Döner Haus vs German Doner Kebab

The useful difference is format. The shared word “döner” does not make the packets the same. Döner Haus is disclosed in its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document as a standing-service imbiss of 850–1,200 square feet at $359,500–$586,000 — one compact shop, 5% stack, company stores on the ground, Item 19 present. German Doner Kebab’s US filing, issued 3 September 2024, describes an outlet of 1,200–1,400 square feet at $690,500–$1,123,000, and that figure is per outlet inside a five-outlet minimum commitment. One document sells a compact counter. The other sells the first store of five, from a US company that has never covered its own costs.

Two filings, two disclosure years, and two different buildings

These rows are two years apart, which matters more than it looks. GDK’s construction figures were disclosed in 2024; the Döner Haus range was issued in 2026. Neither can be adjusted to meet the other, and someone who reads them as one survey day is making the error this table is here to stop.

Both rows itemise, which makes the composition comparable even where the totals are not. GDK’s filing carries mechanical, electrical and plumbing at $150,000–$175,000, fit-out materials and installation at $175,000–$205,000, restaurant equipment at $140,000–$175,000, architects and project manager fees at $30,000–$50,000, and three months of additional funds at $15,000–$20,000, against 40 classroom and 120 on-the-job training hours.

Döner Haus’s eighteen rows put construction and leasehold improvements together at $131,000–$266,000, equipment at $78,000–$85,000, furniture and fixtures at $6,000–$12,000, and three months of additional funds at $20,000–$35,000, against 24 classroom and 56 on-the-job hours. GDK splits construction four ways and Döner Haus combines it into one, so the construction comparison is a comparison of one number against a sum, and the smaller filing gives no way to see which trade sits where inside its own band.

System maturity, read from what each row does say

Döner Haus was founded in 2023, began franchising in 2024, and opened six shops in three years — East Village, Astoria, Hell’s Kitchen, Bayside, Sunnyside and Central LA — with none closed. Seven or more are already in construction. The company states 55 franchise commitments as of August 2026. GDK began franchising in 2017 and shows seven outlets at the 2023 year end, all franchised and none company-operated — so its US franchisor runs nothing itself. Item 1 of the same 2024 filing claimed nine outlets open by issuance against those seven at year end. The 2021 filing talked about 66 stores in development; four years later Item 20 was still seven. Five US shops that opened under that brand are now marked permanently closed: Sugar Land, Bay Ridge, Westfield, Brighton Beach and Columbus Park. Döner Haus is adding shops. GDK is closing them.

Döner Haus’s Item 19 covers corporate stores and early franchised units and remains in the current filing. GDK’s covered a single franchised outlet at American Dream Mall, then the 2025 filing withdrew it. Two different samples. Only one of them is still in the packet.

Fee stacks, and what sits above the printed number

Ranked, Döner Haus is 5%, a 3% royalty plus a 2% brand fund, and GDK is 11%, being a 6% royalty, a 3% brand fund and 2% local advertising. Six points of gross sales is the largest fee gap between any two ranked rows here.

The ranked figures are not the whole obligation on either side. GDK’s 2% local spend can be waived if the outlet joins a GDK advertising cooperative, but the cooperative may itself levy up to 2%, so the obligation moves rather than disappears, and royalty and brand fund may be raised annually with no cap stated. Döner Haus’s required local advertising is a flat $2,000 a month the operator spends in its own market, subject to a 10% annual increase, so it is not in the 5%. Most of this directory already charges 1–2% local inside the stack.

Initial fees are $35,000 and $30,000, close enough that they decide nothing. Döner Haus charges a $10,000 initial training fee covering two people. Grand opening spend is $10,000–$15,000 at GDK and $5,000–$10,000 at Döner Haus. GDK’s ten-year term renews once, conditional on the outlet not being in the bottom 10% on performance, at 50% of the then-current franchise fee, with transfers at 5% of the sale price; its territory is a non-exclusive protected area with no minimum size, negotiated from demographics and excluding campuses, sports venues, transport sites and aggregator delivery zones. Döner Haus’s term is also ten years with one ten-year successor term, renewal at $5,000 and transfers at 75% of the then-current initial franchise fee, against limited, non-exclusive protection sized at about 50,000 population or a one-mile radius.

What this pair actually is

A compact Berlin sandwich shop — six open, seven-plus in construction, 55 commitments, none closed — against a UK waffle-bread restaurant you cannot buy one of, from a US company that has never covered its own costs and has already closed shops. Six points of gross sales. One Item 19 still in the filing against one that was withdrawn. Whether the buyer is underwriting one counter or a five-outlet development schedule, and what a default on outlets three through five costs, is the purchase question. How the US company pays its bills if owner advances stop is the Item 21 question.

Read how consultants use this before treating the table as a shortlist. The German döner essay is the category context.