Eddie’s Donair

Popped in today for the first time… awesome.
We moved here a year and a half ago and are going to all the donair places.
This one is the best hands down.
The meat is spiced perfectly, the sweet sauce is the best and the portion size was awesome.
Two thumbs way up!

Nice enough fellas, if a little brusque, but the donairs they serve are decidedly ordinary. I don’t understand the excitement about Eddie’s Donair & Pizza and I doubt very much that I’ll return there to try their donairs again. Meh.

I really like this donair shop in North Edmonton! The meat is tasty, not burned or dried. Some places like to sauté the donair meat for too long in an overused, underwashed pan before wrapping it up. They advertise that they use local meat. I didn’t look into this further, but that is a definitive plus for me!
Normally I don’t care for sweet sauce but I gave this one a try. It was really good! Not too sweet and really peppery. Almost too spicy for this lightweight.
My only minor quibble is that I asked for grilled onions on my donair — the guy said that would be cool and then I bit into crunchy raw onions later on. I have an intolerance to raw onions but cooked ones don’t make me sick. I should have made this clear to the clerk before handing over my cash.

North Edmonton, relatively unexplored territory. Yet for over the twenty plus years of residence, it was reigned by Swiss Donair when it comes to shawarma, an Arabic meat preparation of various meats, kept on a vertical rotating spit and carved to serve. Then up came Eddie’s Donair a few years ago and all of a sudden the reign was at question. Uprising, revolt, whatever you can call it, the public (I’m talking about my friends here) argued who was the supreme donair king. For years, Swiss Donair has been the hangout of choice. Fond memories of junior and high school times, late night eats, an Oiler’s hockey game here and there, Swiss Donair in my mind has always been the best donair of the city, much less north Edmonton. With more and more of my friends now suggesting Eddie’s Donair as the new «it» place, I just had to do a side by side comparison. Bring in the experts.
Meet Josh, human garburator. I have known Josh since junior high and he has been my personal garburator for some time, eating my leftovers throughout university and thus allowing me to order whatever and however much I want. A former Swiss fan, he is probably responsible for all of my friends converting to Eddie’s. Slight bias to Eddie’s noted. Meet Petey, my reviews’ biggest fan. That’s self explanatory, but Petey’s love for food has no boundaries. Enjoys Swiss, prefers Homestyle (south Edmonton), and has never tried Eddie’s. And Sharon, non-​biased donair judge. You’ve met her before, a harsher critic than I am. Has tried both Swiss’ and Eddie’s but has no favorite. I assembled the four of us together at my house for a Eddie’s Donair vs Swiss Donair throwdown last week and here’s what happened.
Both are easy to find in north Edmonton, although Eddie’s Donair is a little bit more residential. Plenty of parking there, whereas Swiss’ is harder pressed.
I went to go order and pick up at Eddie’s for the night. There was only one guy behind the counter and only one person in front of me ordering to go. Nobody dining in. Josh was responsible for the Swiss pick up, who on the other hand, was packed! Tons of people ordering, and half the seats full. Swiss wins hands down for atmosphere for that night.
We arrived simultaneously at my house, perfect timing! Two regular cheese donairs and large fries from Eddie’s — $ 20. Two regular cheese donairs and small fries from Swiss’ — $ 18.50. Between the four of us, we each got half a donair. Here’s the side by side.
Eddie’s pros: thicker cuts of meat, more meat ratio than vegetables (this could be positive or negative, depending), and a thicker pita bread (thank you Petey for observing that!). The sauce was sweeter compared to Swiss’ and a pepper-​y aftertaste. Eddie’s cons: I would have liked more sauce!
Swiss’ pros: Meat was moist and tender, with a crispier edge, suggesting that they reheated it in the pan for a good amount of time before wrapping. Swiss’ cons: Not sure if maybe there was more sauce or not, but the thinner pita bread made it harder to eat. Nobody likes a mess!
Verdict: A unanimous vote for Eddie’s Donair as the winner. Who would have thought. Both were very close, but when eaten side by side, we all had a preference. Sharon was the first to conclude she liked Eddie’s better. According to Josh, Swiss’ Donair has declined in quality, and it’s glory days are over. Perhaps so. Josh, Petey, and myself agreed that Swiss’ meat was better prepared, and yet we all came back to Eddie’s to finish off. Other considerations: the fries from Eddie’s were deliciously deep fried and out-​shined Swiss’ fries although those had seasoning salt. Both portion of fries were the same size, Eddie’s being the more expensive. Both donairs cost the same, $ 7 each, although Eddie’s had more meat if that’s your thing. We all agreed that both were good enough that whatever was closest or on the way would be the donair of choice. If the four of us were on council though, Eddie’s Donair is the new reigning king of north Edmonton. What do you think?

This is one of the better donair shops we have eaten at.
The donairs themselves were delicious. Very tasty, large and filling. They are not «cookie cutter» donairs, maybe a step or two above what is typical.
The fries were good too. I loved the way they served them on a piece of parchment paper right on the tray. Very clever.
We will for sure go back. The place was steady when we went, and even though there was only one guy working there at the time, the food came out pretty quick.
The guy who served us was cheerful.

While renovating our nightmare condo we have popped into Eddie’s 3 times in the past month.
We have tried the cheese Donair, Donair poutine, chicken Donair, and onion rings.
The serving sizes are good, the food is fresh, and the quality is good.
Still Eddie’s will only make it to 4^th or 5^th place on my Donair Showdown list.
The good — bright, clean, and open late! No, I mean really late! 3am on Fri/​Sat, 10pm on week nights, and 8pm on Sundays. Another plus — they are open for lunch 7 days a week!
Okay, the bad — our onion rings were so overdone that the insides were crunchy — the onion itself!
The Donair poutine was okay, nothing to write home about.
They tend to overlook their foods in general. I believe the food is fresh but when they pan fry/​brown the chicken before serving in the Donair it was WAY too much — the chicken was crunchy. Come to think of it, the Donair beef was a little over pantries today, too. The last two times were better.
The meats are seasoned excellently — cant even put my finger on naming the seasoning on the chicken at the moment but it was good.
The store itself is bright and open with lots of table space. It’s modern and clean — def not your average Donair hole in the wall.
They are located just off of 167 ave nestled behind the Esso next to a few other stores in a strip mall.
And their daily special is a regular don air & pop for only $ 6! Check ‘em out!

If you’re the type of person that orders a salad at a donair shop or has ever complained about having too much meat on one then read no further… Go eat at a pita pit. Eddies donairs are the best I have found in Edmonton so far. Make sure you try eddies specialty donair as it is unique, spicy and delicious. The service here is very friendly and Eddie is a stand up guy. The place has always been clean, donairs are prepared safely and I have never had a negative experience.

Stopped into this little diner the other day.
Eddies Donair is your typical cookie cutter donair shop you find in all areas of town, except this one is way on the northside.
I ordered a cheese donair, garden salad, poutine and juice.
I knew something was awry as soon as I spoke to the person behind the counter. He had a hard time understanding what I was telling him about what I wanted to order and another person had to translate to him what I was saying. This person seemed to be in a fog or lost or almost a complete newb when it comes to working in a restaurant and in a semi-​confused manner he put my order together.
The garden salad I ordered was the most pathetic excuse for a «salad» I’ve ever seen. It was basically some lettuce with a few tomatoes and black olives on top. A packet of Italian dressing was included. I imagine this is along the lines of what convicts in prison get for their salads.
The cheese donair was on the small side but the sweet sauce made it tasty. And the poutine was made out of frozen crinkle cut fries you get from the supermarket. Nothing special here.
Everything included total cost was $ 21.
I would go to a place like Eddies before eating in the big franchisees like McDs or BK, but really I’d make the extra drive and go some where else if I was craving a donair. Especially with all the great donair shops on the northside to choose from.