The Döner Price Wars
Though you don’t have any trouble finding a McDonald’s or Burger King here in Germany that sports a full dining room or a line at the drive-through, the preferred fast food here is the Döner.
The Döner was introduced to Germany by the thousands of Turkish immigrants that have made their homes here in the past few decades and can be described as spicy turkey meat roasted on a skewer, packed into pita bread, and smothered with onions and tzatziki. (It is very similar to a Greek gyro and in fact there are age-old arguments about who invented which first.)
It is quite probable that you might find a Döner at a Turkish restaurant here, but the most common place to buy one is from a portable Döner stand that you can find on countless street corners. These stands make it very convenient to grab a Döner at any time of the day and during lunch time in Germany you will see everyone from men in neatly pressed suits to school-aged children biting into their very own warm pita bread jammed full with freshly sliced meat, onions, and dripping with scrumptious tzatziki.
In addition to the Döner’s wide availability, it also enjoys a reputation for being one of Germany’s most reasonably priced fast foods. Instead of setting you back the 6 or 7 Euros that a “Super Value Meal” at McDonald’s will cost you, the Döner only puts about a 3 Euro dent in your wallet.
Cheap, fast, and tasty are the three best words to describe a Döner and their popularity makes it easy to find another stand within a few blocks if, for some reason, you don’t care for the Döners that come from the Döner stand closest to your home.
Now, as I think I have mentioned before, we live on Main Street in our little village and only about half a kilometer from the train station: And on this half a kilometer stretch between our house and the train station there are four Döner stands. In fact, there is one right across the street from our house!
When we first moved here three years ago there were only two other Döner stands besides the one across the street from us. However, since the one across the street was handy, that was the establishment that we visited when we were in the mood for a Döner. The Döners there were tasty, the guy that ran the stand was friendly, and the prices were reasonable, so we didn’t see a need to go anywhere else.
A little over a year after we moved here though, a fourth Döner stand opened very near to the train station. We never went there because it wasn’t close to our house and didn’t really give it much of a second thought. However, apparently the other Döner stand operators did give it more than a second though… For one time when we went to visit our Döner stand, the price had dropped from €3 per Döner to €2,50.
It was then that the Döner Price Wars began!
For the next few months the price at each Döner stand would fall, until at one point all four stands were offering their Döners for a mere €1,50. This price was offered for a good six to eight months before finally the prices started to rise again; until the last time that I had a Döner (at least six months ago… I don’t really care for turkey - the bird - and am therefore not really a big Döner fan) the prices were once more €2,50.
Finally, today when A. decided he was in the mood for a Döner I realized that the Price Wars must be over: Not only was everyone was selling their Döners for €3 again, I remembered that one of the stands hasn’t been open for at least three months.
28 August 2005 at 01:20
I miss Döner! We lived near Mamas Kebap, arguably the best Döner shop in Munich. They made a lot of other yummy Turkish food there too.
I don’t remember the Döner stand right across from your place. Did it open after I left? I do remember that great Italian restaurant with the pizzas though.
I am getting hungry…
28 August 2005 at 09:30
That stand across the street from our house has always been there… guess you just missed it.
28 August 2005 at 19:49
Do you mean Turkey or turkey because I’ve never heard of a turkey Döner before.
28 August 2005 at 20:28
I think many Döners made by the Turks are made of turkey… they wouldn’t be made of pork since from what I understand, pork is not eaten by Muslims. Gyros, on the other hand, are made by Greeks and of pork.
28 August 2005 at 20:36
“Döner” is originally made with lamb meat.
There are some Poultry-Döners, but the mass of the Döner stands sell Cattle-Döners or even Mixed Meat.
There are some Döners made of pork, mostly made by Turks who aren´t muslim (”Aleviten, Aramäer”)
By the way, you wont find out, during eating the Döner, what kind of meat its made off, because you just taste spices
28 August 2005 at 21:20
Interesting… all of the Döner stands in my little village sell turkey Döners. How do I know this? Because every stand “advertises” that they are made of “Putenfleish.”
28 August 2005 at 23:40
Is Pute really turkey? I always thought it was just another way to say chicken.
From what I know it’s originally lamb, but you get the poultry version everywhere as well. I prefer lamb though.
29 August 2005 at 17:07
I live in Greenwich Village in Manhattan and every morning on my way to the subway I would walk past a small restaurant that sold Doner from an open window in the storefront. One morning, I witnessed them putting the “meat” on the rotisserie. It was in a garbage bag and they were slapping it on in big pieces with their bare hands. The meat looked pretty scary. As much as I loved Doner, I havent had it since!
29 August 2005 at 17:21
I don’t care for Döners (Döneren?), but have one once or twice a year. We do have to shops almost side by side near the launderette and they have price wars.
29 August 2005 at 18:09
If its that way, your neighbourhood must be full of “Turkeyheadz”
Do they only sell “Putenfleischdöner” or do they also sell ‘em?
Quote:”It was in a garbage bag and they were slapping it on in big pieces with their bare hands”
–So i advise you to never visit a slaughterhouse or
a Butcher’s Shop, because you will stop to eat meat at all. Yes, the Döner skewer meat is made of several pieces of meat slapped together. Usually the Döner sellers get their skews deep frozen delievered.
By the way, i don´t do commercial for döners over here, or even do sell some of em by myself
In fact the Döner Stands are often visited by the public health authorities, because the shops aren´t cleaned enough, the sellers doesn´t have a licence to sell food, or other horrible reasons. Go to the Döner-Seller of your trust!
29 August 2005 at 21:34
I have to say that when I moved to Germany a year ago, Döner was one of the first things to make an impression on my mind. There aren’t quite as many döner shops between where I live in Weimar and the Central station, but then again I walk a direct path that avoids much of the commercial district.
I could easily increase the number with a few short detours.
29 August 2005 at 21:47
I bumped into your blog completely by accident, and now have found myself hooked on your musings. I suppose because I, too, spent quite a few years in Germany as a child when my divorced father took me back to his homeland. I was two, learned German as my first language from my ‘Schwabish’ grandmother, made it to the first half of first grade when my father uprooted me again from bucolic Winnenden to return to the States. I would return again for fourth grade, and continued to ricochet occasionally back for extended visits. I am first generation American, working as a chemist at Merck in Pennsylvania. Thanks for the little insights into Germany from an American’s view. Good luck with your language classes! Best Regards, Hans S.
30 August 2005 at 17:52
We don’t have Doner Kebab stands here in the UK, but most towns and villages have at least one fast food outlet that sells this meat in pitta bread meal.
Kebabs in the UK are the legendary fayre that is usually eaten after a night out at when everyone heads for the Kebab shops when the Bars and Pubs and Nightclubs close.
If you trade Tzasiki for chilli sauce the basic description sounds the same but a McDonalds meal is usually cheaper than a kebab.