Have been in the States for over 12 years and lived in several states and cities. This is by far the
|
best Doner I have had. Keep up the good work.
Bora Baturay
|
After watching an episode of Anthony Bourdains "No Reservations"...where he visits Turkey,...we had to locate a Turkish restaurant! DonerG was awesome!
|
I had the Adana wrap with a side of falafel and my craving was highly satisfied! The flavors in the lamb were amazing and the falafels melt in your mouth! Definitely a 'hidden' gem in Anaheim; we'll be back!!
Caro
|
The food at DonerG is wonderful! The owner has a very warm welcome and they make you feel so comfortable and enjoy such wonderful food. I will definately become a regular.
|
There are so many great looking things on the menu to try. So if I were you, I would definately give this place a try.
Diane
|
I will start by saying that I am a huge fan of Mediterranean food in general. So yesterday coming home from work I called my wife and we decided that neither of us wanted to cook. So at first I recommended Zankou chicken since we wanted to eat pretty healthy. But just to double check I did a search for Mediterranean near me and up popped Doner G with excellent reviews. The pictures looked really good so I decided to surprise my wife. I was surprised to find that this place is about 5min from our place which was a huge plus. When I walked in I was greeted immediately. When I started to look at the menu, one of the guys asked if it was my first time. When I said yes, he offered samples of the meat so I know exactly what I am ordering...Great service. He let me sample the lamb and the chicken that was on the spinners. Both were very tasty with no traces of excess fat. I decided to order the Doner mix plate (chicken and lamb) and got the chicken kabob plate for my wife. I also ordered a side of hummus. While I was waiting for my food, the same person that gave me the sample (which I found out to be the owner) explained to me
|
how Turkish food originated and how it was different from Greek food. It was very interesting and kept me from being bored while waiting for my food. I found out that Doner G also has a Buffet on Thursday nights 6-9PM for $15PP. They were actually preparing for this while I was there and the food looked very good. For those of you that have never been here like me, this is a sit down fast food environment. And the strip mall environment isn't all that pleasing to the eye (almost turned my car around), but don't judge a book by its cover. When I got home (in 5min...cant beat that) my wife and I devoured the food and was both very impressed. The meat was flavorful with no fat, rice was excellent, the Turkish salad was fresh and the lettuce with radish was scrumptious. If you are looking to try something new or want something fairly healthy but good, try Doner G. I know my wife and I will visit here often from now on. ***Good price, Great service and food***
James C.
Anaheim
|
I enjoy family owned restaurants, they normally spend a great deal more time designing the menus and thusly put greater effort in establishing a higher quality standard than many corporate slop shops. Doner G is living proof that quality food is still available in Orange County for reasonable prices. We actually drove to Willy's Sunday at approx. 11:00AM but they were closed. We yelped other restaurants in the area, and guess what, Doner G was 60 feet away! YAY! With an average rating of four stars and tons of wonderful and descriptive reviews, we stopped in. Glad we did! The place isn't easy to see when you're going to Ball Road, in fact, it's tucked away the corner of a pretty run down strip mall. The car wash blocks much of the view. The inside smelled heavenly, the floors were very clean, tables were spotless, bathrooms were nicely adorned and also very clean, so far, things were looking pretty good! We ordered our food from their descriptive menu, lots of photos which help to explain what everything actually is. I enjoyed their chicken sandwich which was just wonderful.
|
Large portion, perfectly seasoned, not overpowering, something like a Middle Eastern BBQ style. Terrific! Hubby enjoyed the Doner beef with rice, cabbage, and tomato garnish. Very tasty, excellent portion, rice was light and flavorful, terrific pita bread with a wonderful minty yogurt sauce. It only lasted for 15 minutes before completely vanishing! Woohoo! Oh, prior to our meals, we tried their lentil soup. Now, you're probably used to lintel soup being a dark brown, but their soup was almost a mustard yellow color! Hmm, is this good? Yep, it's smashing! You can taste the flavor of the lentils as these are a different variety than used in most common restaurants. The lentils are also purried into the broth, so the soup is creamy and rich, not the more traditional chunky style. I would highly recommend you try this! For dessert they gave us two scumptious pieces of traditional baklava, containing pistachios, not the more common walnut variety. We left happy, quite full, the prices are fair, approx. $6.50, what a fun and unique establishment! I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Grace M.
|
Live in Marina Del Rey and have other good options rather close to me, but I actually look for excuses to travel to Orange County simply to stop in at Doner G and get another taste of Turkeyl. Every time I sample a different dish and every time I am transported back to Istanbul by the flavors and aromas. For those who know of the legendary Turkish hospitality,
|
it is found in the smiles of each of their staff as they greet you in this humble establishment. They also have an excellent buffet option for dinner sometime during the week,( I'm not sure which night(s)), I just got lucky... Great family environment! I can't wait to get back to Turkey, but in the meantime, I savor my visits to DonerG...
Wayne C.
|
I wish I was hungrier when I came!!
My friend took us to this place on a Thursday evening because they had $15 buffet, and boy was it tastyyy! I piled on a load of meat and mousaka and some other stuff and I was so ready to down it all, but the week I went I hadn't been eaten too much, so 3/4th of my way through my plate I just couldn't put anything more in my mouth. Even though it was so good. :[
This was an order-from-the-counter sort of restaurant (although for the buffet they told us we can just sit down and get our food first, and pay the cashier when we leave), but everything inside looked really clean, and there were photos hung on the wall of places in the Mediterranean area which apparently the owner had taken.
|
I noticed too how there seemed to be a lot of actual Turkish people in this restaurant also, which made me think that this is probably really legit food. Also the Turkish guys working here were all really nice and friendly.
And and and GUESS WHAT.
THEY LET US TAKE OUR BUFFET FOOD TO GO.
In fact, they INSISTED that we take more containers to take more food home! I don't think I've ever been to a buffet where they've let us do that before, so I'm definitely coming back here again on Thursdays!
Hans T
Orange, CA
|
GREAT!!! I went to eat there for the first time on yesterday and I loved the food. The Service was also great.
|
I would give it five stars *****. I recomend it to everyone.
Saira Leal
|
There are some restaurants that have good food; others have a great dining experience. And some are just close to home, others are priced modestly... For whatever reason we eat out seldomly do we run into a restaurant where all of the above are brought together for?
|
I can honestly say that the quality and taste of the food is par none at DonerG and on top of that you have a great dining experience with modest prices and wonderful people and service. I can’t get enough!!! Thank you DonerG
Ike
|
DonerG has the best Turkish food I've ever tasted. Period. End of story. Go there. Now. I mean it. I wouldn't write my 400th review on it if I didn't believe it, now would I?
In all honesty, this is actually the only Turkish food I've ever sampled. But, without having actually visited Turkey, this place must be authentic for several reasons. First of all, this place is manned almost entirely by a staff of Turkish natives (all of whom speak fluent Turkish). Secondly, every time I've eaten here (which is at least a dozen times), I've noticed that quite a few of the customers are of Turkish descent. If Turkish people are actually flocking to this place, it must be authentic, right? Thirdly, during my most recent visit, a Turkish television film crew was here interviewing the owner and manager. C'mon people! If Turkey is sending cameras here (for viewing back in Turkey), this place HAS to be the real deal.
Okay, enough of my ranting. Let's talk about the food - it's all good. I've sampled almost everything on the menu and I've enjoyed it all. As far as grilled meats go, the doner (marinated meat slow-cooked on a vertical broiler/spit, sliced off in thin pieces) is great, in both varieties (beef and chicken). The meat is made fresh, in-house, and on a daily basis. The result is tasty, flavorful, meaty goodness that needs to be sampled in order to do it justice. Personally, I also enjoy Greek gyros, but I'll take the Turkish doner over it any day. If you're in the mood for lamb, the adana kebab (ground lamb, marinated w/herbs and skewer mounted; much like the Persian koobideh) and the kofte (charbroiled lamb, parsley, onions, and herbs) are both quite tasty, too. The adana's a bit spicier than the kofte, so expect more flavor from this dish. The shish kebab (cubed, skewered lamb or chicken) is another grilled item you can't go wrong with. The lamb's not very gamey at all and the chicken is spiced just right. Most of the grilled meat is served with pita bread and/or rice pilaf and salad on the side.
The menu's got two items that are sort of doner off-shoots as well. One item that's quickly prepared and easy to eat is the durum. It's almost a Turkish version of the burrito - Lavash (a tortilla-like Turkish flat bread) filled with doner meat, tomatoes, pickles, and Turkish dressing. The other dish is the Iskender kebab plate (thinly cut doner meat, basted with melted butter and tomato sauce, served over pieces of pita bread w/yogurt on the side). This second dish I'd recommend for the more adventurous/open-minded diner.
|
Doner G also serves up Turkish beans, vegetarian and lamb stews, salads, soups, and a variety of side dishes (humus, fries, falafel, and dolmas). If you've got a sweet tooth, I recommend the baklava (imported), which comes in several varieties (walnut, pistachio, kemalpasa, kadayif...).
As far as I'm concerned, I've received nothing but the best service here. Both the owner (Yalcin) and manager have been excellent hosts. They are always courteous, greet you with a smile, and are more than willing to answer any of your questions. I'm neither Turkish nor Muslim, but I appreciate the fact that Doner G offers halal food (for those in search of it). Recently, they were open later for Ramadan and had a nice buffet spread set up for their customers. As an added bonus, they're also open to dietary requests. I've requested mixed meats (beef and chicken) on occasion and have often asked for a double order of salad instead of rice pilaf (low-carb alternative).
Yes, the format of the restaurant (as mentioned in other reviews) is more of a fast food set-up than a traditional sit-down eatery. You do have to place your order at the register (after glancing over the menu up on the wall above the grills) and the beverages are self-serve, but you'll find similar set-ups at many other places that aren't necessarily labeled as 'fast food' (e.g. Baja Fresh, Daphne's). Frankly, I prefer it this way. Since I usually stop in for lunch anyway, I depend on quicker service and turnaround during my short-enough-as-it-is lunch "break" of 45 minutes.
In my opinion, Doner G is a great place to eat. I highly recommend their food to anyone with an interest in Turkish food. Heck, anyone interested in food period should at least try the food here. I did and now I'm practically a shareholder in the company!
If you do manage to stop by, tell them that you read their reviews on Yelp (or at least this one?). You can even mention my name, but that won't get you much...or will it?
Arnold E.
Orange, CA
|
Ever since I had a donar kebab after a night of drinking and dancing at some of Berlin's top clubs like Tresor, E-werk and Linientreu. I've been searching for it here in California. Unfortunately, there are not many Turkish places around. Berlin has a huge Turkish population and there are kebab stands on almost every business street and stay open pretty late.
So when I looking for a place to eat that was near the Grove in Anaheim, I saw Donar G. Could it be? Have a finally found a place with Donar kebabs in the southland? Some places say that they have donar kebabs, but it's really only a gyro imitation.
When I walked in with my brother and was looking at the menu I was happy to see they serve donar kebabs along with a decent variety of other Turkish dishes. The owner asked me if I had ever had Turkish food and if I didn't, I could sample anything I wanted. I told him I had and ordered up a couple of donar plates.
|
I have to say the food was really good and for the price, it's a fantastic deal. Fresh tomatoes and cucumbers with a large portion of kebab meat. I could have used more rice and pita bread slices, but I'm being picky.
Did the food measure up to my Berlin experience, sadly no, but it was the closest I have found. This is not to say I didn't enjoy my meal because I did and would come back in a heartbeat. The difference is the spicyness of the the red pepper sauce which just wasn't the same, nor was the flavor of the meat. Maybe I've been spoiled by my Berlin experience.
If you are looking for a really good meal for the price and are tired of the same old ethnic places give Donar G a try. I think you will enjoy it.
Jim K.
Long Beach, CA
|
|
