Starbird Chicken — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

TL;DR: Take your chances.

Inconsistent and declining quality and size of the Starbird Chicken Sandwich. I take a gamble every time I get Starbird’s signature sandwich. Sometimes it is juicy and delicious. Sometimes it is rubbery and inedible. Usually it is between snack-size and 3/4. Been waiting three years to receive a sandwich the size they show in all their marketing. Got close once.

I tried to use a reward in the app, but accidentally tapped redeem early so I asked the cashier for help. He tapped on the reward from the list, which would have spent my points again, if I had even had enough points! He said, “Nope, you already redeemed it.” I said, “I tapped on it, but I did not really redeem it because it was not scanned. Are you saying I lost those points without scanning them?”

Instead of answering, he started tapping rapidly on the register while looking at a tablet. He said, “Hang on, I need to get this order in.” I waited while he kept tapping and tapping. The order got to seven items and finally I said, “Are you really putting in a huge order right in the middle of talking to me?” He said, “We have to finish this DoorDash order before the driver comes or we will get in trouble.” I said, “You are getting in trouble with your customer standing right in front of you.” The two employees at the next register said, “We can help you over here as soon as we finish this (changing the cash register tray),” and, “We have to do those orders first or we will get in trouble.” Meanwhile, the cashier is still tapping out the big order for DoorDash.

I understand that Starbird needs to offer delivery options to be competitive in this world. There must be a better way to implement this process than getting employees in trouble or alienating walk-in customers.

When my pager buzzed to alert me that my order was ready, I walked up to the pick-up counter still holding the receipt and pager together as they were handed to me. As I was looking into the To-Go bag, the employee snatched my receipt out of my hand and tossed it in the trash, instead of taking the pager from me. She told me to put the pager in the basket and walked away to the kitchen, so I did not have a chance to ask for my receipt back. Without a receipt, I have neither the transaction details nor the name of the cashier. When I wrote to Starbird about this employee interaction, they apologized and informed me that they are working to improve on their service and system. That was April 2019 and I have not seen an...

Honestly I have to admit that this is one of the best places to have fast food chicken in the Bay Area😍. I mean the quality of spices used on chicken is SOO flavorful and deliciously smacking. My husband and I ordered these items and everything was unique in its own way✨

✅Nashville Hot + Pickle Ranch Wings($11.97 ) - Crispy French fries loaded with House-made Dill Pickle Ranch, green onions, Nashville spices. Loved these crispy fries and dipped in sauces tasted yumm.

✅Chicken Katsu Slad ($14.47) - Epic salad bowl filled with Fresh Shredded green cabbage, cucumber, edamame, red pickled daikon, crispy wonton strips, green onions, sesame seeds, katsu sauce, Creamy Ginger Dressing. My husband absolutely loved this. Quantity easily fills 2 people.

✅ Nashville Hot Tender Box ($15.97) - Hot Crispy Chicken Tenders served with super slaw, fries and Greek Yogurt Ranch. This is super crispy and definitely hot. Well cooked and not to forget about the Nashville hot spices that added even more flavor to this.

✅ Star B-Que Wings ($11.97) - Comes with BBQ Dry Rub Wings and Star Sauce. This is their new add on and turned out to be my top favorite item in the list. It was crunchy, spicy, perfectly flavored wings. I highly recommend trying out this one.

✅ Big Star Sandwich ($10.97) - This Sandwich was one of the most recommended items in their menu which is loaded with Crispy Chicken, sliced tomato, classic slaw, dill pickles, Star Sauce. This sandwich was SOO filling and well packed.

✅Passion fruit Lemonade: This was the best lemonade and I would rate 11/10 for this. Loved the sweet and tangy flavor of this drink.

Overall we had a very satisfactory meal and I will definitely come...

Came here because they advertise gluten free fried chicken.

I asked the staff about the menu as I noticed that their chicken wings aren't marked as gluten free nor are their churros, but their chicken nuggets, tenders and fries are marked as gluten free. I have Celiac and depend on accurate information to make safe choices when eating as I can consume NO gluten whatsoever. Not even a crumb.

The staff completely struggled through answering if they used a shared fryer or not. The fries are cooked in a shared fryer with churros. Cooking fries in the same fryer with the oil that has been used to cook churros is like claiming that cooking pasta in water used to boil shellfish is safe for people with a shellfish allergy. The staff member said if he had Celiac he wouldn't risk it.

This same staff member said that they use a shared fryer but the chefs do something to make it gluten free, which is simply not possible unless they're changing the oil and scrubbing down the fryer between orders, which isn't a thing.

Another staff member chimed in saying that they use a shared fryer for the wings and the tenders, but that it's okay because they cook the wings in the morning first. What? Not only would that guarantee that the oil is contaminated, they're precooking wings?

Either this restaurant is falsely advertising gluten free items (people who can't consume aren't "friendly" to gluten) putting people who need to eat gluten free for medical reasons at serious risk of injury, or this restaurant has completely failed in training their staff how to explain their product and their safety protocols to customers.

Either way, 1 star.

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