German fast food in NJ? Yes, it’s a thing

Is there anything American Dream in East Rutherford doesn’t have? You can ski in July. You can swim and splash in February. You can shop high-end stores. Kids will be amused at Nickelodeon Universe theme park. You can play miniature golf in black light. They have an aquarium.

If all that’s not ridiculous enough (and we mean ridiculous in a good way) now your very concept of what is and isn’t fast food is about to be challenged.

German Doner Kebab has its first location in the United States and it’s right here in New Jersey at the American Dream mall. German fast food? It’s a thing. A doner kebab is described on their website as “premium lean meats served in handmade toasted breads with signature sauces.”

Picture a sandwich made of shaved chicken or beef or you can go crazy and get both in one. They pile on red cabbage and onions and tomatoes. Then those sauces. Garlic sauce, a spicy sauce and a yogurt sauce. Okay, I’m intrigued already. Then the bread is sort of a waffled flatbread.

Check out their website and tell me you don’t want to try this.

They even have doner quesadillas, doner spring rolls and chili cheese bites. If it doesn’t seem like fast food to you fast food purists, there’s a doner burger and they have fries.

Now that doner kebab sure looks messy, and when we think fast food in New Jersey we think of dashboard dining on the run between appointments. Would this ever catch on in a drive-thru and noshing a doner kebab in the fast lane on 78? I don’t know. But nj.com’s Jeremy Schneider’s article on this describes it as “massive” but he seemed to give it rave reviews.

Wondering how to pronounce doner kebab? It’s pretty straightforward. Here you go:

I don’t know if German Doner Kebab will catch on here in Jersey but I’m not the person to ask. Even though I’m mostly German (and even more than I thought when ancestry tracing revealed that my paternal grandfather was adopted and I’m not at all Polish) I know nothing of German food, German language, etc.. I like a good hot dog with sauerkraut, does that count?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.