Doner Kebab

Awesome! Food is so fresh. If you are looking for traditional, this is a must try! I had the platter and everything was amazing.

Super delicious. I had the lamb/​beef shawarma plate and a cheese pie. Came with hummus and babaganoush as well as some seasoned rice. Im not a fan of babaganoush but this was the best ive tried. Everything was fantastic

Great food and very friendly staff. We ordered take out from here last week and let me tell you, you get enough food in one meal to feed several people. I would highly recommend this place!

From the outside this hole in the wall isn’t inviting. And, with the dozens of other small restaurants nearby I can see how easy it would be to overlook this place. It was after 10pm and many of the other restaurants nearby were closed. Rather than drive around looking for something more familiar we opted to test the waters at Doner Kebab and are glad we did.
It’s one of the few places where the food that arrives on your plate matches the colorful, professionally taken photos of it on the flat screen behind the register. In addition to friendly service, the food is affordable and crams flavor in every bite.
Being in a large city like Richmond it’s common to find ethnic food. And, you won’t be disappointed by what ends up on your plate here, even a mere few minutes after being ordered. Doner succeeds in offering tasty and fresh food that’s far more inspiring that the décor. Keep in mind, there are no fountain drinks. Everything is in a can in a small cooler.
We ordered far more than we needed, but with a friend of mine in from Northern Michigan who had never tried Turkish (or any kind of Mediterranean food) I wanted him to endure a true sampling. Here’s what we ordered:
Hummus Plate: Came with fresh, homemade hummus and quality vegetables. A tremendous amount of flavor.
Pita: Lots of credit for making the pita on-​site and from scratch. It makes a world of difference from the places that serve store bought pita. This was fluffy, light and wonderful.
Zatar Pie: We ate it as an appetizer, but it was large enough for a meal and darn good!
Lamb & Beef Shawarma Plate: I enjoyed every bite. The meat was tender, loaded with flavor and portions were more than enough.
Beef Steak Stromboli: Made with fresh dough, tasty steak and enough that two could share.

Having lived in Turkey for two years, this place satisfies all my nostalgic cravings.
The food is fresh, delicious and handmade. As others have noted, the pita is made fresh to order, which is amazing. They have truly authentic flavors (sumac! pickled turnips!) and dishes it’s really hard to find around here, like lahmajun (lahmajeen on the menu), which is sort of like the Turkish version of pizza. The chicken doner is one of my personal favorites even though I’m a lamb fanatic because of the bits of lemon rind — they are the most wonderful bursts of fresh tartness in your mouth! Even the arugula salad, which seems like such a basic thing, tastes exactly like it did overseas. It all brings back so many great memories!
Meanwhile the service is so, so friendly and enthusiastic, and the prices are incredibly reasonable — even cheap. Definitely go check it out! You’ll be glad you did!

First time here. Loved the food. Their Pitta bread is delicious! Had a great bean dish in a cozy terrace outdoors. Great spot in Cary Town!

Went here last night for the first time and ordered the chicken shawarma because I was with my friend from Jordan and that was what he suggested. I would’ve never ordered it on my own just by reading what was on it but it was absolutely delicious! I’m so glad I branched out of my comfort zone and tried something new! The sliced lemons, the pickles and their special garlic sauce were all amazing! Such a different combination but so good all together! The guy at the front taking our order was so nice too! I will definitely be back!

If you want the best falafel and shawarma in Richmond come here. Made on the premises, the bread is fresh and warm with perfect texture and flavor To us desert people, stale pita is an abomination. Middle Eastern falafel is prepared here the traditional way. I’ve never asked about Doner Kebab’s recipe, because these can be vegan, but I have always used egg as a binder for the chickpeas, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, parsley, and lemon juice. These are blended together formed into patties and deep fried.
Since my son took us here, we highly recommend this place. If the weather is great, you have outside seating to enjoy the Carytown scene. The inside seating is strictly a no frills situation.
I enjoy chatting with the owners about the situation in Turkey and Syria. People like them came to this country, worked hard, played by the rules, and now prosper. We’d be poorer without their vigor, entrepreneurial skill, and of course America would be hamburger and hotdog land without exquisite falafel and shawarma.

Best falafel and hummus in Richmond. Shawarma is great too, but I can’t resist the falafel. Almost everything is made in-​house. Staff is lovely. They also now accept credit cards. Highly recommend this place.

This place offers the best falafel I’ve ever had (with Amsterdam Falafel in DC a close second). It’s a cute place with truly delicious food and nice staff. No complaints here.

They have the best falafel sandwich in Richmond, in my opinion. If you are in the mood for a quick tasty meal, you can’t beat it. The falafel itself is great, the bread is perfect and always fresh, and the toppings are fresh too.
The ambiance leaves a lot to be desired. There is always techno music and the TV showing something bizarre, plus not very much seating. Your best bet is to sit outside if the weather is at all tolerable.

Ok, like I said in my previous review, I am not an expert on Turkish food. That being said I have been to this place nearly a half dozen times, either getting the lamb and beef shawarma or the falafel sandwich and I have yet to be disappointed. I would definitely eat here again and recommend it highly to anyone else.

A good way to consider the quality of a Mediterranean place is to take notice of how many of the ingredients are made in house. There are many Mediterranean places at which you could order a veggie platter and get a plate of almost exclusively store bought components. One of the most common elements places will choose to purchase rather than make is pita bread.
Doubtless you have encountered numerous times the perfectly round flat slightly sandy lightly toasted pitas in your consumption of Mediterranean food in the past. But at Doner Kebab the pita bread is always made fresh to order. It is warm and soft and pillowy and extremely delicious. The difference it makes in the overall quality of the wraps is not be under estimated.
Additionally the falafel inside the falafel wrap is also made with obvious TLC and very delicious. It is not the absolute best falafel I have ever had (I’m lookin at you International Delights in Durham NC!), but still well above average. All of the other components of the wrap including the tiny slice of lemon come together marvelously. When you combine the deliciousness of the wrap, the large size and relatively moderate cost, it makes what I think is hands down the best falafel wrap in Richmond.
The spinach pies are also as good as I have ever had. They are well seasoned and the filling has just the right amount of tangy. They are the Lebanese variety, so they have the soft chewy bread instead of the Greek style phyllo dough (spanakopita). The baklava is pretty average, but still more or less as good as I have ever had since I have yet to really find a place that has a baklava that stands out (suggested invited). And the Hummus is good, better than average, but not stellar to my reckoning. And I have not tried the chicken shawarma but my sister says it’s her favorite in town.
There are few if any real downsides to this place. The staff is always nice and friendly. They used to be cash only but have since started taking cards. The seating area is small and the place is very no frills/​hole in the wall but there is nothing wrong with that. And the service is not super fast but considering that all the bread is made to order, that service seems plenty prompt. One Unilocaler dinged them fries not being very good. In all fairness he may be totally correct. But if you want fries there is a McDonalds just down the street. If you want a really really good wrap, this is your place.

Another RVA gem. We love their hummus, their chicken doner is off the chains (some times it’s a little heavy on the spice/​garlic), and the falafel is solid. It’s conveniently priced and they’re pleasant.

I’ve had much better. Their fries are crap and they don’t really offer much in the way of a dining experience. Oh, there are some chairs and a picnic table. Food isn’t terrible, but could be better. Prices here are way to high fir a shitty hole in the wall that can’t even get their fries right.

I stopped in because I was starving and promptly ordered [probably too much] off the wee menu. It’s not complicated, nine options in all, but I expect each one will be utterly delicious. It seemed almost mandatory that I at least –start– with the doner kebab [called shawerma on the menu] so I ordered the lamb/​beef version, plus a zaatar pie and some walnut baklava. The shawerma was absolutely amazing, the spices were perfect, and enough different from the standard gyro to be exciting s well as having maybe a touch of heat to it. The zaatar pie, a flatbread positively coated with the spice blend, was crunchy from the sesame seeds and quite tasty. I would have added more sumac to the mix, but that’s a personal preference. The baklava was delicious, not drippy and also not dry on the top as some can be. I plan to go back quite soon.

We visted Doner Kepab yesterday for 2^nd lunch and split a Shawerma. We learned that the cook was Syrian and asked if we could like something Syrian. The man recommended the Zatar pie. The Shawerma and Zatar were both good. I was informed that Zatar was Thyme in Arabic. The pie was pita with a mixture of spices (thyme, sesame) in oil. The shawerma was different than others I have had. It had chopped beef, with parsley and I believe a yogurt sauce. I can that this is a sandwich i would crave after a night of drinking.

I was one of Doner’s biggest fans and have been eating their falafel and bringing people to eat their sandwiches since they opened. (See my previous tip) But sadly this place is gone downhill since my first experience. Today I came in and ordered my usual falafel pita and fries. Since they opened, the prices have gone up almost a dollar, but I was willing to pay extra for the quality I’ve come to know and love.
Well, quality no more. The falafel sandwich I had today was topped with a lackluster sauce reminiscent of thinned out mayo. Instead of the falafel being in their typical, beautifully fried hot patties, it was cold and broken up into crumbs. And filled with salad to try to mask the lack of falafel. It was downright deceptive! The pita was burnt on the inside and still not warm. The fries tasted of old oil and they’ve gone to a clearly cheaper quality fry.
Unfortunately, today they lost one of their biggest advocates. I will not be back and I’ll be sure to spread the word about how they’ve lost touch with the customer base and have opted to cut corners and raise prices to increase revenue instead of sticking with their fresh philosophy.

Great folks — authentic Turkish doner :)

Really great schwarma. Though not the best I’ve ever eaten (I prefer Lebanese schwarma), for the price and speediness of the service you can’t beat it. It was served hot on fresh baked pita with parsley, onions and spiced tomatoes. The meat is terrific; thinly sliced and expertly spiced. I’d love to come back and give a real review of the whole menu, but for now, this will have to do.