The 'real deal' Thai! Our waiter John came over from Siamese Basil where we enjoyed Sandy's food for years. After she retired and closed her doors there was a major shortage of authentic Thai food on the North County coast. Birdseye has more than filled that void. Fresh ingredients and sauces that 'wow' with quality flavors and textures. This joint 'rules the roost' for great Thai at the beach! read more

What's not too like here. Something other than the gastropubs and Italian restaurants. I had the panang curry with chicken and the charred pineapple old fashioned and wouldn't have chosen anything different. Super flavorful and beautifully presented. March that with a friendly atmosphere and a nearly full house and it was a Saturday night win. Sat at the bar with no wait and the food came quickly. Will 100% be back. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Charred pineapple old fashioned - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

See all

Not the best pictures because it's dark, but this was honestly one of the best meals I've ever had. This was so freaking good. They don't have as many vegan options as they used to when it comes to the curry but their red squash curry is honestly amazing, and the soup is incredible! Wish I could eat this everyday. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Red Squash curry - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

See all

I think the food has gone downhill a little since they extended their restaurant. I will still come for the pad thai, its my go to. Their pho is another amazing dish. Service is always great and setup is cute. Staple for encinitas. read more

Went here with the family for dinner on a busy night. We called ahead as we had a table of 6. Waitress was super nice. Fresh spring rolls were excellent. Their pineapple friend rice with tofu had more of a coconut milk base which was a different take than the standard friend rice I've had else where was super good. Beer and drink options were good. Most of the tables were inside with big windows/doors open to the outside with a smaller area of a few outdoor tables as well. The rest of the crew enjoyed their food. Our only gripe was the food and drinks were slow to arrive and they also forgot one of our orders (maybe got it mixed up with another order?), but they did the right thing and comped it for us since it didn't come out until everyone else had nearly finished. All in all I'd go again. read more

Tried this place a few years later after my initial review. The online ordering was over 90 MINUTES. When I arrived 30 minutes later they told me "they are working on it" so I waited another 30 minutes. All the employees were standing around since it was 4:45pm on a Thursday, not doing anything. The manager was sitting eating with a bunch of people and even forgot to put in someone's order (at least the employees were calling her the manager). When the poor guy showed up, she had to run his order to the kitchen. After another 15 minutes - OVER AN HOUR later, I asked to cancel my order and they said "it should be up any minute" and wouldn't let me cancel it, They didn't offer me anything to drink. After all of that the food portion was SOOOO small for $18 noodles. I couldn't even share them. Such a mistake trying out this place again. Will go to Thai Society, Similian Thai or Bangkok Bay instead. read more

We loved Birdseye Kitchen. The place takes no reservations but we got seates in under ten minutes on a Saturday night. The menu offera a lot of variations, so it was hard to figure out what to order. We ordered the Phad Thai and it was amazing. Sorry no pics of it. The salad was delicious as were the rolls. The beef dish, Namtok, was very flavorful but I wish I got a side of rice with it. The restaurant is nicely spaced out. We had some loud laughing people at a table nearby. No problem. The waiter was very friendly and helpful. It took a while to get water refills, but otherwise he was excellent. Update: We went again and again the food was tasty but the service was super slow. We ordered mango and rice, and it never came. Another waitress had to let us pay. Our waitress was too busy. So I asked for them to take it off our bill and they did. We paid. Left. Sticky rice and mango regret :( read more

See all

Love Birdseye kitchen. The food is always flavorful and not too salty. I love that they use a ton of natural ingredients and you can taste the quality. The spring rolls are so darn good that I don't want to share them. I make sure whoever I'm with gets their own order if they want to try them. Too tasty. read more

I tried Birdseye a few years ago. The takeout process was arduously slow (ordered at 5 p.m...received food at 8:30 p.m....), but I remember liking the food, so I decided to give them another shot while visiting in town. This time, I went for dine-in service. The spot was cute and cozy tucked along the 101. I really liked the food - most of our table got a Yellow Curry variation and we split Summer Rolls and Garlic Green beans. The garlic green beans were insanely good - and insanely underrated. BUT, service was extremely slow - even for a busy Friday night. The other thing that threw me off? The prices. As high as things were priced, I thought portions would be larger. I don't know if I'll be going back again. read more

We love this Thai restaurant. Especially love that they use cleanly sourced meats (grass fed beef, wild caught seafood, etc), and quality ingredients in their dishes. Some ingredients in their dishes are organic, they have LOTS of gluten free options (such as GF noodles), and vegan curries. My favorite dish is the beef pho. We've also tried their drunken noodles, pad thai, curry noodles, basil rice bowl, and most of the appetizers. Everything has been great and very authentic. Service could be hit or miss but it's usually good. We love sitting in the patio area with our dog when we go on the weekends. Definitely recommend this place if you're looking for good Thai food! read more

See all

ordered take out waited 3 hours after all that order was not complete called restaurant the person on phone said they tried to call I guess she never heard of caller ID totally lied hung up on me how this business stays in business is a wonder read more

I have to say I was really disappointed with the experience. We placed a big order to go and on top of taking almost 2 hours from The time we placed the order until We picked it up they left out 2 items that were on our order. We ordered multiple different items, Pad Thai, Pad see ewe, yellow curry, bun bowl, veggie Pho, summer rolls, papaya salad and imperial rolls. No one was impressed with their food. Maybe one of the worst Thai/Vietnamese food I've had in awhile. Not only did it not taste good it was overpriced. I'm giving it 2 stars bc the papaya salad was edible. Not sure if it was an off night for the them but I don't plan on going back. read more

Good vibe, great food, consistently slow service/ front of house understaffed. Bummer to miss that after being great in 2 categories.

Place is nice. Nice staff. well decorated. They seem to be short on staff. Prices are $20 per entre for lunch. Clean place with a good vibe. Only complaint is the food takes a while to be brought out. Order was taken quickly but the wait time for the food to come out is really long. They were not even full. Took them 30 minutes and counting. I hope the food shows up eventually. On the table next to me is a large group. They are getting their food one plate roughly every 10 minutes. Probably go elsewhere if you have a large group. They almost say that on the menu too. They request that for large groups the orders be placed together. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Packed crowds and noisy. Found a quietish corner - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

Even in these times, ordering was easy and simple. Food was again perfect! We had the always great imperial rolls, pad Thai and musman curry all number 4 heat. Important for us wimps. Also had pho which was again just do well prepared. I miss our servers and the ambiance of in dining, but we have to support our local faves. It's a must right now. See you next week Birdseye. And better times ahead!!! read more

See all

Super great service, amazing clean ingredients. No other Asian restaurant serves organic veggies and grass fed beef broth

this has easily become my favorite restraunt!! the Pad See Ew is amazing- the whole menu is also gluten free and has vegan/ dairy free options as well! Everyone i've brought here has also loved it! The service is always fast and employees are friendly. read more

Such a great experience. Tiff was our server and she took precious time explaining dishes and giving us great advice. We loved what we got. Panang curry for me and red curry for my husband. We also had the cabbage slaw salad. We sat at the high seats looking out at the street. Great spot. Thank you, Tiff, for a wonderful experience!! read more

I'm unsure if we came at the wrong time but it was a horrible experience. We dined there on a Friday around 2pm. The only dish that was decent was the beef salad. The flavor was good except they used shredded cabbage instead of other greens. The chicken wings were burnt as if it was refried over and over in old burnt oil. The pad Thai was too sweet. The rice that came with the garlic green beans had an old smell and it was very yellow and dry as if it sat in the rice cooker for a week. (The garlic green beans were good) what as appalling was the owner was extremely rude when we notified her and asked if we could get new rice. She rudely said "that's just how the rice is and walked away." We then asked the waiter since he was more understanding and accommodating if we could order sticky rice instead. The sticky rice wasn't fresh but it was edible. The owner brought out the sticky rice and literally threw it on the table as if she was displeased. It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable. We tried to finish what we could and left most items back, paid and left. I know operating a restaurant is tough and I wish the owners luck with their business and try to improve their services and food quality. read more

See all

We were in the mood for drunken noodles, after seeing and reading reviews we decided to check birdseye out, and so glad we did! Delicious. Started off with salt and pepper calamari- this was the only thing we were too keen on, had no flavor, though the honey dipping sauce was good, probably wouldn't order again. We got drunken noodles and Pham see ewe, both noodle dishes. Both very good, though I think they mixed up the spiciness level because mine was way hotter and I'm the wimp of the table. Everything cooked to perfection (minus the spiciness) but we will definitely be back! Thanks for a great dinner! read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Drunken noodles - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

See all

Portions are small, just ok food and very expensive! Missing our Taste of Thai very much! I guess we were spoiled when we could share an incredible entree easily and the fresh spring rolls were the best! read more

Such a gem! Almost everything was, or could be made gluten free. Great vegetarian and vegan options. Overall felt very easily suited to individual needs and preferences with choices presented upon ordering of meat, tofu, or vegetables in most dishes. Every dish had beautiful depth of flavor, with high quality ingredients, and satisfying portion sizes. The hand-cut gluten free noodles were a unique highlight. You can tell how much care and love goes into the food, like a soul-healing home cooked meal with a restaurant experience. Even the tea mugs were pretty! a small detail adding to the homey-ness. Every table seems to have great ambiance, we loved the outdoor seating. On a weekday afternoon it was very peaceful, apart from the coaster passing close by every few minutes haha. Every waiter was so friendly and just wonderful! read more

Very busy spot. Assumed it must be good. The food was completely flavorless. The coconut soup was basically a can of coconut milk boiled w shrimp tossed in. The pad Thai was just noodles. How do you f up pad Thai? Everything we ordered was so bland. I've had much better Thai food even at one paseo and the windmill. Honestly, you can get muchhhhh better food, bigger qty's, lower price, much more flavor, much less crowded down at that Thai place next to Encinitas Surfboards / lofty coffee. That place was wayyyyyy better. read more

Called in my order and was advised 30 minutes for pick up. Arrived to a very busy and rather small place with not a lot of room to move around. I ended up waiting another 15 minutes in addition to the already 30 minutes given, which defeated the purpose of calling ahead. The food was decent the spice level on the soup was nice, but my cashew shrimp had no spice at all even though I asked for it to be spicier than the soup. It was also odd that it didn't have any Thai chilis in at as most cashew dishes I've had generally does....maybe that explained the reason for no spice. I did like however, the variety of veggies in the cashew shrimp instead of just the usual onions and bell peppers. Overall the food was enjoyable, and maybe if I came back on a less busy day the service could be as well. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Cashew shrimp - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

See all

Huge menu, delicious food, cute restaurant with casual vibes. Only waited a few minutes for a table on a Saturday night. Will be back!

One of my favorite spots! Everything we've had on the menu is always superb, portions are great and a little bit of everything. And their Pad Thai may be my favorite in all of San Diego Thai restaurants it's always super fresh and QUALITY. Keep up the ahhhhmazin work Birdseye! read more

The food was well prepared and tasty, price wise a little on the expensive side for Thai. At the end of the meal the server just told us a "number" for how much we owed before tip. We weren't given a bill as per the norm in a restaurant. It was weird and uncomfortable. We would have returned otherwise, but that's a turn off. If that doesn't bother you, it's a decent little spot. read more

My wife and I have an 18 month old so eating out or even ordering take out is a treat for us. The accuracy of the order and the poor attempt to reciprocate our failed order will prevent us from taking our business here again. The Order- we ordered what we thought was simple; the summer rolls (veggie/tofu) as my wife is allergic to shellfish, curry noodle bowl (6 spice level) with no onions, and the yellow curry (5 spice level) added chicken. Three items folks, yes, THREE ITEMS!! Wait for it.... What do you think we received? We Received- we got one veggie summer roll and one shrimp! Haha That won't work with my wife's allergies. The noodle bowl was a zero (0) spice (see pic) BORING for someone that loves a little kick and had onions (also in pic). The Yellow curry came with an eight (8) spice and my wife couldn't eat more than three bites. So my wife went to bed hungry. What a treat for a hard working, amazing mother and wife!! Hang in there as I'm saving the best for last...... I called the restaurant and spoke to a manager (use that term loosely) named Dia or Dina and I didn't even get to explain my issue before I was rudely spoken over, asked three questions at once that were the same question but asked in a different way, and continued to tell me that my wait time of an hour and 15 minutes was normal. The wait time, as you can see above, is not even a concern of mine. I understand busy, I even understand mistakes, but I don't understand how managers can talk more than they listen when trying to resolve a problem? Dia/Dina went on to justify the spice mixup with a future solution that they will no longer be offering spice levels and the customer will add their own spice. Awesome story, Dia/Dina, but how does that resolve or help my issue from the past???? She then was asking me for pictures and proof of my statement. I simply said that I'm not interested in speaking with her anymore and working rather tell my story online in the hopes I can help others, or at least provide a giggle or two. I will conclude with the fact that while I waited, I had a beer at the bar (yes I gave them more money) and the bartender was extremely friendly, patient, and apologetic for the wait time. I didn't catch his name but he was great. read more

See all

A good friend of mine lives close and it's her go-to food spot. I was excited to try this place with its Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese cuisine. Once we walked in, we were promptly greeted. We were invited to sit anywhere we liked. It was a Wednesday afternoon so it was not full. We opted to sit next to the windows which allowed for a nice breeze to come in. I ordered the California Soul, which was a smokey cocktail of goodness. My friend ordered the Birdseye Spritz, which was a bit too sweet in comparison and for my liking. A good drink all around, just not my type. I ordered the Thai Basil with chicken rice place with brown rice. My friend ordered the Glass Noodles with tofu. The food tasted fresh and with great flavor. I was not disappointed. I would love to return to explore more of the menu, including different cocktail drinks...though I have been thinking about that California Soul drink since I had it... read more

The drunken noodles and pad Thai here are so good! Cute spot right on the coast, great menu and service. Highly recommend. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Drunken noodles were amazing - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

I ordered what I usually get, wok noodles with chicken, gluten free. It was too salty. Must be a new cook? read more

From a Laotian person, food is as authentic as it can get. But I know everyone's taste buds needs to be catered to. So I know some menu items needed to be altered. Other than that I would return and try other items on the menu. The cocktail was great. Love the decor of the restaurant. read more

Birdseye Kitchen - Butterfly 76 - Vietnamese Near Me - Encinitas, California

See all

This place is OK but not what I was expecting base on other reviews. The drunken noodles was good but the chicken was so hard and over cooked. This place also doesn't take reservations which means you have to wait a long time to be seated since is not a big restaurant. read more

Was feeling some Thai food, but I wanted to venture out of the usual Pad Thai or Pad see ew. I ordered the Lao Sukiyaki soup, Kua Mii, and the the fried sesame shrimp. Unfortunately wasn't too thrilled with the food, but that's the risk you take when trying something you've never ordered. The soup and Kua Mii were flat and seemed like they were missing something. The sesame shrimp didn't even taste like sesame and the plum sauce tasted more like honey than anything else. It was still tasty bite though. I did get a chance to taste of my buddies pork belly and that was awesome. Saw some cool and clever drinks on the menu as well that everyone at the table seemed to enjoy. A cool place nevertheless and glad I had the opportunity to try out something new regardless of the outcome. read more

First time trying Birdseye cafe and we may try it one more time when we are in the area! Birdseye was recommended by a friend we visited in Encinitas who was also gluten free and had some great recommendations. Birdseye is right on the 2 101 and easy to find. The menu is full of GF options! We tried the chicken satay appetizer and the chicken was done perfectly and the sauces amazing. My wife got the Phad Thai and I got the Phad See Ewe for dinner. Unfortunately my fish was obviously burned and the Phad Thai was super sweet like the sauce was just sweet and sour sauce. Service was very good. Maybe the kitchen was having a bad day, but with the wonderful menu we will try one more time. read more

I've been hearing great things about this place, but my experience was disappointing. To start out, the service was terrible, the host didn't smile or greet us, he only said "how many" and led us to the table unwillingly. I would say this overall attitude describes all of the servers, along with the slow service. Now for the food, the portions are laughable and the food itself is pretty tasteless. We ordered the wok noodles and the panang curry. Both were lacking salt and flavor, and the panang was watery. What was really off-putting was the temperature of the food. It was lukewarm and quickly became cold. We also ordered the mango sticky rice, which was just as laughable as the other dishes. The only part that was good was the mango, the rice was hard and tasteless. There is little to no ambiance, and I would definitely not come back. Instead of here I would recommend Bangkok Bay where the prices are more reasonable, the portions are bigger, and the food actually has taste. read more

This place needs vast improvement, from the service to the portions and the literal taste of the food. Let me start with the service. It needs help desperately. The server that put us at our table didn't even greet up...there was no feeling of being welcomed at all, all he asked was how many people were in our party and took us to the nearest table. Simply just ass in customer service. After we were sat down it took them about 10 minutes to come take our order and the place was not as busy as I had expected. Still took them far too long to take an order. Secondly the food. When the food arrived, the portions were rather small and definitely needed more salt on all dishes. I ate most of the plate and was still very unsatisfied. The server didn't really check in on us to see how we were doing which was also...Ass. The dessert that we got was the mango "sticky" rice which had very little stick but the mango was fire. The ambience was the only cool thing about this place and even then it's still lacking in all aspects. All in all the only reason my experience here was decent was because of the people I came with. Would definitely recommend going ANYWHERE else if you want some FLAVORFUL and well portioned Thai food. read more

Came here on a Friday and was really excited. Several of my friends have said how good the place was so I had high expectations. I do only give this a four tho. We were greeted promptly and able to sit at the bar no problem. The bartender Matt greeted us and took our order right away. The cocktails are small but stiff so that was good. We ordered a few apps. The Ben Xao which was a tumeric crepe with shrimp and pork but there was barely any in there. It was loaded with bean sprouts which made it kind of soggy. We also got the chicken wings, and those were a tad soggy as well, good flavor but no crunch on the skin. Matt did recommend the steak salad which we both thought was really good, nice tender beef strips , herby, and fresh. Our main dishes were both pretty good. We ordered the phad Thai and pineapple fried rice. Both were great. My pad Thai had a great peanut flavor and a good amount of chicken and egg. Overall I'd recommend it. The service was fast and friendly, but just kinda 50/50 on the dishes. I'm not a big pho person but everyone raves about that. I would try the banh mi as well. Everything was very fresh tasting as well. The other thing was it was a good value. Two people had 3 apps, 2 entrees and 4 drinks and was only $165. I can't give it a full five stars but still solid. Try this place read more

I came here, and it was pretty sleepy for the ample space, so I'm sure it gets packed! The food was fresh, delicious, and had fantastic flavors. We had the summer rolls as a starter, and I could have eaten just those; they were delicious, and the sauce was phenom. The server recommended I try the curry noodles, which I did with tofu and it was DELICIOUS. It was not like anything I've ever had before, and although a little messy I ate nearly the whole thing. They had a whole bunch of local brews here and lots of vegetarian choices. I would totally be back. read more

Love the food. Long wait. If you order to go, pad the pick up time as it's usually 10-20 mins longer. Curry is excellent. Order extra rice. read more