A runza is a yeastdoughbread pocket with a filling consisting ofbeef, cabbage or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings. Runzas can be baked into various shapes such as a half-moon, a rectangle, a round, a square, or a triangle. The runzas sold by the Runza restaurant chain are rectangular while many of the bierocks sold in Kansas are round buns. The runza is a regional cuisine of Nebraska, with some commentators calling it "as Nebraskan as Cornhuskerfootball." It is served by the Nebraska Society of Washington, D.C. and the Nebraska Society of New York at their Taste of Nebraska events and was chosen to represent the state at Flavored Nation, an event serving iconic dishes from all fifty states.
History
The runza sandwich is said to originate from pierogi, dumplings filled with savory ingredients popular in Eastern Europe, but is more closely related to the similarly-named Russian dish called pirozhki. Volga Germans, ethnic Germans who settled in the Volga River valley in Russia at the invitation of Catherine the Great in the 18th century, adapted the pirozhki to create the bierock, a yeast pastry sandwich with similar savory ingredients. When the political climate turned against the Volga Germans, many emigrated to the United States, creating communities across the Great Plains. These immigrants, including the Brening family that settled near Sutton, Nebraska, brought their bierock recipes with them. Sarah "Sally" Everett, originally of Sutton, is credited with adapting her family's bierock recipe into the runza and also inventing the name for the sandwich. In 1949, Everett went into business selling runzas with her brother Alex in Lincoln.
Etymology
Many sources agree that Sally Everett invented the name "runza" although it is likely she adapted it from an existing name for the sandwich; either the krautrunz, an older, different German name for the bierock, or the Low German runsa, meaning "belly," alluding to the gently rounded shape of the pouch pastry. The modern German, also meaning belly, derives from runsa. The word "runza" is registered as a trademark in the United States, held by the Runza restaurant chain.
Runza restaurant
Runza is also the name of a fast food restaurant whose flagship menu item is the runza sandwich. Founded in 1949 by Sally Everett, the inventor of the modern runza, the chain began its expansion under Sally's son Donald Everett Sr. in 1966, and started franchising restaurants in 1979. As of November 2018, there are eighty-five Runza restaurants operating; eighty in Nebraska, two in Iowa, two in Kansas, and two in Colorado. The restaurant chain is still owned by the Everett family, and Sally's grandson Donald Everett Jr. serves as President. In addition to the titular sandwich, the chain serves chili and cinnamon rolls, as well as other fast food staples like hamburgers, french fries and onion rings. The chain attempted to expand outside of Nebraska in 1989. Executives tried to open a restaurant in the Latvian republic of the Soviet Union, going as far as shipping two hundred frozen runzas to the Soviet Ministry of Agriculture as a part of its negotiations. The deal fell apart after Latvia was invaded by the Soviet government in an attempt to keep it in the Union. Stores did open in the Las Vegas Strip at the Fashion Show Mall's food court and a mall food court in Moline, Illinois but both failed to gain traction and closed within a few years.
Promotions
Runza is a vendor in Memorial Stadium, home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, and sells over 10,000 sandwiches at each football game. The "Temperature Tuesday" promotion is held on Tuesdays in the months of January and February. Each store sells runzas to customers at a price equal to the 6:00 A.M. Fahrenheit temperature at the store in cents. If the temperature is zero degrees or below the sandwich is free. In 2017, the Omaha Storm Chasers, Omaha's Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City RoyalsMajor League Baseball team, rebranded themselves as the "Omaha Runzas" in a cross-promotional event. The team's rebranded uniforms featured a cartoon runza sandwich and shared the green and yellow livery of the Runza restaurant chain. Runza operated a 50s themed Rock n' Roll Runza featuring memorabilia, vintage automobiles and roller skating carhops out of downtown Lincoln from 1991 to 2004. A Runza restaurant in Papillion, Nebraska received some publicity in 2018 when a newlywed couple ate there after their wedding ceremony. In an interview they explained that the restaurant was prominent to their relationship up to their marriage.
The Runza restaurant operating out of the Nebraska Union, the student union at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, closed in 2018 after a decade of operating in the location. The Runza was outbid by a combination of two vendors bidding together. There was public outcry from the student body, as the runza is strongly identified as a Nebraskan food, and students felt that it should be sold at Nebraska's flagship university.
