Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthias Classen.
Matthias, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2012, my brother Simon and I came to Los Angeles. We loved it here. The weather the people the city. Everything was great. We also loved the food but we missed our most favorite street food from our hometown Berlin. The Döner. The history of the Döner is interesting. We call it a Turkish German fusion food. The origin lies in Turkey, Döner is turks for rotating meat. Turkish immigrants brought their food to Germany’s best city (BERLIN). The German’s first did not really care for the food until one smart Turkishman put the Meat in a bread and made it a nice on the go food, ready for Germany’s fast paced lifestyle.
Nowadays Döner is more popular in Germany than McDonald’s and Burger King combined. You can get it in the biggest cities as well as in the smallest villages. It spread all over Europe and is considered Europe’s most famous street food.
Unfortunately my brother and I did not find anything like this in LA. There were a couple of places in LA that used the name Döner but as reviews show the food they sell is not at all authentic to what we know from home. We therefor had to bring the food to LA ourselves. We imported machines and equipment from Germany. Made many internships in German Döner manufacturies and little Döner Restaurants. We gathered as much know how as we could from our fellow friends in BERLIN and then set out again to the new world to bring LA something it was lacking. In 2013 we started with visiting festivals and experimenting with the food. Once we had everything perfect my brother and I opened our first restaurant in April 2015 in Beverly Hills. The restaurant was a huge success and was running better than we ever had imagined. People who try our food once will always come back and those who know Döner from Europe are so happy to finally have an authentic place in LA. In August 2016 we opened our second location on the Boardwalk in Venice. Restaurant number 3 and 4 are in the making and will open in 2017.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Some of the biggest struggles for us were to open a restaurant in a foreign country without having a lot of knowledge of how things work here and not having the big cash to pay people to do it for us. From building counters to repairing fridges to getting permits we did pretty much all of that ourselves. It took many sleepless nights to get the first restaurant ready to go!
BERLINS – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We sell Europe’s #1 Street food the Döner Sandwich. We are 100% authentic and our yelp reviews show that. People who know the food love it instantly and people who try it once will always come back.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For my brother and me success means making other people happy. At this time we want to achieve this with our food. We want to be a part of the community and bring a smile to people’s faces when they bite into our sandwiches. The monetary aspect is not important to us but it shows us that we are succeeding. After all eating is more than just fulfilling your crave. It is the most fundamental part of our society and many emotions are exchanged at the dinner table.
Pricing:
- All our prices are very easy. $8.99 per entree. $3.5 to add fries and a drink. $1 for extra meat or feta.
- Meat and fries only? No problem. Get the Döner Box for $5.99
Contact Info:
- Address: 8474 W 3rd St Los Angeles
1425 Ocean Front Walk Venice - Website: www.eatberlins.com
- Phone: 323-746-5409 BH and 310-383-1958 for venice
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: eatberlins
- Facebook: facebook.com/berlinsfood
- Twitter: eatberlins
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/berlins-los-angeles-3?search_key=29917
