Flashbird - Santa Cruz

This restaurant was extremely disappointing. The spicy chicken sandwich did not resemble the picture at all and was neither fried nor spicy. It was very hard to locate, and once we finally found it, we were disappointed to discover that they had forgotten to give us sauce for our dry sandwich and fries, despite clearly requesting it. When we opened the sauce they did give us, it was not even half full. We paid for two sandwiches and two orders of fries, and this was completely unacceptable. We do not recommend this restaurant and are very frustrated with our experience.

I decided to visit this restaurant after hearing that it was opened by the same people who started Alderwood after receiving a Michelin mention. I have been to Flashbird a few times since then, and while there were some minor inconsistencies with the side options (sometimes the fries were overcooked and the salads too oily), I have always been pleased with my meals. The sandwiches were especially delicious.

I recommend going to Chubb's on Chestnut instead. The sandwich I ordered was very small for the price, it should have been bigger. The spicy sandwich was not actually spicy and the chicken was dry, it seemed like there was hardly any sauce. I give them two stars instead of one because I enjoyed their macaroni. Overall, I suggest going to Chubb's instead.

Don't make the same mistake as I did Portions are ridiculously small for the price. $9 for a sandwich that should be on a kids menu. Better off going to Burger King or any other fast food restaurant that makes a chicken sandwich. Will not be going back and not recommending to anyone I know.

OK so I will say the chicken was amazing. The fried mushroom was novel but boring. The Mac cheese and customer service are terrible. The Mac cheese was completely unseasoned. About the customer service: they overcharged me $3 for avocado, they were out of avocado and instead of telling me or refunding me, they left a note... Like I talked to their staff and they didn't think they should tell me or refund me? I would normally let this slide when connecting with the staff later, but then...I used their contact form to let them know about this. No response. Emailing them directly (twice just in case they missed it) didn't warrant a reply. Contacting them on IG didn't get a response either. Sorry flashbird, but I can find tasty Santa Cruz takeout elsewhere.