What does mit allem mean?

With everything — the shop's standard vegetable set, which varies. It is not a national ingredient list.

What does scharf mean on a döner?

Chile heat added to the sandwich, not a description of how the meat was seasoned.

A döner glossary

Döner counters run on short words. Some are Turkish, some German, some both, and English menus translate them loosely. This glossary is for ordering and reading a board, not for settling authenticity arguments.

If a shop uses a different word for the same thing, use the shop’s word. The ordering chapter puts these into a sequence.

A black-and-gold menu board with sandwich, wrap, box, and loaded fries — A board that separates sandwich, wrap, and box is already using three glossary entries as menu categories.

The meat and the machine

Term	Language	What it means at the counter
Döner / Döner Kebab	Turkish, via German	Rotating roast; in a shop, usually the sandwich unless another format is named
dönmek	Turkish	To turn — the verb behind the dish name
Spieß / Drehspieß	German	Spit / rotating spit. Drehspieß can also be a labeling name when the product does not meet German Döner composition guidance
Yaprak döner	Turkish	Leaf or slice döner — stacked cuts rather than a minced cone
Kıyma döner	Turkish	Minced döner
Kalb / Hähnchen / Lamm / Rind	German	Veal / chicken / lamb / beef
Gemischt	German	Mixed meats
Halal / helal	Arabic / Turkish	Permissible under Islamic law — a certification and premises question, not a flavor

Germany’s official meat guidelines are why Döner and Drehspieß can both appear on German boards. See meat and halal.

Bread and formats

Term	Language	What it means at the counter
Im Brot	German	In bread — the sandwich
Pide	Turkish	A family of flatbreads; on döner menus, often the cut loaf
Fladenbrot	German	Flatbread; often the same loaf customers call pide
Dürüm	Turkish	Rolled thin-bread döner
Yufka	Turkish	Thin sheet used as a wrap in many German shops
Rollo	German menu slang	Rolled döner, especially on some northern boards
Lavash	Armenian/Turkish usage	Thin flatbread; appears on some wrap menus
Box / Dönerbox	German/English	Portable container of meat and accompaniments
Teller / Dönerteller	German	Plate
Imbiss	German	Snack bar or takeaway counter — a service type, not a döner-only building

Berlin’s city guide uses “pita” in English for the classic sandwich and dürüm for the wrap. English “pita” on a US board may mean a soft round pocket instead. Look at the bread. Longer notes: bread, dürüm, the box.

Vegetables, sauce, heat

Term	Language	What it means at the counter
Mit allem	German	With everything — that shop’s standard salad set
Ohne…	German	Without… (ohne Zwiebeln, ohne Tomaten, ohne Käse)
Salat	German	Salad / lettuce, depending on context
Rotkohl / Rotkraut	German	Red cabbage
Weißkohl	German	White cabbage
Gurke, Zwiebel, Tomate	German	Cucumber, onion, tomato
Soße / Sauce	German	Sauce
Knoblauch	German	Garlic
Kräuter	German	Herbs
Scharf	German	Hot — chile heat on the sandwich
Ein bisschen scharf	German	A little hot
Nicht scharf	German	Not hot
Rotkraut and “red sauce”	mixed	Not the same thing: one is cabbage, one is a chile or tomato sauce

Mit allem is the phrase visitors over-trust. It does not freeze a national recipe. Ask Was ist alles? if the vegetables matter. Scharf? is a yes/no about the hot finish, not about whether the meat was marinated.

Drinks, sides, shop words

Term	Language	What it means at the counter
Ayran	Turkish	Salted yogurt drink
Çay / türkischer Tee	Turkish / German	Tea, more often at a table than at a window
Pommes	German	Fries
Zum Mitnehmen	German	To take away
Zum Hieressen	German	To eat here
Einmal Döner	German	One döner — pointing-and-ordering German that shops understand
Gemüsekebap	German/Turkish mix	Vegetable kebab; may still include chicken unless marked vegetarian
Lahmacun	Turkish	Thin topped flatbread, often on the same board as döner
Falafel	Arabic, via Turkish/German menus	Fried chickpea (or similar) patties — a different protein sharing many counters

Ayran contains milk. Pommes may share a fryer. Gemüsekebap is a famous Berlin word that still needs a vegetarian check. See drinks, sides, vegetarian.

Words that wander in English

Kebab in German often means döner unless the board says otherwise (shish, Adana, İskender). In English it can mean almost any grilled meat on a stick. Is döner the same as kebab? is the short explainer.

Gyro and shawarma are related rotisserie foods, not synonyms. Donair is a Canadian relative. Al pastor is a Mexican vertical-spit pork tradition influenced by Lebanese migration. None of those words should appear on a Berlin board as translations of döner, and a US board that uses several of them is telling you it runs a mixed menu.

Berliner on a US shop name is positioning. It does not change the glossary: you still order meat, bread, salad, sauce, and heat.

A compact order using the glossary

Einen Döner mit Hähnchen, mit allem außer Zwiebeln, mit Knoblauchsoße, ein bisschen scharf, zum Mitnehmen, bitte.

That is one chicken sandwich, standard salad without onion, garlic sauce, a little chile, to go. Swap Dürüm or Box for the first noun if that is what you want. If the board says Drehspieß, you can still order it; you are ordering that product name.