King of Donair (often abbreviated KOD) is a chain of restaurants that was established in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, in 1973 by Greek immigrant Peter Gamoulakos, who popularized the

donair Doner kebab (, ; tr, döner or , ), also spelled döner kebab, is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical co ...

in the city. The brand has a cult-like following, and has been featured by

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer p ...

, ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

, the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

and

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

. Celebrity chefs such as

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourdai ...

Andrew Zimmern Andrew Scott Zimmern (born July 4, 1961) is an American chef, restaurateur, television and radio personality, director, producer, businessman, food critic, and author. Zimmern is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channe ...

Dominique Crenn Dominique Crenn (born 1965) is a French chef. she is the only woman chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars, for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco, California. Biography Crenn, originally from Locronan, was adopte ...

, and

Matty Matheson Matthew James Matheson (born February 7, 1982) is a Canadian chef, restaurateur, and internet personality. He was the executive chef of Parts & Labour, a restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, which permanently closed on January 1, 2019. Matheso ...

chose King of Donair for filming, documenting and indulging. In 2015, the donair was named the official food of Halifax, with December 8 being National Donair Day. In addition to the donair, KOD is also known for its pizza, garlic fingers and other donair offerings such as donair egg rolls, donair plates, and donair pizza.

History

Origins

The first King of Donair opened in 1973 on Quinpool Rd. in

. It was founded by Greek immigrant and restaurateur Peter Gamoulakos, who owned a pizza shop called Velo's Pizza. While on trip to Greece, he ate a lot of

gyro Gyro may refer to: Science and technology * GYRO, a computer program for tokamak plasma simulation * Gyro Motor Company, an American aircraft engine manufacturer * ''Gyrodactylus salaris'', a parasite in salmon * Gyroscope, an orientation-sta ...

s and was inspired to bring the dish to Canada. After trying to sell them at his pizza shop, he realized that Nova Scotians of the 1970s didn't have a palate for lamb and the yogurt-based

tzatziki Tzatziki ( el, τζατζίκι), also known as tarator or cacık (), is a dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic ...

. He substituted spicy beef for lamb and created a sweet sauce made with evaporated milk. This new dish was based on the Turkish doner. The vertically roasted doner kebab was created by Mehmetoğlu İskender Efendi. He served the first plate of İskender kebap in 1867 in the Turkish city of

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

. It became popular in Halifax in the 1970s. After perfecting the recipe, King of Donair was opened in 1973. The original King of Donair is located in the same building on Quinpool Rd. The chain has four other locations in Nova Scotia.

Western Canada expansion

The 2010s saw an expansion into

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

, beginning with pop-up shops in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

to test for economic viability. A two-day event was planned for March 4 in Calgary and March 5 in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

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. The latter event was cancelled due to concerns about crowd size, while the Calgary event continued and raised money for the Alberta Children's Hospital. In 2018, two restaurants were opened, in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and Grand Prairie, Alberta. 2019 saw further expansion with a third Alberta location in Sherwood Park and its first

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

location in the Erindale Shopping Centre within the University Heights Suburban Centre in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. Other cities announced in the Western Canada expansion were

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in British Columbia, Regina, Saskatchewan, and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Manitoba. It was reported that KOD planned to have at least one location in British Columbia by the end of 2018 with a total of ten that were expected to open that year.

Disputes

In May 2012, the KOD location that was on the aptly named "

Pizza Corner Pizza Corner was an international franchise of pizzeria chains that offered a wide range of pizzas, pastas and side dishes from Buffalo wing, chicken wings to salads. Pizza Corner operated as both standalone restaurants or combined with other G ...

" in Halifax was closed due to the disrepair of the rented building. Owner Sam Nahas notified landlord John Manolopoulos that the lease was not being renewed for this reason, and took Manolopoulos to

small claims court Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may b ...

to be reimbursed $25,000 on various repairs to the old building. The restaurant had been a staple of Pizza Corner since the early 1990s. In 2015, KOD alleged that the Vancouver restaurant Donair King was infringing on its trademarks such as name and logo. KOD filed documents with the

Federal Court of Canada The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. ...

saying its name has been associated with donairs, donair meat and donair sauce since the 1970s. The claim asked the court to order them to destroy menus, signs, packaging, promotional material, and business cards with the Donair King name. It also asked for punitive and exemplary damages as well as the legal costs to be covered. Donair King denied the allegations in a statement of defence, and offered to stop using the Donair King name if King of Donair agreed to take no legal action. The statement of claim was filed Sept. 23 and Donair King filed its defence Oct. 26.

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

was planned as one of the first cities to be included in KOD's Western Canada expansion in 2016. The company filed a statement of claim in April 2016 that stated donair establishments in Calgary such as King Donair and Shawrama, King Donair and King Shwarnae Donair, all registered under the numbered company 974819 Alberta Ltd., were active during this time and infringing on its trademark. Owner Norman Nahas cited that people would think KOD is already in Western Canada. 974819 Alberta Ltd. had yet to file a statement of defence during that time. King of Donair alleges that it previously wrote to King Donair, asking it to "cease and desist from its infringing and otherwise unlawful activities", to no effect, court documents state.

Pop culture

*On April 18, 2004; King of Donair first appears in the season 4 episode of ''

'' entitled " A Man's Gotta Eat". Randy (played by

Patrick Roach Patrick Roach (born March 4, 1969) is a Canadian actor and investor. He is best known for playing Randy (Trailer Park Boys), Randy on the television series ''Trailer Park Boys''. Early life Roach was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but grew up in ...

) frequently visits for donairs where he prostitutes himself for coupons. *Rapper Quake Matthews released a single in 2015 entitled "Down With the King" which is a tribute to the donair and King of Donair. It features Randy and T from ''Trailer Park Boys.''

Awards and honours

Winner of The Coast's Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Award for Best Donair: 1998, 2001–2003, 2006–2010, and 2013–2016 (14 of 19 years). Hall of Fame (2018-2019)

References

External links

* {{Official website, www.kingofdonair.ca
King of Donair - Original Quinpool Rd. location

King of Donair - Clayton Park, Halifax
Food and drink companies based in Nova Scotia Companies based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Pizza chains of Canada Year of establishment missing Restaurants established in 1973 Fast-food chains of Canada