Man Takes Bite Out of Kebab, Spots Something Shiny Inside: ‘Cashback’

A man has recalled the time he took a bite out of a kebab only to find something shiny inside.

In a photo posted to Reddit under the handle u/Alexander_04_, a diner, who asked to be referred to simply as Kendall, and is based in Turin, Italy, shared a snapshot of the sight that allegedly greeted him that night.

As the picture shows, buried among the usual array of lamb meat, salad, onions and sauces sat a one euro coin. When it comes to takeout, kebabs are a firm favorite with fast food diners from across Europe. In 2024, Amazon conducted a poll to identify the continent’s most popular food, and kebabs came out on top, with more than half of the 75,000 respondents polled claiming to enjoy one at least once a week.

Some may think twice about doing so again after hearing Kendall’s story. However, as the comments section accompanying the post suggests, plenty won’t have been put off all that much.

“This happened back in 2019. It was a very funny story,” Kendall told Newsweek. “It was the middle of the day, it was summer and not many places were open for lunch, so my friend and I went to our local kebab place to grab something quick for lunch, and cheap as well. We ordered take out, and then went to the park to chill in the sun.”

Kendall said he was eating the kebab “voraciously as always” when something stopped him in his tracks. “I was halfway through when I noticed the coin for the first time,” he said. “As far as I remember, I didn’t actually bite on it, I just remember looking at my sandwich and seeing the coin, appearing from inside the actual sandwich.”

He stopped eating and returned to tell his friend, as anyone would in that kind of situation. “I remember him looking at me completely shocked and after a second, we started laughing out loud,” Kendall said.

He said he did consider going back to the store to make a complaint, but then changed his mind. Kendall said: “We were quite far from the shop by then, and I know the guys who run the place, so I decided to throw away what was left of my unlucky sandwich, and label the experience as human error, nothing more.”

Before throwing it away, he made sure to take a picture to share with friends. It’s only recently that he considered posting it to social media. “I’ve only recently started using Reddit and had found this funny Mildly Interesting subreddit which made me think I had a killer post for it,” he said.

It’s certainly proven popular with the picture earning 74,000 upvotes and thousands of comments from suitably amused Redditors.

“Cashback,” one quipped in response to the picture. “Cashbab,” another countered. The other most notable pun came in the form of one comment that read simply: “Donor kebab.”

“There’s a point to be made about lack of hygiene in Kebab Shops here,” a fourth user noted. “But, let’s just go with you got a buck back. Nice.” Elsewhere, one Redditor commented that it was: “Like a 10% discount but 10% less hygienic,” adding: “I’d take it.”

“How is this even possible?” one user asked with another responding: “The ingredients are usually laid out right below the counter and most doner places do not have or use a dedicated cashier space and instead payment is done over said counter. So most likely a coin just fell into an ingredient bin.”

Whatever the truth, the experience hasn’t put Kendall off kebabs or that particular restaurant either. He said he has gone back “a couple of times” since. “I’m still a fan of kebabs and not all that worried about finding another coin.”