**** Boss Bird has moved to La Mesa. This location is now Kusina
Here's a post that was 17 months in the making. Chicken Sandwiches…..especially Nashville Hot Chicken has become (yet another) fad in recent years. And back in February of 2020 Boss Bird Kitchen took over the spot that seems to be a revolving door of restaurants; being Capetown Bar & Grill, then Sarap, and finally Gaya Gaya before Boss Bird took over the spot. My first visit was in February 2020. I then did a takeout visit early in 2021. At that time, I wasn't even sure I'd be doing a post….until I decided to return last week. You can think of this as happening during three distinct phases in time, pre-Covid, during lockdown, and during reopening. It does seem to be much longer of a timespan then that as well.
The place looked essentially the same as Gaya Gaya, minus the interesting artwork.
I thought about trying the "Hot Mess" Chicken "Burger", but decided to just get the "Standard". Basically, buttermilk fried chicken breast sandwich. The size of the chicken breast filet was quite generous.
I did like the roll it was served on, which had a mild hint of yeasty sweetness and held up quite well to the sorta "secret sauce" (Thousand Island dressingish). The chicken was underseasoned for my taste and while it was quite a hunk of chicken it hadn't been evenly fried and also suffered from "chicken breast syndrome"……as it was on the dry side.
The portion of fries was also very generous; nicely seasoned, though it was also on the dry side and got rather soft quickly. Still for under ten bucks (at that time), this was a bargain.
Even though the price was right and the young lady working was so friendly, I didn't really have any intention of returning. Then came the lockdown and I was still working from the office quite a bit….I'd be driving past Boss Bird every so often and while they were open, it seemed totally dead. So, I decided to go ahead and place an online order. I didn't think the chicken sandwich and especially the fries would hold up real well on the drive back to the office, so I ordered the "Nickle Box" ($9) of wings. While driving over, I realized that it had been over a year since my initial visit.
Man, had the pandemic changed things! Things had been moved around and when I spoke (even with my mask muffling my voice) there seemed to be an echo!
My order was ready when I finally found a live human being……seems like everyone was in the boss bird "kitchen", so I cooled my heels for about 10 minutes. But all was well once the nice gentleman saw me waiting.
I wasn't overly hungry and this five piece box of wings, which came with 2 biscuits (I gave one away) was more than enough for my lunch on this day. I actually enjoyed the pickles the best.
I had ordered the Wings with Garlic Parmesan, but I think there was a "malfunction" somewhere as the wings seemed to just be plainly seasoned. Like my previous experience the chicken was unevenly fried and some of the pieces had rubbery skin and were on the dry side.
I wasn't a big fan of the biscuits which was too crumbly and not buttery enough for my taste. The person I shared the biscuit with said he could barely finish half of it……so I guess it wasn't just me.
And well, two visits in I guess I needed to get a post done, right? And on June 15th, San Diego was fully reopened, though I waited a while to return to Boss Bird. When I finally decided to return, it was just as the restaurant opened, early in the week. I had the whole place to myself.
The only other customers I saw during my stay were two customers doing takeout. And since I wasn't doing takeout; I decided to go with the "Hot Mess" ($11).
I enjoyed the chicken sandwich. This was by far the best item I've had at Boss Bird; a decent spicy rub, you can tell that this time around the chicken had been nicely fried. While it was still on the drier side, it was moist and tender enough for me. Like I said before; there's something about the pickles here I enjoy and the slaw, while quite plain really helped balance out the sandwich.
The fries were a bit thinner this time around and still nicely seasoned; though it's still on the dry and soft side for my taste.
Still, I'd have this again….one of these days.
So there you go. A post 17 months in the making.
For another view on Boss Bird, please check out Lynn's post. 
Boss Bird Kitchen
7580 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Sunday 11am – 4pm