Döner Bistro

What a find. Great beers (I had draft Benediktiner Hell /​original and they state 10+ and I believe it — hard to find bottled and drafts) like their food (I had the Döner Box $ 9) it’s the real deal. I took them up on «hot sauce». There’s outdoor seating, foosball, a great menu. I was heading for another place next door but I never made it :)

Had been wanting to check out doner bistro for a while, finally got a chance for my boyfriend’s birthday as he studied abroad in germany and is a huger doner fan. This place was excellent. They had a great beer selection and you got more than enough food for a great price. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a casual dinner out for something a little different.

As a German who lived in Berlin for four years, I have had countless döner, as I enjoy then very much. «Döner Bistro» in D.C. Doesn’t even come close to constructing something that would be considered a döner by a German. 1, the meat they offer are chicken and beef, NO lamb. Rediculous, I know, as when one thinks of döner, one expects lamb. 2, the bread is dry and floury tasting. Not döner bread. 3, there is an abundance of some sort of sour cream that is added to it and the döner is SPICY. I have never had a spicy döner.
1 – 5 rating, 2 at best. A decent tasting food, but NOT a döner.

Wow. Just wow. Unfortunately needing to change my review from 5 star to 1 star for terrible customer service. Not entirely sure what happened to all of the wonderful staff, but now they’re left with incompetent jerks. Way too much attitude. Unknowledgeable about their own food. What happened to the old Döner? :(

I feel this is a pretty good place. I’ll definitely be back.
I just got back from a backpacking trip that was half in Germany and I wanted a German experience. This did it for me.
I got the döner box vs the regular since reviews say it’s all bread. I wish I got a beer with it too. Even though it’s noon, beer is cheaper than water in Germany so it’s a part of every meal.
That brings me to my next point… cost: I can’t believe how expensive things are in the US (or just DC?) because I’ve been used to € 2 beers everywhere in Europe.
Maybe I need some time to adjust but I gave this $$ instead of one.

First time here, and I have to say it was a welcome addition to the late night food scene. The doner bucket had the right amount of meat and sauce, with little bit of kick. The fries were an odd texture, like they’re the frozen kind, but at that point, it didn’t really matter.

The Doner is a great place to kick back with a German beer or three and indulge. The menu offerings are the epitome of great drunk food, meats and fries in a creamy sauce. The outdoor seating fills up fast, but the foosball table makes up for when you can only get indoor seating. They also have a mug club!

This place was recommended by my German friend. It’s amazing. Watched some soccer games here and felt welcome. Good customer service and good quality food. I’ve been to Germany and it definitely felt like I was there.

I’m a messy eater so I go for the doener box, which is composed of fries and meat. This is great food, especially if you like German style grub. Pair it with a light beer and you are good to go.

I have to say sadly I have never heard of doner before, but being an adventurous eater, I was up for checking it out! My friend and I both got the doner with a side of fries for lunch. Totally loved the medley of flavors: sweet-​and-​sour slaw, delicious chicken, veggies, and sauce. Not a place to go on a first date if you’re trying to impress as it is very messy, but so worth the adventure!

Following a friend’s recommendation, this was my first visit to Döner Bistro.
The place has the feel of a German Imbiss: small interior and beer tables and beer benches for seating. This alone makes the place pretty German. They also have a small outdoor seating area, which I doubt anyone will use this time of year.
The Döner tastes great and is pretty authentic to what you would get at most Turkish shops in Germany.
They also offer a variety of German sausages, if that’s more up your alley.
I would recommend ordering a side of their fries with your food. They are good and a bit on the spicy side.
They also feature a pretty impressive selection of German beers, some in bottles only, some on tap.
I will definitely be back… and if you have not been there, you should go and check it out.

Very bland tasting food, their doner isn’t tasty. The lettuce they use is a few days old and saggy. Overall the food lacks of taste. The outdoor sitting area is a cool place to have an afternoon German beer.

My fiancé grew up in Germany where he ate doners throughout his childhood, so when we found out there was an authentic Doner Bistro nearby, we were excited to try it. Our first drive out to Adams Morgan (we live about 25 min away) we arrived at 8 pm and were disappointed to find that it was closed, despite the website saying they were open until 10 pm. Bummer.
On New Years Day we called first to verify they were open, they were so we made our second attempt. When we got there, my fiancé was definitely in awe of the décor and atmosphere and kept saying how it was exactly like the doner places he remembered from Germany in the 90s, complete with a foozball table, Bayern Munich soccer games on TV, and even the radio station was a German pop music station. We both ordered doners with beef, fries and a sausage dish. If you don’t mind messy food and huge portions, it’s safe to say you will love a doner. I personally thought the meat was a bit salty and had too little meat and too much veggies, but then again I’m a picky eater and also didn’t grow up on doners. My fiancé absolutely loved his meal and got a second meal to go. The beers we had were delicious, as well. Overall, I’d recommend trying here if you can appreciate German food and a casual, fun, unique fast food place.

Wonderfull place, I really enjoy the food and bier
I really recommend to go … Really nice !!!

This is a new competitor to Amsterdam Falafel for my Admo food of choice, and they serve beer! The traditional döner is the ticket here, though their other fare is fine as well.
The only issue I’ve encountered with DB is that portions aren’t reliable. I tend to be very satisfied with the döner I order, but occasionally it will be hardly filled (the photos I see here on Unilocal do well to show the range of full or empty döners).

I had 2 of their dishes. They were ok. Maybe i am not so much into german cuisine. But I did not enjoy the sausage at all. The doner or signature plate was not bad.
I think this place is ok but nothing amazing.

I went to this place with my girlfriend during a nice sunny day, which was great given the outdoor seating on the front patio. However, the one downside of the seating out front was the benches — they were quite rickety and a bit unstable if you didn’t pay close attention.
That being said, the food at the Doner bistro was quite satisfying given the pricing point ($ 8) and the fact you’re receiving food that conventionally is sold in Europe and the Middle East. My girlfriend ordered the doner box, as she terms them «nomy fries» — a compilation of fries with beef and chicken meat doused in yogurt sauce with some red pepper flakes. She really enjoyed them for never having doner before, but complained about the fries being too soggy near the bottom of the box since the fries seeped into the yogurt for too long.
I had the doner sandwich with beef meat, which actually was quite satisfying in size (pretty hearty portion) and flavor profile. It had a nice, balanced combination of produce, meat, and sauce. However, there were a few instances in which some of the beef was a bit chewy.
All in all, I’d categorize the food as decent on its own, and solid for the pricing point.
As a side note, this place does not accept vertical driver
licenses at all. I wanted to purchase a beer and was unpleasantly surprised that I was unable to pair my sandwich with a tasty german beer. To the staff’s credit, the man at the counter was trying to find a second piece of identification to verify my age, which I simply did not have.
Finally, I found it a bit odd that a doner bistro didn’t sell lamb (they only had chicken or beef). That’s the bread and butter of a doner shop — which this place should endeavor to obtain.
I’d definitely come back to this place though, whether it’d be for a quick bite to eat on a weekend or a 2 am drunk jaunt.

Nice spot to get a beer or simple meal. It’s nothing special, except for the strong selection of German products, including a wide range of bottled beers and four German beers on tap. They used to have Veltins on tap, which I love, but seem to have swapped Warsteiner for it. So sad. But they also have Köstritzer. Good for döner, felafel, fries, wurst, etc.

What a great late night option. We got home around 2am on a Friday night (Saturday) and we were all starving. My friend said he knew the perfect spot and left to go get us donor kabab sandwiches. I was expecting typical greasy late night quality food and was very m pleasantly surprised when he returned with anything but that!
The sandwich was fresh and tasty! It wasn’t dripping with grease. It had a nice cucumber tomato salad thing on top of the chicken. It was the perfect sandwich to cap off the night.
If you’re looking for a food spot opened around 2am, this is your place.

The food was delicious, my family who just returned from a 3-​year tour in Europe all loved it too. The atmosphere is awesome and they have a great imported beer variety that gets served in proper glassware. Bonus points for the owner interacting with us and staff being very knowledgeable on gluten free restrictions. This isn’t in my neighborhood but I’ll definitely make the trip back whenever I can.

Unfortunately Doner is going down hill.
Rudy A needs an attitude adjustment. Been here almost a hundred times and never had an issue with a server cleaning my stein. Of course I tip well too. But he had an attitude — «We don’t clean these by the way» — news to me Rudy. To top of it off, he didn’t know what hefeweizen is, «Where do you even see hefeweizen?». Basically rudy works as a server at a German restaurant, doesn’t know what Hefeweizen is, and doesn’t know what customer service is.
Been here a million times but I don’t know that I’ll be back.

Been going here since it opened. I love getting the doner, I ordered the chicken and beef one with hot sauce. It’s a pretty big sandwich and I usually can never finish it, but it’s oh so good. It comes with this nice crunchy bread and tastes perfectly with the meat, pickled toppings, lettuce and tzatziki. And of course I throw some hot curry powder on top just to make me cry a little. So delicious. If you go between 5 – 7 on weekdays, they have a happy hour with $ 4 quality German beers. And I love this place too because I can bring my dog along. Prost!

Fun and tasty, this place was on my list for awhile. The Colonel and I stopped in after an evening outing to Great Falls in order to spite the Sprossling, who chose not to accompany us and therefore missed out on spooky ruins and currywurst, which he loves, as he is actually a German baby. We both had the beef doner and split a small fries (more than enough for two). The Colonel had his spicy and mine was mild. Both were delicious. Mine could have used more onion, but the Colonel said his hot sauce was evenly distributed and made up for onion, but he agreed that without it, he would want some more.
Ok you can stop reading there, and just go, or you can read some musings on Doner from someone who has lived in Germany.
Still here? Ok, I thought it was interesting that they offered beef and chicken. I know gyros is traditionally lamb, and I thought I had had German ‘gyros’ and ‘doner’ that was pork-​based, so I wondered if the minds behind Doner Bistro had done market research or guessed that Americans wouldn’t go for those two meats as strongly? It is one downfall, in that both beef and chicken seem blander to me than lamb or pork. It looks like the main meat in Germany IS beef according to this link:
The ‘pommes’ were good, and in terms of visiting not worth a mention pro or con as they are pretty much the new standard, following in the vein of In and Out or Five Guys — square cut, thicker, kind of overcooked. However, they were NOT the traditional German pommes. I looked online for an explanation, but you are just gonna have to trust me on this one. So again, not sure why they didn’t go with the more traditional version.
Finally, the bread, which was delicious, and seemed Turkish in origin, but was not pita, and therefore again got in the way of a true doner experience. Mind you, did not get in the way of my eating it!
So those are my musings, I will absolutely go again and next time the Sprossling (Sprout in German) is coming alonn!

Delicious. I loved the bread they used on my chicken donor. The hot sauce was spicy (beware) but, other than that the sandwich was very tasty and «fresh» (great tasting and good amount of veggies). Their fries were fantastic, so crunchy. They have a wide selection of beer. (We parked and walked from the National Zoo, beware — it is up, up, up hill — summer *we learned* is not the time for this walk, but in the Spring/​Fall/​early Winter this would be very doable as «Zoo Day Lunch.») There is minimal digital meter parking out front (there were a few spaces open) but the road is shared with at least one other restaurant…

I really really want to like you Doner Bistro and your signature namesake sandwich… But it sucks!!! No meat. All bread. Tangy terrible garlic sauce. I wish I could click my heels and be anywhere is Bavaria right now. Beer in nice. Potato cakes are ok. Currywurst is aiight. But that’s NOT a doner. It’s bread.

Any place that my dog can go always get brownie points from me. There is a small patio here, so it is dog friendly.
As far as food goes, I thought it was a Turkish German fusion place, and it turns out that the menu has both Turkish or rather Mediterranean menu items (since you can find doner kebab in many countries), and then some German menu items. Like curry wurst & Schnitzel. However, if you are a beer drinker, it does has a large selection of German beer. Not as much as you are in Belgium but good enough for DC.
The food quality is average for me, nothing exceptional, but the place has a good vibe. There is a table football machine in the corner of the place, TischfuBball. All in all, it is a good place just to have a light bite to eat or have a beer outside.

Couldn’t be happier with my dc doner kebab experience. Fun German beers, tasty doner, potato pancakes, fries, and currywurst! Outdoor and indoor benches for groups, a kids menu for kidz, and German chocolates and foosball… cuz why not? I’ll be back.

German style fast food. The doner box is either beef or chicken with a bed of french fries and white sauce in a large cup. The white sauce I think is yogurt sauce and its delicious. They are very generous with the amount of sauce that they put in, so if you’re not a fan I’d recommend getting it on side. Also, the fries got a little bit soggy towards the end.
They also have sausages which are equally delicious.
They have a good beer selection, ranging from a grapefruit radler to hefeweizen.
The women’s bathroom is tiny, and has a blue light so you can’t really see that well with loud music playing. The seating is also limited, so be ready to share a table with some other patrons. There is also outdoor seating for nicer weather.
The doner bistro in Leesburg definitely had better service though.

Amazing. This was my second time here and it is fantastic. Both times I got the Doner sandwich which is sorta like a gyro but with beef and Cole slaw. I’m not a fan of coleslaw at all but this stuff is different. It is more like cucumber with some mayo in it. The meat is very tender and the bread or pita is tasty and soft. If you like things spicy, be sure to ask for the hot sauce that they add to the top. The sandwich or pita looks intimidating at first but it is manageable. The menu has lots of authentic German cuisine. This is also a very dog friendly restaurant as they have dog treats and will offer a bowl of water.
I’d definitely go back here and probably for their happy hour since they offer a boot to drink from and have liter size beers for $ 10.