Comments on: Real Doner: The hummus among us

By: Nathanael Giovanelli

Nathanael Giovanelli — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:57:33 +0000

Oh, this is a very interesting blog page and ive enjoyed reading many of the articles and posts contained on the website, keep up the good work and hope to read some more interesting content in the future.

By: Brad Haugh

Brad Haugh — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 05:37:33 +0000

The food is not as good as before. The original chef opened his own place in Petaluma Plaza, a real restaurant. Doner food is good but Afendi’s is great.
Just don’t watch their how they bus tables, prep food, and how they just handle bread WITHOUT washing his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally unsanitary, just count the number of times this guy touched dirty things then the food without washing. GROSS

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:36:50 +0000

We did a back to back taste test of shawerma at Aram’s Cafe and Real Doner, both in Petaluma. There is no competition, Aram’s is far superior.
First, Aram’s serves its shawerma on pita, not lavash. Second, Aram’s chicken has actual flavor/spicing, not just from the sauce. Third, Aram’s has ambiance (real tables & chairs, no florescent lighting, and not a converted convenience store).
In summary, Aram’s left me wanting more. Real Doner left me wanting to not return.

By: Tanas

Tanas — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:47:21 +0000

They have raised the prices on all the wraps. What was 6.50 is now $8, and what was $7.50 is now $9.
With tax, that’s $9 for a Falaffel sandwich, or $10 for a doner wrap. That is just way too expensive for a cabbage filled wrap in my opinion.
Huge Burritos at any of our local taquerias are 5 to 6 bucks, that are full of Carne asada and all the goodies.
I don’t see the justification for such a price increase, especially at a deli-like establishment. Doesn’t look like we will be making the trip to Real Doner anymore.

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:16:39 +0000

I’ve ate here several times, (at least once a week) My fav: chicken gyro. The lamb and beef one is amazing as well. Great place to eat, great food.

By: crablover

crablover — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:40:38 +0000

Chef Joe is worldclass in his cooking and a nice guy to boot! The female host is warm and friendly too. But the male owner is dragging down the business. He doesn’t understand customer service and doesn’t try to be helpful. I hope he learns because we need this place. Otherwise, it will fail.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:10:51 +0000

Go to SYRAh and ask for Gabe to make you some home made HUMMUS … he is arabic and will blow you out of the water with his HUMMUS…. and falafel!!!!

By: Sam Trey

Sam Trey — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:18:44 +0000

Yeah the cook and wife are very nice, while the owner/cash register dude (the guy in the picture with the black shirt) is a little gruff. He needs to brush up on his customer service and could be a tad more polite/friendly, but I’m here for the food, which is delicous. The doners are great and a good size. A whole one fills me up good. I like that they don’t use some heavy fattening mayo based sauce for the doners, and use a nice light yogurt based sauce. It’s real food, and healthier than other options IMO.
I’m going back this week to try something new from them.
I’m very happy this is in the Northbay.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:59:50 +0000

This food is the real deal. From gyros to desserts, all delicious. Yummy. What bother my family and I was the service from particular person, I guess he is the owner. Don’t have respect to customers. All the time he is talking on his phone very loudly. I decide to ignore him because other people such as the Chef, Joe and I believe the owner’s wife “Be” (He nick for name.)was really nice to us. They always give us appetizer to make us feel at home. I own a restaurant myself and the secret to this place is the food. Behind all this is the a fellow from New York where I’m originally from NJ. I like the way Joe, the secret behind all the delicious food, is the preparer and cook of all the meals, was talking to my kids and my wife and me explaining with excitiment about the food he makes. I couldn’t believe that he prepares all the food.”Be” is a sweatheart with her warmth smile and shaking her head is the opposite of her husband.

By: Wulfstan

Wulfstan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:58:32 +0000

I figure I could add a little info about the whole doner/gyro thing. As noted in the article, “doner” (the 1st syllable is pronounced like the “oo” in “good” and NOT like “o” in “go”; in Turkish there is an umlaut over the o) and “gyro” are the same basic thing. Gyro is Greek and doner is Turkish and both basically mean “going around,” with “doner” derived from the verb “donmek,” meaning “to turn around.” Both use meat sliced from the turning vertical spit. It is unclear where or when this type of spit started, but according to one legend it was invented in the mid 19th century in the Turkish city of Bursa by a chef called Iskender Usta, the man also credited with created the Iskender Kebap (also called the Bursa Kebap), a specific dish using doner meat. His family restaurant, called Iskenderoglu, still exists in Bursa and has spread as a small chain.
One reason there is so much commonality in cuisine in Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Albania, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, etc., is that all of these places were part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which began conquering the regions in the 14th century and fell only with the end of WWI. With the sultans bringing all the elements of the empire to the capital and people from all over the empire going there and mixing together, food ideas mixed and then spread to every region. In many instances, these were new combinations that arose either from the palace chefs creating new dishes (like baklava and Turkish Delight) that the elites from Croatia to Iraq wanted to emulate, or simply from different traditions being blended into one new dish. That’s why they all have things like dolma (a Turkish word, from the verb dolmk, meaning “stuffed thing”) or the salad commonly but incorrectly called “Greek Salad,” (the name differs from country to country; in Turkey it is called Coban salatasi, Shepherd’s Salad).