Eat the Bird in Exeter

Eat the Bird has been on my radar for a few years now. We're not local to Exeter but this is the second time we've visited for a few days, the last time being early 2022. My husband is coeliac (needs to eat gluten free - GF) so a lot of research always goes in to eating out. Eat the Bird has cropped up regularly on various Facebook groups recommending it for it's GF food. I tried booking during our stay back in 2022 but it was fully booked. Fast forward a couple of years and I made sure I booked us a table as soon as I'd booked our hotel. We duly arrived on a Friday evening and, I'll be honest, the place wasn't what I was expecting at all. On arrival it looked like there was just a handful of booth/ tables by the cooking/ serving area and there was a steady stream of delivery drivers coming and going. I guess I'd expected something a little bigger, a little more polished and generally less 'rustic'. I was worried I'd made a mistake and that we should have stuck with something 'safe' that we were familiar with. Anyway, we duly took our seats and looked at the menus........ It's fair to say, the staff clearly know their stuff and we soon settled in (in hindsight, I'm wondering if we were actually served by the company founder, if not it was someone who looked a lot like him......). The 'special' came highly recommended and we were given assurances about the various GF options (of which there were many). I opted for the special, my husband a chicken burger (?The Furlough), there were so many great choices. We both had a portion of fries and slaw. The fries were outstanding, light and super crispy, the slaw spot on and the burger, oh, the burger! If I'm completely honest, I can generally take or leave a burger, a burger is 'just' a burger no matter where you are, right? But, this was no ordinary burger, it was in all honesty, absolutely delicious, as were the dips we had for our fries. I think I must have practically rolled out of the place, definitely no room for any dessert! Would we go back? Absolutely! Would very happily recommend. Super excited to see there is now a branch in Bristol, we must hunt it out. It's great to find an independent place that does GF so well and, I have to say, for what we had to eat/ the quality/ quantity (and compared to some of the chain restaurants) I thought the bill was pretty reasonable.

The best honest food we have ever had. I had a beef burger, wife had a chicken tender tray, tasted amazing! Cannot recommend enough

Having visited another Eat the bird I knew I was in for a good feed and boys did it not disappoint. We had a couple of cherry cocktails and they were delicious definitely worth visiting for those alone. The burgers were stunning burgers, the 'Korean' burger is a flavour sensation whilst the Furlough is a great chicken burger done well. We also went for a few sides of frikles, chips and slaw. These sides were ok but definitely not in the same league as the burgers and cocktails.

we were delighted to see the indoor seating had reopened and couldn’t resist visiting again. my partner ordered the chicktator, and while he usually communicates between mouthfuls what he thinks of the food, his burger was gone in a matter of minutes. i ordered the bbq one (completely forgotten the name as there were so many i liked the look of) and it was incredible. perfectly cooked chicken, delicious rich bbq sauce that you cannot get enough of, and paired with the louisiana cheese fries you have the perfect meal. thrilled to see their restaurant open for dining in and we’ll be sure to come back soon!

Superb festive burger! I visited to try the 'Boney M' festive special a couple of years ago but they didn't have it available so I finally got around to trying again. I'm extremely glad I did too because it was a top tier burger. The pulled brisket was so tasty with a little bit of crisp in places too. A perfectly cooked beef patty and a nice soft bun with garlic butter soaked into it. I was disappointed to hear something else was unavailable this time. They didn't have the brisket 'baubles'. I had some OG Tenders instead and fortunately they were phenomenal. Perfect crisp coating with excellent seasoning. I've had some superb food at this place and did so again but it would be great to go and not be told of things not being available! Previous visit: As was the case on my previous visits the service and food quality was excellent. I'll get the major negative out the way first. I was hugely disappointed that the festive special brisket burger and brisket balls were unavailable. I went specifically to try them having been teased by Instagram posts in the build up to Christmas. I've found myself in this predicament many times at multiple restaurants/eateries and it really does lower my opinion of places sadly. I've had one of the best meals of my life at eat the bird too. However the Dirty Ronald burger was an okay consolation. Very nice patties and bun with plenty of pickles. It did have too much sauce though. I like a messy burger but the mustard overpowered the other flavours. They did have the chicken tenders I had picked out beforehand and they were superb. Lovely crisp coating with tasty seasoning but yet the chicken was juicy and moist inside. I'll try to get over missing out on the burger I wanted because this place is great and has an impressive menu. I must also say that my last visit left me slightly disappointed too as they'd ditched tater tots from the menu. Hopefully I'll get some Christmas joy next year when brisket returns (and tater tots to create some real magic!).

I visited to try the 'Boney M' festive special a couple of years ago but they didn't have it available so I finally got around to trying again. I'm extremely glad I did too because it was a top tier burger. The pulled brisket was so tasty with a little bit of crisp in places too. A perfectly cooked beef patty and a nice soft bun with garlic butter soaked into it. I was disappointed to hear something else was unavailable this time. They didn't have the brisket 'baubles'. I had some OG Tenders instead and fortunately they were phenomenal. Perfect crisp coating with excellent seasoning. I've had some superb food at this place and did so again but it would be great to go and not be told of things not being available!

Stunning food. Amazing service and 90s hip hop. Loved it!

Tasty but a lot of money for what you get. Just short of £30 for 6 tenders and 3 hot wings. Won't be rushing back.

Love this place, awesome burgers with attentive staff. An original array of interesting ideas in a bun!

Always banging food and drinks, spot on

This is my favourite restaurant in Exeter. Visited here for a second time and our server, Ben L, was really helpful with some people I was with their dietary requirements. Great food and service, totally recommend.

Amazing crispy chicken and excellent fries!

Food was overly salted and greasier than a teenager that hasn’t showered in 10 days, however, I would go back again just for the service. All of the staff were lovely and very accommodating. Oh, and also their cocktails. Top tier.

Good portion sizes, lovely food highly recommend

Always perfect food and staff friendly and accommodating!

Tried to eat here again but we were told it's outside only even though they're empty inside. It's November and cold, it makes no sense. I would order Deliveroo but portions have been really small and items forgotten more than once. I really like the food here but I can't get in!

Absolutely love this place got to be the best Food in Exeter, especially if you’re not counting calories 🙌🏻🙌🏻❤️

Service and atmosphere was great! Very good and attentive staff. However, food was mid for us. Everything was very salty but this may be me and my partner's taste as we do find things salty in general. May pop back and try something different from the menu next time we visit!

Delicious food! Great vegan options, genuinely lovely staff!

So salty!! Probably knocked a few years off my life with the amount of sodium I just consumed. Careful if you have a heart condition, you may have a heart attack after a few bites. Extremely disappointed for the amount of money I spent, main flavour profile is salt followed by salt...

THE best burgers I’ve ever had! amazing service by Kerenza and Mollie who went above and beyond to make sure we had a lovely time last night, thank you both!

Food was amazing! The Kyiv fries are an absolute winner. Couldn't complain about the food at all. We came to Exeter from London to eat here.

Very good food. Would definitely recommend

They only had outside seating available when we went but regardless the service and food was incredible; so glad we came here for lunch!!

Great food as always, and Mollie was very nice

Great food and even better service, Molly was brilliant.

After this establishment was recommended to us We ordered three meals totaling almost £50. This was the first time we'd ordered from here. We were met with incorrect order, undercooked chicken, under cooked chips and almost raw HALLOUMI. Upon calling I was met with rudeness from the manager, A dismissive attitude to my complaint and told me that she couldn't help me and that I had to email in order to process my complaint. I have! and added pictures and told them I won't be returning once was certainly enough. Overpriced rudeness and less than impressive food.

Great burger, great service, highly recommend

Actual chilled casual eatery - breath of fresh air in exeter as so many chain spots now with servers hooked to ipads - thankfully not here. Chilled yet very attentive and friendly staff, double smash burger was awesome as were them tendies - wife was raving about the vegan chicken burger, lovely housemade cream soda, fries were excellent.

Mollie was awesome sauce poggers!

Vegan burger was solid. Staff were super nice. Place had a solid vibe, reminding me of working in a restaurant kitchen back in the 90’s.

Love eating here. Service is always great. Our server Mollie was fab. Really friendly and helpful when I couldn't decide what to get! Definitely recommend eating here.

Mollie was really lovely and helped us decided on what to get for lunch as my friend and I were very indecisive. Lunch was fab as always, love coming here!

Perfect, customer service brilliant. If your looking for fried chicken, chicken burgers, beef burgers or even milkshakes then this is the place in Exeter.

i love this food and i do eat here often but the burgers are sometimes very pink and i don’t mind a bit of pink but this time it was way too much i had to take it out. other than that all the food is amazing.

Great food, outside seating but it’s really nice. Well worth a trip for some fantastic food. I had the special special called alan I mean what can I say it was immense. Looking forward to coming back real soon!!

Genuinely one of the best meals we've had in a long time. Great atmosphere, lovely friendly staff & the most delicious chicken tenders tray with all the extras. Highly recommend the Exeter rum too! Will definitely be back....probably for lunch.... tomorrow!

Had a banging meal, props to the chef Brad! Best chicken in Exe!

Amazing chicken burger and the best cream soda I’ve ever had. Staff are awesome

Friendly staff, with the best burger I’ve ever eaten… no wonder it’s an award winner!!!

Arrived here and realised we could eat outside only, regardless of this the food was excellent and the staff were very good.

Fantastic service and the most awesome food. Great attention to gluten free issues. A massive shout out to Adam who was funny, attentive and helpful. Well recommended!

Ordered a large amount of food from Uber Eats. Missing a portion of chips. The OG Tenders were pathetic. £7.50 for about 100g of super skinny super short overcooked chicken pieces that looked nothing like what is advertised. Burger was nice and chips were good. Won't be returning.

Firstly would like to say, me and partner have eaten here several times and always really enjoyed the food and atmosphere,however we went on Sunday and that will be the last time I will ever eat there ,was told outside dinning only,,although no one was inside, which we took on chin,wasn’t really not to happy about sitting outside with the seagulls and pigeons hovering,and being watched by all the crackheads and fruit loops. Placed our order 2 burgers 2xdirty fries some wings a coke and 2 ciders,starving hungry and excited for the food to arrive, 20mins later our excited soon crashed and burned when the food turned up in cardboard sweat boxes and wooden cutlery and a paper cup for my cider,now had I been at a festival or street fair this wouldn’t have been to much of an issue,if I wanted sweat box food could have saved £45 and gone kfc,so £63 later which might I add I do not have a problem spending,but spending restaurant prices for festival service boils my piss,which leads me onto the next issue,after we had eaten our food my partner needed to use the toilet as it was that time of the month,she was told she couldn’t use the toilet UNBELIEVABLE Proper felt that that we had our pants pulled down,shame really loved all our visits to this to this place and never had a problem,but will never see us again will be going slims chicken from now on

The team at eat the bird are absolute heroes and the food is nothing short of spectacular! Easily one of the best restaurants in Exeter!

Yummy food and friendly staff (atmosphere isn't 5 stars just because we ate outside as the main restaurant was closed at that time)

Chicken tenders were slightly dry. Chips very nice and crispy. Shoutout to the new chef that gave me double the portion. Waiter was friendly

Great customer service, Theo presented himself well, as soon as we got the food it was very tasty,inside would have been a better sitting area, will be coming back again.

I’ll start by saying the vegan burger was very tasty! And so were the fries and ranch. I was accidentally given a regular chicken burger rather than the vegan one, but the waitress was very apologetic and offered me a free cocktail as an apology. The things I didn’t like so much were the outdoor seating (which attracted a lot of seagulls and pigeons), lack of toilet access, and lack of veggie options on the lunch menu. I was told that I could sub a vegan burger in the lunch deal, but when I got to the till I was told this wasn’t true and charged £5 more. So overall I probably wouldn’t come again but I did like the burger

Unreal Food and the staff were so good! Would Recommend the Chicanator and the Gochucang wings! Plus don't forget the Gravy & Garlic Mayo!

Staff were very nice and brought us blankets when sitting outside. Good service.

Food was amazing!! Hit the sweet spot indeed!! Service was great too!! Definitely coming back to this place!

The menu was easy to use and updating the cart was simple too. Delivery was exactly on time and the driver was courteous and very friendly. The food was truly amazing as well. Next time we want to eat in the restaurant and soak up the atmosphere.

Outstanding fried chicken in a nice chilled restaurant. Can't go wrong!

Came with a work group, all enjoyed various meals! Chicken was amazing and the chips fresh!

Absolutely outstanding food, delivered to our door in no time. Definitely gained another customer!

Really delicious food and good friendly service

Incredible burgers. So much to choose from! Good deals and atmosphere too

Had a lovely meal in Exeter. Chicktator was delicious, and ao waas the vanilla malt milkshake.Molly was so friendly and helpful. She really made us feel welcome. Thanks!xx

Molly was fab at eat the bird! Great service and lush food!

Molly was so cheerful and professional. She was attentive and always had a friendly smile.

Loved every minute! Food was amazing, service was first class. Can't fault the place!

Fantastic food. Won't find better buffalo wings anywhere we are addicted!

Been to ETB a few times since my last review and to offer an update, it is still the best restaurant in Exeter centre.

Always great service and great food when we come here. Highly recommend!!

Great food and staff, highly recommended

Tasty food with helpful and pleasant staff

Great GF options for coeliac. Molly was really helpful and explained the gf options to us!

Great food and service! Molly was great - enjoy your pint!

Burgers are unreal and nice staff too! Have been so many times, they often have deals on aswell which they share on their Instagram.

Very good food, I’m not fun kimchi but it’s just my own opinion :) 2 girls from bar very nice :)

The food is always amazing and the service is great

Amazing food and great service. Many thanks to Molly who was amazing 🥰 best burger in town!

Great food, service was fine, only bugbear was they dont have hotsauce on the table, or on the premises, wings without hotsauce arent proper wings.

Smelly and sticky place!!!!! Look at the photos of the toilet!!!!! Tasteless food!!!!!

Once again...another fantastic burger. This place never fails to put a cracking bit of chicken in front of you.

I have made this mistake twice now when really craving fried chicken but not wanting to go to KFC. I had high hopes about Eat The Bird because the reviews are incredible but both time the chicken has been amost inedibly salty. like salt poisoning levels. However, the staff are lovely and the milkshakes are really nice

Food was incredible, staff were really friendly (Molly was the name of our server, and was so nice ! ). I like the atmosphere and decor a lot, really fits the aesthetic of what the brand is, but some of the music was a bit experimental and weird (I think one song has chewing noises which was a bit much for me). Definitely worth a visit for tbe food alone though- we got the chicktator and the holy cluck and both are better than all other fried chicken I’ve tried in exeter. We shared the burgers and they cut them in half for us, which just elevated the service even more in my eyes, great time !

The best chicken burgers in Exeter, England, and probably Earth.

Had a great experience. Our waitress Kerenza made us feel welcome and was very accommodating. Will definitely be back!

Always have the nicest time here! The food is to die for and the staff are super friendly and welcoming! Definitely a go to place :)

First and last time. Chicken is very average and “Fresh cut” fries are oily and clearly made from rotten potatoes 🤢

Best burgers in Exeter. The garlic Parmesan tenders are incredible.

Really tasty chicken burgers. Good beer. Frickles are amazing! Good service, great staff. Trendy little restaurant will definitely return when in the area.

I've heard towering tales about Eat The Bird, and my goodness, it soared beyond expectations! You know how Instagram can tease you with tantalising dishes that never quite match up in reality? Well, this place breaks that mold! We dove into the Proper Filth and Clucking Hell burgers—absolute masterpieces that redefine taste on a scale that goes to 11! Accompanying these were the scandalously scrumptious dirty chicken-covered fries, which were indeed delightfully dirty. Since it was a splash of a birthday feast, we splurged on the Parmesan tenders and frickles. They were good, but I wouldn’t shout from the rooftops about them. However, let’s circle back to the real showstoppers: those chicken burgers are a dirty, juicy blast from another universe! The service? Absolutely epic! Shoutout to Hannah, our waitress who navigated our endless questions with the grace of a seasoned pro, dishing out recommendations that were spot on! The vibe of the place? Super cool with a capital C. They’ve managed to smuggle a shipping container into the decor and morph it into a quirky kitchen setup – genius move! Already planning our next trip to Exeter just for another round at Eat The Bird. Highly recommend you check it out, folks. You won't regret it! #FoodHeaven

I've heard towering tales about Eat The Bird, and my goodness, it soared beyond expectations! You know how Instagram can tease you with tantalising dishes that never quite match up in reality? Well, this place breaks that mold! We dove into the Proper Filth and Clucking Hell burgers—absolute masterpieces that redefine taste on a scale that goes to 11! Accompanying these were the scandalously scrumptious dirty chicken-covered fries, which were indeed delightfully dirty. Since it was a splash of a birthday feast, we splurged on the Parmesan tenders and frickles. They were good, but I wouldn’t shout from the rooftops about them. However, let’s circle back to the real showstoppers: those chicken burgers are a dirty, juicy blast from another universe! The service? Absolutely epic! Shoutout to Hannah, our waitress who navigated our endless questions with the grace of a seasoned pro, dishing out recommendations that were spot on! The vibe of the place? Super cool with a capital C. They’ve managed to smuggle a shipping container into the decor and morph it into a quirky kitchen setup – genius move! Already planning our next trip to Exeter just for another round at Eat The Bird. Highly recommend you check it out, folks. You won't regret it! #FoodHeaven

Amazing place! Food was unreal and the staff were so friendly!!

Excellent food very fast excellent service

I have been to the Taunton restaurant a few times, first time visiting the one in Exeter and it was just as good. It is smaller than Taunton but it did feel like we had a more private experience which was nice. It is just off the high street so very well placed. Me, wife and children 11 and 8 had great food, portions are generous and we didn't finish it all, but it was really, really good. Highly recommend for lunch or dinner

Love it here and they’re always fab for gluten free food!

Such a nice place to go and eat, staff are lovely and such good atmosphere!

The beef burger and the strips med hot so delicious 🤤❤️❤️

Dining here was amazing. I highly recommend this restaurant, everything is so good, from chatting to the staff to eating the bird!

Outrageous service! Friendly staff, excellent food. Highly recommend. Worth the 145 mile Drive!

The staff are awesome offer great chat and love the atmosphere. Feels welcoming and also good menu waiting to come back

Food was good and staff were great

Lovely food 10/10 Service was amazing and so friendly!! Enjoyed and will return

Once again, amazing! Staff were amazing, got us a quick table on the fly, food was incredible. Frickles delicious, vegetarian options excellent - especially the gravy dipped burger. Will return and definitely recommend!

Nice staff and chicken was great

DELICIOUS!!!! Had the chicktator, absolutely gorgeous, proper Korean flavours and was perfectly cooked. Friendly, fast service and comfy, quirky interior. Really great experience and will definitely be coming back for more!!!!! P.s Ben is a legend