Doner in Hanover: Where the popular snack tastes best!

Doner is one of the most popular fast food snacks in Germany and generates over 2.3 billion euros annually. In Hanover, the number of kebab shops is considerable: With at least 133 companies, there is a kebab shop for each 4,189 inhabitants, based on the population of 557.233 (as of September 2024). According to a YouGov survey, 18% of Germans eat a kebab once a month, 16% several times a month, while 3% enjoy it several times a week.

The offer in Hanover is diverse and also includes vegan variants and vegetable tones. However, food prices and the costs of electricity increase, which many of the family business based in the city are challenging. The different value added tax rate is worth noticing: for quick advertising bits with out-of-home sales, this is 7%, for restaurant consumption 19%. New kebab shops often lure with beginners, such as kebab for one euro.

Doner distribution and popularity in Hanover

Most kebab shops are located in the districts of Mitte (17 shops), Nordstadt (11 stores) and Südstadt (9 shops). It is noteworthy that twelve districts, including Seelhorst, Kirchrode and Lahe, have no kebab shop. A high density of kebab shops can be found in busy streets such as Goethestrasse, Engelbosteler Damm and Limmerstrasse. The average Google rating of the kebab shops in Hanover is 4.25 stars, with 26 of the 133 stores less than 4 stars.

Sultan Kebap and La Muro stand out among the best kebab shops, both with 4.9 stars. It can be seen that there are almost 0.24 kebab shops per 1000 inhabitants in Hanover, with the highest density in the middle of 1.46 stores per 1000 inhabitants. The Doner Kebap has been known in Germany since the 1970s and originally comes from Turkey, with the classic preparation of marinated veal or lamb and a maximum of 60% minced meat is allowed.

A price increase at Döner has recently been observed. The average price in Germany is now 6.14 euros. In Hanover, however, some snack bars such as Ricklinger Döner and Öz Antalya Kebap offer their kebabs for 4 euros, while Fischerhof Pizza & Döner even demands a price of 3 euros. This inexpensive offer attracts longer queues and attracts attention. Food Influencer Holger Schweitering tested the kebab from the Fischerhof and given it 5.2 out of 10 points, describing him as an "absolute standard doner". Customer opinions show that the food is saturated, but is not necessarily outstanding.

The taste differences between the providers are significant: While Ricklinger kebab scores with fresh and good price-performance ratio, the doner kebab from ÖZ Antalya Kebap is often rated as dry and with too little sauce. Customers also became aware of the Fischerhof through a YouTube video.