork loin, breaded in homemade bread crumbs and flash-fried. The Wurst Wagen offers this, as well as doner kebabs, shaved beef served with a vegetable medley, cabbage and German-style Tzatziki sauce.

The sides are authentic kartoffelsalat (potato salad), krautsalat (cabbage salad) and a cucumber salad.

All of the sides are made with local produce; if the ingredients are not available, the side is not offered.

And, sometimes, there are specials.

How did The Wurst Wagen get started?

Wurst kiosks are popular in Germany. After traveling to Gerard Lin’s home country, the Lins were inspired in 2012 to provide a business that would enable them to share German food in many areas in and around town.

Gerard, raised in Bavaria in the small village of Siegsdorf, loved many German dishes growing up, but wuerste (sausage) was his favorite.

Gerard Lin’s career has been in the food industry, and with Erin Lin’s experience in finance and retail, the couple decided to combine their talents to launch The Wurst Wagen.

What does it look like?

It’s hard to miss The Wurst Wagen, with its bright yellow and red colors and sausages as the recognizable image and the motto: “Our Wurst is the Best.”

The serving cart has an open grill, and you’ll usually find the owners serving the customers. It travels to different areas of town, depending on the monthly schedule, and offers catering for offices and for individuals.

Who eats here?

The Wurst Wagen not only shows up regularly at Soda City Market on Main Street in Columbia, but also at core spots such as Silver Spoon Bakery on Devine Street and various festivals.

“Octoberfest takes us all over the area,” Gerard Lin said. “I love the customers. We have young, old, some who used to live in Germany.”

Deena C. Bouknight, Special to Go Columbia