Downtown Doner

Downtown Doner was awesome, but catching them while they were actually supposed to be open was like trying to catch a unicorn.
Straight up, though, their food was amazing. I lived in Spain for two years — where there are a lot of doner kebab places — and Downtown Doner took my taste buds directly back to Spain. Not to mention, Downtown Doner was extremely reasonable and the food was large portioned. Absolute bang fo da buck.
I hope they open shop again (even if it’s not in their old spot). They have doner kebabs dialed.

CLOSED. Did you see my last update? This was easy to predict. I went by there today and they’ve boarded up and are all pau. Sad but I saw the telltale signs. This is not good for the downtown food scene.

What’s in a name? I’ll admit that for the longest time I thought this place was called Downtown Donor and thought — hell to the no, I’m not eating at some place called donor… kept making me think of a BLOOD BANK DONOR!!! Yeah yeah, I suffer from a permanent case of «airhead.» Well, finally, thanks to their truck being at Eat the Street, I realized that it was Doner and not Donor… and so happy to discover that they have fabulous wraps! And bonus because they have whole wheat tortillas! YES! I don’t know why more places don’t offer whole wheat options… In any event, the wraps are GINORMOUS!!! So tasty and you get a choice of beef or chicken or a mix of both! They use some sort of sauce and it’s so good! I had the Greek Salad the other day too… that was good too, but a bit heavy on the dressing for me!

If you need a quick bite and in the run during lunch, this would be your spot! They have no seating so you have to get it to go. I like the chicken wrap with all the veggies included. They offer mix meet and chicken so customized your own lunch :)
Prices are reasonable and you’ll have to find parking around downtown.

Best Wrap Ever!
I had the «The Downtown» wrap $ 7.25 — 12″ Grilled tortilla with generous portions of 3 meats (Lamb, beef, chicken), lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, pickles; finished with fresh yogurt sauce and feta cheese. WOW! Soooo good. This grimy little hole in the wall place knows what they’re doing. Can’t wait to go back and try other plates on their menu… DROLL.

I’m down with the doner!
OK, so this place took me three tries to find. Three opportunities to stroll up Fort Street Mall and witness:
A homeless lady screaming at a guy in a wheel chair
The idiocracy of our police department that funded those wheelie things for police officers because they are so much less efficient and more expensive than bikes
My 150^th j-​walk across Hotel Street
Another yogurt shop that bit the dust
A blooming orchid that I purchased for $ 10 which was promptly placed in the bra of the nice old lady that sold it to me
You get the idea. But the walk was worth it (times three) for my massive donor. Keep in mind, this spot is JUST A WINDOW with a line in front of the old Club Pauahi (now SOHO).
Back to the donor. At $ 6.25, the regular donor is pretty massive. I got a combination of chicken and beef (no it is NOT lamb, I repeat, NOT lamb). This came topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and a choice of hummus or feta. But there really is no choice between hummus and feta, there is ONLY hummus!!!
The chicken is thigh meat and it’s moist and good. The beef is marinated in a sweet kind of teriyaki-​ish sauce. This kind of surprised me. Everything is wrapped tidily in a store bought tortilla. The sauces are yogurt (the runny variety with spices mixed in) and hot sauce (sriracha).
Overall, I give it a thumbs up. It was worth the walk and there was a TON of meat in that tortilla log. I think they could improve the tortilla which was dry and the marinade is definitely not authentic. The hummus was non-​existent. But it was still quite tasty and I would eat it again with different expectations. It was big, but I managed to pig that thing down *OINK!*
NOTE: I got my sauces on the side which is essential if you plan to eat back at your office. One lady in line drove from Mililani to eat here. At 12:30 they had already run out of the pita sandwich. Keep your eyes peeled for Fort Street weirdness and don’t miss the window!!!

Great place for lunch if you’re downtown. I always get the Downtown with a mix of beef and chicken with the spicy sauce on it. It’s a very filing gyro and the meat is just delicious, very soft and tender with lot’s of flavor. There’s usually a line outside and it can take them maybe 5 – 10 minutes to make your order if they’re busy but it’s well worth the wait.

Oh em gee.
I’ve worked in downtown for 8 months and have never tried this place. My former coworker used to get it all the time, but it totally freaked me that this place was literally a hole in the wall.
I am extremely not adventurous when it comes to eating… so the «yogurt sauce» kind of made me a bit hesitant. The thought of not sweet yogurt with meat didn’t make sense to me… but I am so glad I tried it!
My coworker and I went to the Doner Shack on Wednesday for lunch and it was so good that we returned on Thursday!
$ 5 for a small wrap! Perfect lunch! More or less healthy, I would guess – a whole bunch of veggies, chicken and/​or beef, yogurt sauce, and hot sauce. The hot sauce definitely makes the wrap!
The meat is so good. I don’t know how they marinate it, but it is so juicy.
Great balance of meat, veggies, and sauce.
This place is definitely a safe bet even for cautious eaters. I know these Doner wraps are going to be a staple in my downtown diet!

One day when I was killing time at Fort Street mall, I saw some guys tearing a hole in the exterior wall of SOHO. I was wondering what was going on, were they looting? Was SOHO shutting down and getting demo’d?
Flash forward to a few weeks later I’m walking along on my usual lunch-​safari through Fort Street and there’s a curious little window peeking out of SOHO! What I thought to myself was, «SOHO is catering now?» Upon closer inspection– it was Downtown Doner! It all makes so much sense now.
The food is good and decently priced. I was a little sad to see they don’t have any lamb, which is what I think of when you advertise doner (which I’ve always spelled «donor», so maybe it’s a Turkish thing?), and the wraps are tortilla rather than lavosh or pita.
And you know what? It’s still all very good. Some menu items are definitely a better deal than others, like a $ 4 pita sandwich! You may think service is fast because they operate out of a window (which just makes me think «express»), but don’t fall for it! They are average time food-​getter-​outers.
I like the menu, the food is good, and the SOHO looting mystery has been solved!

I’m a huge fan of this spot. The doner wraps are great. Makes me feel good cus I’m eating buttloads of veggies and making change from the normal plate lunch. I love the yogurt and hotsauce in my wraps. The meat is so tasty and they make it in front of you so you see what goes into your food. Yeah its a window next to a club, but its good. Better yet don’t go so when I go the line will be shorter. The staff is pretty friendly here too. I think I could eat two wraps because they are so good, but one will do the trick! Unless you like go sleep real fast. I wonder if the don’t operate heavy equipment applies to doner wraps?

When I was in Spain I discovered doner. Now that I work, I’m so glad I have somewhere to go to, to eat doner and remember my summer in Spain! It gets crowded sometimes during lunch, but the staff is friendly and always want to please their customers (they discounted my meal when the sandwich bread they were using was «too small» in their opinion).
I’ve had their sandwich, wrap, and pita… all of it was good, and all of it kind of tastes the same. I don’t care though because it all tastes good :)
I do prefer the chicken over the beef here. I usually always order beef/​lamb over chicken at other places, but for some reason their chicken tastes better.

So first, the qualitative explanation of the lack of stars… it’s a 2 star, with hope that it will trend up. I have faith that it’s better than this but it just didn’t go right:
1) I had a huge piece of «burn» in my plate. No meat, it was just a piece of black charred something – beyond recognition if it was a food product or not.
2) I can’t tell if they just plain old messed up my order or if the mix really meant a mount of beef with a tiny little remnant of chicken. In any case, I saw her write down my order properly and then I got to eating it, it’s a good thing I’m ok with beef. But I do wish I had the proper mix of meat because it gets a little tiring eating that much beef when you expected a mix of chicken and beef…
On the good side: for $ 7 I got a big plate of food, 2 huge scoops of saffron rice (rice was a little soggy but I’ll forgive that one), fresh veggies with a nice tangy dressing, and service with a smile – many smiles to be correct.
So this isn’t an angry 2-​star review, but a hopeful one.
I’ll be back and I hope I can add a star or two based on a stellar encore performance… but for now, I look at my nasty pile of «burn» next to the imaginary pile of chicken that I long for…

Got their lunch donor sandwich special for $ 5.75, flat bread with choice of meat, all the veggie, humus and their specialty yogurt. The sauces on the veggies were so good. The meat was just okay, a bit salty and thick. I prefer the meat to be thinly slice.
You can get a regular size donor kebab for $ 6.75. Good and quick lunch.

Another Day… Another Doner
Once better known as the Doner Shack (I am starting a new page mainly because of their new store front and name), they have successfully moved from their mobile origins to a place indoors. For those looking for more in depth reviews on Donor before the upgrade: (
). Those Familiar with Soho at the end of Bethel and Pauahi St., Downtown Donor is window next door. Just look for the red paint and your there.
Never really heard about this place till a lad in my film class told me about it. I was mainly wowed on the «cutting from meat hanging from a skewer» bit. Shoots! That A-​hole Bourdain has really sold me on food like this from his show, especially on one of his more recent travels to Turkey. Did this place live up to my expectations? Very much so.
For starters, their «The Downtown» wrap is packed! Like an ultra fat, tightly rolled ganja of goodness! I was honestly thinking they would go skimpy on the portions but they obviously had no shame putting it all in there. In fact, dude prepping my food had a hard time rolling it. Good boy!
For only $ 7.25 (cash only), you get a 12″ grilled tortilla with «generous portions» of meat (your choice of chicken or beef OR both), lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion; finished with fresh yogurt sauce, hummus and feta cheese. Description taken pretty much word for word on their take-​home menu. Also available here are sandwiches, salads, side of pita/​hummus, jasmine rice and meats a la carte.
As for quality, the meat has a nice slightly spicy and citrusy taste, which made me go MMM on my first bite. My only gripe is after a while, the saltiness of the beef and chicken was getting too much. Yeap, just a tad bit. So much, that I will probably eat their vegetarian wraps from now on, clearly knowing it’s much more of a steal if there was marinated animal in there.
Also, don’t forget to say YES whey they ask if you want their hot sauce. I remember it made its way towards the bottom of my wrap, which later dripped all over my fingers and phone. But dayymn, that spicy slurp (sauce and juices, inc.) was awesome!
Hours: Monday-​Friday 10am-​6pm
4 stars
Downtown Doner on S. Pauahi Street

I was walking around fort street mall and came upon a place that sells doners. It’s called Downtown Doner. I searched it on Unilocal but only Doner Shack was listed. Downtown Doner is next to that media club called SOHO? Not too sure what the name of the club was. I don’t know if it’s the same owners and whether they are under a different business name. One of the workers told me that they are expanding by using the inside of that club as a dine-​in place for their business.
So anyway, I bought a Downtown wrap ($ 7.25). I thought it was a bit expensive but they do add a lot of meat in there which is great. Mines was stuffed and the guy who made it had a hard time folding it. I was super hungry too and I couldn’t even eat it all. The flavors were pretty good too. The meat was seasoned well and it was moist, so A+ for that. I wish the hot sauce was a little bit spicier though. I’ll definitely come back.

I’ve tried döner kebabs and this doesn’t cut it. I tried both the chicken and the beef ones to see if any of them filled that craving I had since I left Germany. I have to say that the chicken one tasted like a good chicken sandwich, but none of them taste like a döner kebab. They season the meat too heavily. The sauce is not accurate. It needs to be creamier and more flavorful.
I’d have to say I was spoiled by the döner kebabs in Germany, but I can see how this would be a good meal if you haven’t tried one before.

Bad news folks; according to a security guard down there, these guys were run off for not having some kind of permit. I’m so bummed, haven’t had a good donner in years and couldn’t wait to try this place because of all the good reviews.
If anyone knows where or if they set up somewhere else, please get the word out!!!

Fresh ingredients and friendly service — this place rocks my socks!
Anyone living, working, going to school, or just strolling through downtown MUST try this place for lunch. They’re only open till around 3 (or until they run out of food). They’re also set up during first Friday’s, so if you’re looking for that late night bite to eat, this is your best bet.
They’ve recently had some city permit issues and weren’t set up for a good week or two, but now that they’re back I hope they’re back to stay!
Also, make sure you have cash in hand because it is CASH ONLY.

I love discovering new eateries in downtown! Doner Shack is run by a few young guys which totally reminded me of the Grill’em All Burger truck from the Great Food Truck Race on TV. They looked like they just woke up and slapped on aprons to work. They were really friendly and took pride in their product.
I was walking by and decided to peek around to see what they actually served. The cashier dude called me over and offered a sample of their meats with yogurt sauce. It was really good so I decided to get their small Doner Wrap for $ 5.50. The wrap was very filling. They loaded it up with meat and veggies but the tortilla wrapper they used was strong enough so it won’t burst apart as I ate, woot woot! Perfect for eating on the go, no need to sit down for this meal! My only gripe was that the meat was on the saltier side.
The state is trying to shut them down because they claim the Doner Shack is illegally sitting on private property or something even though they are paying the building manager rent. Regardless, give these guys a try! It’s everything you expect from a downtown lunch eatery; fast, good, filling food for cheap.

When my friends suggested the Döner shack on our trek to find a place for lunch, I remembered walking by them a couple of weeks ago. At the time, it seemed like a fly-​by-​night operation with a pop-​up tent and some plastic tables… the kind of place that might fall under the radar of the Department of Health inspectors.
They now have a full blown trailer, complete with two shawarma spits, one with beef and the other with chicken. A much more professional operation than what I remembered previously. The dude in the back was using what appeared to be an electric shaver of some sort to shave the meat off of the spits.
The menu was actually posted on a wall away from the truck. Everything was basically a derivative of the two meat bases, except for the vegetarian sandwich, which, as you would expect, was devoid of either beef or chicken.
I ordered the Döner wrap, which consisted of a wrapper (suspiciously more like a tortilla than a pita), the vegetables of your choice (they seem to have taken a cue from Subway, with the veggies in bins), a mix of spit roasted beef and chicken, some garlic yogurt sauce, and some hot sauce that seemed vinegar based, but wasn’t all that hot.
It was a lot of food, as it should be for the $ 6.25 I paid for it (the prices have tax included so you’re not going home with various different coins in your pocket.
The meat was well seasoned and not too strong, though my friend thought that her wrap was too salty. The meat seemed a bit on the greasy side, no surprise there. I was disappointed at the wrapper itself, as I am used to having more substantial wrappers.
As I mentioned, the other meals consisted of variations on the two meats, with a Downtown Döner being essentially the same, with the addition of feta cheese and hummus. There was also a rice plate which had either or both meats.
Like a true lunch wagon, there was no place to sit down, so expect to walk around Fort Street looking for an open bench to sit on. Also, there were no drinks to be found at the truck, so get your drinks elsewhere.