Austrian-born Friedrich Jahn is Europe's answer to Howard Johnson, or maybe Colonel Sanders. Through his chicken-lickin' Wienerwald restaurants, which have spread across Europe and into the U.S., he works to satisfy a hungry middle class. The chain grossed $115 million last year and should do at least 10% better this year. Last month Jahn opened new outposts in Vienna and Nuremberg; he plans others in Scandinavia, Britain and South Africa. "I wouldn't be surprised," he says, "if one day there is a Wienerwald in Nigeria or Kenya."
Part of Jahn's rise to eminence as Europe's biggest chain restaurateur is the result...