Donny’s Deli in London Fields has shut after less than a year, although its owners added that it would make a return a some point.
Donny’s was originally opened by Simon Bays as a kebab shop, a tongue-in-cheek homage to his lifelong love of kebabs, but it later closed it after it drew online criticism, with the proximity to Dalston’s longstanding Turkish community sparking debates around cultural sensitivity.
Bays later issued an apology saying that he never had any bad intentions or meant to upset anyone, ‘especially not the communities who inspired this in the first place’.
He went on to reopen the site as Donny’s Deli, a breakfast through to late night casual dining spot focused on community, London’s dining and music cultures, and top-quality local ingredients.
Announcing the decision to close on social media, the restaurant says: “When we took on the site, the ambition was simple: create something fun, serve food we were proud of, build a great team and become part of the local community. The journey didn’t quite go to plan.
“We started life successfully as a kebab shop before adapting, evolving and ultimately reinventing ourselves as Donny’s Deli. Whilst the concept changed along the way, our determination to make the site work never did.
“Over the last year, we’ve poured everything we had into it. We transformed the space, created an amazing sandwich menu, built an incredible team, served thousands of customers and met some genuinely brilliant people along the way.”
The post goes on to discuss the challenges the hospitality industry currently faces with ‘rising costs, higher wages, business rates, energy bills and tighter consumer spending’ but adds that the decision to close is about more than that.
“Sometimes a business, a concept and a location simply don’t align in the way you’d hoped. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t quite make the numbers work from this particular site,” it adds.
“Closing the doors is disappointing, but we’re leaving with our heads held high, a huge amount of respect for anyone brave enough to start an independent hospitality business in 2026, and a genuine sense of pride in what we managed to build.”
“The last year has taught us a lot about what works, what doesn’t and where the real opportunity lies. We have a few ideas we’re excited about and we’re already thinking about what comes next... this isn’t the end of Donny’s.”