Big Star
Starbird Chicken (Sunnyvale) · Sunnyvale
Most credentialed press win for any chicken sandwich at a South Bay chain. Mercury News 2019 bracket (Feb 19 2019): 'Starbird went beak to beak against The Bird in Berkeley and San Francisco, winning by a whopping 80 percent' — bested 15 other contenders. Mashed feature confirms: 'In 2019, Starbird's chicken sandwiches won The Mercury News' "Best Bay Area Fried Chicken Sandwich" award.' Trade-press direct review (Food Inspiration): 'ordered the Big Star for $9.97, and the Starbird 2.0 for $10.97… And? Yes, it's really tasty.' Build: crispy chicken, Star Sauce (creamy), dill pickles, classic slaw, sliced tomatoes, soft round bun. Yelp Sunnyvale 'Top 10 Chicken Sandwich' list ranks Starbird #1. Dish-specific delivery review (Uber Eats, sarah K., 02/12/25): 'their sandwiches are consistently good when delivered, and I love their Nashville hot sandwiches.' TripAdvisor Elite dish quote on this Sunnyvale location: 'I had the ranch chicken sandwich – very nice with a hit of heat from the pimento cheese. Very clean and bright. Highly recommended.' Caveats: dish-specific Yelp volume on Big Star (vs the Nashville variant) is thinner; Sunnyvale price point is $12.47 Grubhub/DoorDash (third-party menu scraper chefi.biz lists $14.47 in-app). Sources: https://mercurynews.com/2019/02/19/vote-best-bay-area-fried-chicken-sandwich-heres-the-top-two ; https://www.mashed.com/236066/starbird-is-the-fast-food-chicken-restaurant-you-need-to-know-about ; https://www.foodinspiration.com/us/starbird-chicken-a-premium-chicken-concept/ ; https://www.grubhub.com/restaurant/starbird-chicken-1241-w-el-camino-real-sunnyvale/549122 ; https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33146-d12453427-Reviews-Starbird_Chicken-Sunnyvale_California.html ; https://ubereats.com/store/starbird-chicken-sunnyvale/7ufRl8z4S1KsVFDHNJma0A