Dirty Birds Liberty Station — Restaurant in San Diego

Thought long and hard about writing this review.. my husband, infant, and I came here on Sunday 10/12. We came through the patio area and there saw there were some tables taken inside and outside but there were many open tables and bar was dead. We waited at the host stand where the sign says “please wait to be seated” many bussers and runners passed by saying someone will be right with us. We waiting about 2 minutes before the hostess came and told us to sit anywhere and handed us menus to take to our table. The menus she gave us were piled on top of the host stand with a wet towel on top. I assume those meant to be cleaned first.. (I used to be a host we always piled menus on top of the stand to wipe them down before putting it away behind the stand) we sat down and our server came right away asking if we were ready to order. I said we needed a minute to go over the menu and requested water first. She brought out the waters right away and never came back to our table. We waited almost 20 minutes before we walked up and left. Our server had a party of 8 in her section and took their order first and then stayed at their table the entire time chit chatting. An older server noticed us waiting for a while and even said something to the hostess and pointed at us. The same hostess who gave us dirty menus took a couple steps peeking at our table and then walked away. After waiting another 2 minutes after knowing other workers knew we were waiting, we left. As we walked out, the manager and bartender watched us leave and continued watching football. Nobody said anything to us and nobody offered to help take our order. I have NEVER walked out from a restaurant before. I was a server for over 3 years and worked as a hostess, runner, busser, and EXPO for years before serving. I know how restaurants work and how servers think. They assume how much a table will tip/not tip based on their age, race, etc. maybe the server assumed our bill would be small because we only ordered water, ill never know. The server attended to her big money making table probably in hopes of more tip on top of automatic gratuity and never came back to our table. And the fact that nobody wanted to step in and help because that’s not their section is a prime example of staff not working as a team. The manager on duty the other hand should’ve been walking around asking tables how everything is going and if they need anything, especially if they see servers struggling or not managing tables accordingly. I was very disappointed in how poor the service was and I will...

I want to preface this review by stating I have been a fan of DB’s for over 12 years (since College when the only location was Mission Blvd) and have been hyping them up / bringing friends for over a decade as the best spot for wings.

No longer.

I can write a totally separate review on the varying quality of service and food based on the location, or the fact that they took away the long standing ‘1/2 off wings’ deal on Tuesday and replaced it with a ‘buy one get one half off’ joke of a deal that isn’t even worth having.. but I digress.

What happened tonight was an absolute slap in the face from a establishment spiraling into mediocrity.

Go in to tonight to meet up with 9 friends for the (formerly amazing) Tuesday wing deal. We sit down order appetizers, wings, drinks, dessert and sit for about 2 hours.

We then get a bill for $172 (before tax and tip). The only additional charge on the bill is a “4% surcharge” for $6 and some change. These numbers and that surcharge are corroborated by 5 - 6 of us that all take a look at the bill.

We think nothing of the bill or the price, have a friend throw down one card (in which the waitress thanks us for only using one card). We then add the total (post tax and tip) divide it by the members of the group and Venmo our friend with the card. We all go our separate ways, and about 10 minutes later I receive a call.

Call is from the friend who put his card down. Says he got charged $350 for our bill. I tell him “don’t trip, just call back in, they must have messed up”. So he does just that, he calls back in and is met by a slew of unprofessional and crude wait staff that cease to acknowledge the price of our bill, refuse any sort of accommodation and basically tell him to F off and send him the digital bill.

The bill they send over has three unfamiliar charges. 1 ) Subtotal $262.55 2 ) Surcharge (4%) = $10.05 3 ) Large Party (20%) = $50.24

Our bill read $172 (and change), our surcharge said $6 (and change), and THERE WAS NO 20% LARGE PARTY GRATUITY!

This is a slimy move from a slimy establishment and you know when you lose a decade long fan of your food that you’re doing something very wrong.

So if you feel like having your friends and family get bent over a barrel and railed.. please take them to the Point Loma Dirty Birds; the one...

I recently had a disappointing experience at Dirty Birds in Liberty Station on March 19, 2025, around 5 pm. While the food was decent, the service left a lot to be desired, especially due to a sketchy interaction with the waiter.

I arrived with a party of five, consisting of two adults and three children, and was shocked to find that no one greeted us upon arrival. We ended up seating ourselves outside, and I had to go hunt down a waiter to even get the service started. Before we placed our order, I verified with the waiter that the happy hour special – "Buy One, Get One Half Off" – was available. Everything seemed fine up until that point.

I ordered 20 wings, two soft drinks, and a basket of French fries. The wings were good, but the soft drinks were watered down and lacked flavor, which was disappointing. When we finished our meal, I asked for the check. Instead of handing me an itemized bill, the waiter just gave me the total amount and didn’t give me a chance to review the charges. The total came to around $54, plus a $9 tip.

It wasn’t until I left the restaurant that I realized something was off with the transaction. Considering it was happy hour, my wings should have cost $21.50, the two soft drinks would have been about $8, and the French fries around $8.50. The total for the food should have been around $38, plus tax, meaning the final bill should have been about $40-$42. However, the bill was over $54, which shows a discrepancy of about $12-$15 before the tip.

In essence, I feel I was ripped off by the waiter. This incident has completely ruined a customer relationship I had with the restaurant for at least 10 years. I won’t be returning anytime soon, and I’d advise others to be cautious...