Donair Guys — Restaurant in Winnipeg

An Essay in Praise of the Donair Guys:

I work in the Exchange District. Oftentimes when I plan to buy a lunch I will go to the Culinary Exchange of Red River College. A good meal, a good price. Today, by fate, the culinary exchange was closed for the week, and my back up place was also closed for a catering service. I remembered that I had seen the Donair Guys once while passing it on Main, and I was short on time, so I went there to get a lunch.

I walked into the building to be greeted by the smells of grease burnt into the air, to chipping paint, and dusty floor mats. I went there before noon so the only other person was the man behind the counter, I imagine he is one of the eponymous Donair Guys. He greeted me with a falafel dipped in hummus. It was perhaps the best falafel I have ever eaten, and the hummus was perfectly smooth.

Sometimes you walk into a small restaurant, and the place is a little unkempt. Disorganized, there are displays and ephemera that were used by previous tenants of the restaurant which now sit unused. I often find that places like this, places which would scare away someone overly concerned with germs, serve food of an unparalleled quality. This place was no exception. Furthermore, the workstation where the donair was prepared seemed clean and tidy. The Donair Guy knew where cleanliness counted.

I had planned to get the burger, but with the falafel proving to me that this guy knew his middle eastern food well, I got the donair wrap. The Donair Guy set to work making my food while having a FaceTime call in a language I did not understand. I could not see the donair while he worked on it, but I knew that I was about to have a revelatory donair experience.

The toum? Phenomenal. The shrak? Perfectly tender and crisp at the same time. There was no skimping on donair meat. The other filings were perfectly proportioned. The Donair was understated, simple. Perfect. I am not a person who writes reviews on google, but fuelled by this donair, I knew I must. When I searched them up, I discovered the praises that I will be singing them will only be joining a choir of many others who, at different times, and under different circumstances, had the same marvellous experience I did.

This will likely become a regular place for me. Next time I take my kids to the museum, we will be going here for lunch. I will take my wife here on dates, and every visitor I to this fine city that I host will be shown that in a corner of the city people often overlook, that there are Guys who know donair better than any I have ever met.

The only tragedy to this story is the late hour of my discovery. My job in the exchange is coming to it's natural end, my next job will be too far away to serve as my lunch spot on days I feel too rushed or too tired to pack a lunch. Thankfully they are available for delivery.

I am not one for faint praise, the Donair Guys deserve every five star review they have received,...

Just ordered from this place off of doordash got the chicken and donair wrap with fries and a sprite , a poutine and a chicken and donair combo the sweet sauce on my donair loved it I mean this is my first time ever trying a donair so I was pleased to really try it the rice in the platter super flavorful a nice touch of cinnamon and spices that it jumps back mid way as you are eatting the hummus light fluffy not very garlicky but is a nice to dip the meat and the fries are like a cross between McDonald's fries and Costco fries that crispy coating on the fries and the cut being McDonalds or mabe Burger King but still nice the poutine is served winnipeg style so shredded cheese but still fairly good kinda reminds me of how Costco's poutine tastes like minus the curds but still...

Very positive dining experience and I would highly recommend it.

We started with a few appetizers "Falafel" offered for free by the owner.

For our main entrees, we ordered a couple different shawarma wraps. You can choose chicken, beef, or donner. We went with the chicken and beef. The meats were very flavorful with lots of complex spices coming through. The chicken was moist and juicy while the beef was very tender. Each shawarma comes stuffed with tomatoes, onions, and incredible garlic sauce. The wraps were stuffed full and the flavors all came together nicely.

The servings are very generous, so we had leftovers to take home. The prices are also very reasonable for the quality and amount of food. I look forward to...