King of Donair

Origins

The first King of Donair opened in 1973 on Quinpool Rd. in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 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 gyros 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. He substituted spicy beef for lamb and created a sweet sauce made with evaporated milk. 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, beginning with pop-up shops in Alberta to test for economic viability. A two-day event was planned for March 4 in Calgary and March 5 in Banff National Park's Sunshine Village. 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 and Grande Prairie, Alberta. 2019 saw further expansion with a third Alberta location in Sherwood Park and its first Saskatchewan location in the Erindale Shopping Centre within the University Heights Suburban Centre in Saskatoon.

Other cities announced in the Western Canada expansion were Vancouver, Kelowna and Victoria in British Columbia, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, 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.