From how many inches the tables are spaced apart to the exact placement of a pen on the wall by a prep table, Michael Heyne said he and fellow Verts Kebap co-owner Dominik Stein have obsessed over every detail—no matter how small—at the expanding fast-casual restaurant.

Before opening Verts, the co-owners went to 15 different fast-casual restaurants with a tape recorder to learn how different staff greeted customers, how many questions the employees asked and what tone they used. Such research was necessary because the co-owners, two former foreign exchange students from Germany, had no restaurant background or advisers to oversee the process, Heyne said.

"We analyzed the competition day and night," he said.

Verts serves dner kebaps, a German street food made with beef or chicken grilled on a vertical spit and wrapped in a flatbread, tortilla or put in a salad. The kebap has about 550 calories, the equivalent of a six-inch chipotle steak and cheese with avocado sandwich from Subway.

Heyne and Stein hatched the idea of Verts while studying as foreign exchange students at Southern Methodist University. The college friends were amazed that the dner kebap, one of Europe's most popular fast-food options, was not widespread within the United States, the global home of fast food.

"We thought there must be a way to exist [in the United States] with this product," Heyne said.

The friends went back to Germany after the semester at SMU ended and worked on the idea of bringing the dner kebap to the United States. After talking with an attorney, figuring out the necessary immigration steps and lining up investors, they came to Austin to work on their dner kebap concept while getting their MBAs from The University of Texas.

Two days after graduating, Heyne and Stein opened two Verts locations by the UT campus with the help of 12 interns, two chefs and their parents, all of whom came from Germany.

"We did everything ourselves," Heyne said. "It was huge chaos."

After the chaos settled down, Heyne and Stein started plotting future growth. In 2011, Verts grew to six restaurants throughout the Austin area, and Heyne said the plan is to add 10 more locations by next June, including in Dallas and Houston. A seventh Verts is set to open in late July in the East Austin Mueller development, 1501

E. 51st St.

History of German dner kebap

The idea of grilling meat on a spit next to coal or fire, the basis of the dner kebap, originated in the 17th century during the Ottoman Empire, Verts Kebap co-owner Michael Heyne said.

The kebap was popular throughout the empire, which ruled over modern-day nations such as Greece and Turkey. The concept has stuck around and is the basis of the gyro in Greece and shawarma in the Middle East.

Turkish residents who immigrated to Germany introduced a unique kebap concept in the nation in the 1970s, Heyne said. The German version puts the grilled meat on a sandwich with sauce and vegetables. Germany now has approximately 17,000 dner kebap restaurants, Heyne said.

A low-calorie option

A Verts Kebap sandwich has approximately 550 calories.

Grilling the meat on a spit causes the fat to drip down from the meat and not go into the final product, which creates a lean entree, Verts Kebap co-owner Michael Heyne said.

The approximate calorie breakdown is:

• Bread: 300 calories
• Meat: 140 calories
• Veggies: 50 calories
• Sauce: 50 calories

While healthy, Heyne said it is important for the sandwiches to be tasty on their own.

"If it's just about health, we just get put into a niche," he said.

Verts Kebap

• 2021 Guadalupe St., 512-800-7437
• 2530 Guadalupe St., 512-215-9589
• 2438 W. Anderson Lane, 512-494-5874
• 11521 N. RR 620, 512-494-6061
• 1500 S. Lamar Blvd., 512-382-6814
• 12800 Galleria Circle, 512-369-3918
• 1801 E. 51st St. (opening late July), 512-800-8194

https://vertskebap.com

Hours vary depending on location