This new Turkish sit-down deli just openned 3 weeks ago to a slow trickle of local customers on Petaluma Blvd S. at F St. The have your standard cold appetizers hummus, babaganouj, tabouli, yougurt/cucumber salad, dolmas, roasted eggplant salad. Soups, wraps, meat kebob dishes, and combo platters were extremely flavorful and good. The Baklava is homemade and excellent.
The pies would be better heated. The flavors, portions, selection is perfect, yet inconsistent. The food is great on weekdays and evenings when they don't sell out as most of the items are made fresh daily. If you show up late, be prepared to be disappointed, they sell out of most of their signature items, which the owner fails to totally inform his customers. For example, if you order a combo dish he will take the order and bring it to your table sans the sold out item, still charging you the full price...then tells you that the next time you come in he will provide you with double portions...I find that hard to believe, I will post a F/U to let you know.
Maybe that is a tactic to get you to return, but IMHO most customers would prefer to receive some other item to replace something sold out.
Count the number of times you see anyone working there wash their hands between taking orders, bussing tables, serving food, grabbing bread, and cooking while you sit and wait for your order to be brought to your table.
This place has the potential to be great, but questionable business practices and management issues need to be worked out...Time will tell.

Interesting. I wil check it out despite the hygine issues. Hopefully I'll live to tell the tale.

I had lunch there last week...

GOOD:
the food - (yummy!)
friendly staff

BAD:
decor
location (next to a auto-shop)
no beer or wine avail.


...but I will go back and get food to go!

Authentic doner (gyro lamb wrapped in lavash), like I haven't had since Glasgow (I kid you not! Large Turkish population there), and although it was smallish it was $5.50 as compared to $9 at Truly Med in the City.

I absolutely love this place. It's kind of like my new Cotija... back when it was at a gas station.

The food is good, and cheap to boot. The people are nice and friendly. The world isn't perfect and neither is Real Doner and thats just fine with me.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Korpi:
Authentic doner (gyro lamb wrapped in lavash), like I haven't had since Glasgow (I kid you not! Large Turkish population there), and although it was smallish it was $5.50 as compared to $9 at Truly Med in the City.

Are you telling me it's as good as Truly Med!? I'm going on Sat. for sure. I've had to suffer with the good but not great Oasis Grill by the Hyatt Regency since we moved here. Whne they closed the Truly Med on Upper Haight I cried.

They had a Truly med in the Haight?!



I know, I just lived a block from the 16th St. location and I love those guys.

But no, The Real Doner is $5.50 good = +/- $9.00 Truly Med. More tahini sauce and a little more meat, even if they raise the price. We can work on 'em...

If you guys want some other styles of great standard mediterranean food, try
"Le Mediterranean", they have 2 locations one on fillmore at sacramento and the other on noe at market.
both of these have excellent mediterranean fare but not any shewermas nor falafel.
The other great local shewerma is surprisingly in Rohnert Park, next to lil cesar/baskin robbins in the strip mall...Pita Cafe, excellent food a step down from Truly Med, but again real flavor and tahini sauces, good baklava, and nice service/location/table cloths.

I lived a block or two from Le Mediterranean on Market - it was always a reliable standby. We need more in P-town! On a related note it seems we're being invaded by Indian/Himalayan cuisine, which isn't a bad thing. It peaked in popularity in SF a while back so of course the tried-and-true eventually makes it to more remote outposts and now we've got the one on Western (really good and homestyle, if a bit pricey), the one near OSH (haven't tried it), Masala Jack's in Cotati (haven't tried it either) and now one is coming to the Golden Eagle! Too bad about Star of India - they were ahead of their time apparently, but the food was pretty poor, to be honest.

Tried it for lunch on Sun. I had chicken doner, my wife the falafel. On the food we give in an OK, on the resturanturing we give it a 'needs major improvement.' Good enough to satisfy the craving, not good enough to make a regular stop. Folks who run it seem friendly enough but I can't believe they've run a resturant before. We figure it will improve over time and hope it does.

Not even close to Truly Med, but I think we may just be getting nostalgic. Besides, Doner is Turkish, not Arabic so we didn't get the blasting Arab music. I never liked Le Med in SF- those lavash sandwiches grossed me out.

The food consistency for flavor and portion size vary from weeknights to weekends. If they run out of something and tell you that they will give you extra the next time you come in, the owner makes you feel like a freeloader, he disagrees then makes good with a comment like, "No more extras!". Hey buddy, I was the one that was missing items on an order that you failed to tell me you were out of when you filled my order, then he tell you that he will make good on his IOU, he did but with an attitude that ruins you meal.
I suppose someone from the health department went by and told them to use gloves...yep the same gloves that cook, bus tables and touch your food...they do not change their gloves, so why bother with gloves at all?
Sunday brunch, they were all out of pastries and desserts.

An accurate assessment all round, Whippis: it's merely adequate for when you just gotta have that lamb sandwich, but a far cry from Truly Med. When they have their shawerma special at Aram's it beats the Real Doner hands-down.

Maybe they'll improve. Seems the "chef" was a cabbie before this: Link

Someone said it's "smoky" in there. Is that from the food cooking and improper ventilation?

Any recommendations on what to order?

Thanks.

I've heard lots of good reviews about this place, but I have an unusual question:

How does one pronounce "Doner"? Does it rhyme with "boner," "goner," or "runner?"

Apologies for sounding like a rube.

Jeopardy category:

PRONUNCIATIONS

"What is boner?"