Lehe: Doner Kabob House a Turkish treat

I grew up on a busy street with no sidewalks in Irondale, Ala. There was not a single business… I grew up on a busy street with no sidewalks in Irondale, Ala. There was not a single business within walking distance.

Kids always romanticize what they don’t have. So, for me, the epitome of the high life seemed to be walking to a restaurant.

“What’s going on this afternoon?” “I don’t know. Thinking about going to the opera, SCUBA diving or … WALKING TO A RESTAURANT!”

Fortunately for us South Oaklanders, this fantasy is reality at Doner Kebab House, located on Semple Street, next to Uncle Jimmy’s. If you have ever wondered exactly what C.S. Lewis was talking about with those Turkish delights in Narnia and why Turkish delights were so tempting, Doner Kebab House has the answers. Today, I endorse Doner Kebab House.

Doner Kebab House offers delicious, cheap food. Try the durum doner (gyro) kebab for $4.99. It has lamb and beef, lettuce, onions, tomato and special doner hot sauce wrapped in a puffy, soft pita bread. With all these ingredients, at $4.99, you’d think the durum doner would only be 4 inches long. But it is close to 1 foot long. This gives Subway a run for its money: What’s a better deal, a $5 foot-long or a $4.99 foot-long? And what about when the foot in question is a fluffy white wrap absolutely packed to the hilt with beef and lamb?

The meat at Doner Kebab House is fresh and never greasy. They cook the food right in front of you on hot plates after peeling the succulent strips of meat off rotating columns. It’s not fast food. You have to wait about five minutes after you order. But watching your food get prepared makes the durum, sandwich or other Turkish treats taste even better.

Doner Kebab House has more than just cheap wraps, though. The menu features a whole vegetarian section with soups and salads. There’s panini and pastries galore. For $6.99, you can get a combo with a doner sandwich, french fries and a drink. The french fries are as good as the fries you’ll find at any sit-down restaurant.

You know how, in classic movies and TV, whenever someone walks into a business, he knows everyone who works there? In today’s world, that’s so unrealistic. Well, one of the great things about Doner Kebab House is that it’s almost always the same people staffing the counter. It makes it easy to feel like you know the place after stopping by just once or twice. The owner understands English better than he speaks it, though, so allow me to introduce him:

Ferhat Erisen owns and operates Doner Kebab House. He came to the United States in 2007 from Turkey, where he worked as a mechanical engineer. He likes Pittsburgh, because it’s green and has a slow pace of life. He gets excited when he talks about his neighbors in South Oakland. The students and locals have all been kind to him, he says, and he hasn’t had any trouble with crime.

During the era of the baby boomers, something went wrong with the American Dream. It started to mean owning a large house — even a house disconnected from the surrounding community. But it’s a mistake to think you can make your home bigger by buying a bigger house, because a home can spread well beyond the four walls where you sleep.

My kitchen isn’t large or clean, but when I walk just around the corner to Doner Kebab House, I feel like I actually have a second kitchen in my home.

You probably won’t call Oakland home for much longer. My advice to you, today, is that you make an addition to your home. Take a trip to Doner Kebab House today.

E-mail Lewis at ljl10@pitt.edu.