Doy Grill’s Mediterranan cuisine draws repeat customers

The owner of Doy Grill on Herndon Avenue learned about food from his Turkish grandmother. Her recipes — some exact, some adapted — inspire the restaurant’s Mediterranean cuisine.

Owner Nevzat Ozder serves kebabs, pilaf, hummus, baklava and other dishes that quickly create repeat customers.

Ozder also places a premium on customer service, a skill he honed serving Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Connery, Steven Spielberg and other Hollywood heavyweights at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

“’No’ is not our thing,” he said. “We are here to please, and we go out of our way to make sure that people are happy.”

Making sure that customers leave with full stomachs also is the goal at Doy Grill. In fact, doy means “get full” in Turkish.

Customers will see how the “get full” philosophy plays out as they custom-order their plates.

All main dishes start with a heaping portion of rice pilaf or bulgur pilaf — or a mix of both. Customers also get garbanzo or white beans (or both), plus pita bread, salad, baklava and jajik, the latter a freshly-made dip with yogurt, dill, cucumber and garlic.

All that goes with the main courses. There are six to choose from:

▪  Chicken shish (chicken breast)

▪  Chicken kebab (ground light and dark meat)

▪  Garlic chicken and vegetables (chicken breast)

▪  Beef kebab (ground lamb and beef)

▪  Spicy beef tatuni (tender beef with a spicy kick)

▪  Eggplant moussaka (ground beef, eggplant, tomato, onion and garlic pepper)

A vegetarian eggplant moussaka also is available.

The main courses have three sauce options — two of them red (one spicy, one medium) and a creamy garlic.

Doy Grill offers three options on the main courses: Choose one of the six for $8.95, two for $12.95 and three for $15.95.

One is purposely priced under $10.

“People have hardships,” Ozder said. “I wanted them to be able to get lunch or dinner for less than 10 bucks.”

Doy Grill also offers a beef or chicken wrap for $8.95 and a Doy salad and kebab for $7.95. A child’s plate with rice, kebab, baklava and drink is $4.65.

In addition, sides such as hummus, kebabs and baklava are on the menu.

Ozder said Doy Grill — open since July 2014 — is not in competition with other Mediterranean restaurants.

“We are here to play our game,” he said. “We want to serve the freshest, healthiest food with great customer service so people can get in and get out in two minutes without waiting.”

In addition to take out, Doy Grill offers seating.

Ozder left Turkey for the United States in 1989. He was 29, and his first job in America was working on a cruise ship sailing out of Miami. He was the maitre d’ in the ship’s restaurant, a position he eventually left to attend the University of California, Irvine and earn a certificate in food and beverage management.

An internship at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim followed, and then he worked at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.

He said that restaurant job allowed him to chat with many of its A-list guests — including Janet Jackson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore.

Ozder — who moved to Clovis in 2011 because his son lives here — also is a real estate broker. He said he tried to get out of the restaurant business but couldn’t.

“It’s my passion,” he said. “When you’re addicted, you can’t give it up. It comes from within. Some people just have the gift of hospitality.”

Two recent customers raved about Doy Grill.

“I love this place,” said Stefanie Perez of Clovis, who comes in once or twice a week. She said that Ozder and his staff pay attention to small details, such as making sure the sauces are fresh and the lettuce is crisp.

Another customer, Samir Alzuabi, said his brother — who owns another Mediterranean restaurant — recommended Doy Grill. Alzuabi, a Jordanian who lives in Qatar, was visiting his brother, who lives in Clovis.

Alzuabi praised Doy Grill for quick food service, cleanliness and reasonable prices.

Said Alzuabi: “This is the third time I’ve been here in the last 10 days.”

Ozder said his late grandmother would be pleased: “I think she would be proud that we created something that is part of her.”

Doy Grill is in the Save Mart shopping center on the northeast corner of Herndon and Fowler avenues. The address is 1845 Herndon Ave. and the telephone number is (559) 324-8048. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The restaurant caters.Its website is doygrill.com, and it’s on Facebook at www.facebook.com/doygrill. Doy Grill was scheduled to open a second location in Fresno’s Universal Park across from River Park by Oct. 14.

Dining with Doug appears every other week in the Independent. Doug Hoagland can be reached at doughoagland@att.net.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 7:08 AM with the headline "Doy Grill’s Mediterranan cuisine draws repeat customers."