€1 kebabs cause havoc in Germany as hungry crowd pelts police with stones and an e-scooter

Hundreds of youngsters turned up for a €1 kebab at a new shop in Dortmund on Sunday, and before long police officers were dodging stones, fireworks and even an e-scooter. The shop’s now been shut down, and its owner could be handed the bill for the whole police operation.

A grand opening turns into a stand-off with police 

Food Lover, a new kebab shop on Körner Hellweg in the east of Dortmund, had spent days hyping its opening on Instagram with the promise of a döner kebab for just €1. By the afternoon of Sunday November 8, up to 300 people had crammed in front of the shop, police said, most of them children and teenagers. The owner himself put the figure at more than 1,000.

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The private security team he’d hired was soon completely overwhelmed as arguments and scuffles broke out in the queue, so at around 2.15pm the owner rang 110, Germany’s police emergency number, and called the offer off as officers arrived.

An iPhone and a pilgrimage trip were up for grabs too

The €1 kebab wasn’t the only draw, either. In the run-up to the opening, the shop had also advertised prize draws for an iPhone 18 Pro Max and an Umrah trip, a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, in January. On the day though, both were scrapped. ‘It’s too much chaos,’ the owner told his followers.

A police spokeswoman said that pushing an opening that hard online, with giveaways on top, was always going to bring a massive crowd. 

Police met with stones, fireworks and an e-scooter

Officers used a loudspeaker to order the crowd to leave. However, some of those gathered turned on them. Stones, bottles, nitrous oxide canisters, fireworks, a chair from the outdoor seating and an e-scooter were all thrown at police, with a patrol car damaged by a stone. Some young people even built makeshift barricades out of e-scooters, and trams on the busy road had to be stopped for a while. 

Riot police were sent in as back-up and a police helicopter circled overhead, and the situation was brought under control fairly quickly. Remarkably, no one was reported injured.

One person who refused to leave and resisted officers was detained and searched, with police finding a blank-firing pistol on them. The weapon was seized and the person was released once their details and fingerprints had been taken.

Dortmund’s police chief calls them criminals, not just rowdy kids

Dortmund Police President Tim Frommeyer didn’t hold back. ‘Anyone who is out and about in public spaces here in Dortmund has to stick to the rules,’ he said.

He added that anyone using violence, once again against police officers, isn’t an ‘adventure-seeking youngster’ or a ‘troublemaker’ but a criminal.

Investigations are now under way for rioting, resisting officers, criminal damage and insults, and children are reportedly among the suspects. Officers are also going through video footage to identify anyone else involved. 

Why a €1 kebab draws such a crowd in Germany

In Germany, the döner kebab is the go-to cheap meal, but it hasn’t been all that cheap for a while. A meat döner cost an average of €7.11 across the country in 2025, according to YouGov figures, and after years of rises Germans have nicknamed the growth  ‘Dönerflation’.

So rock-bottom opening deals have become a popular way for new shops to get noticed, and deal-sharing sites currently list similar €1 offers at new openings in Berlin and Munich.

It’s happened right there in Dortmund before too. In September 2022, a one-cent kebab offer at a new Haus des Döners branch drew more than 400 people, and police and council officers had to step in before it got out of hand.

The owner could be handed the police bill

The city’s Ordnungsamt (public order office) shut the shop down on Sunday, and it’s not yet clear when, or whether, it’ll be allowed to reopen. 

Police said the owner has been cooperative, but they’re now looking at whether he can be held responsible and made to pay for the operation. He’s said some of the people who turned up ‘unfortunately couldn’t behave at all’ and has promised a full statement on Instagram.

For now, the shop will stay shut while police work through the footage and decide whether its owner will be sent the bill.