Birkenstock

Came in 15 – 20 mins before closing and the guy who was working there was still accommodating and helpful! I picked up my first ever pair of Birkenstocks Arizonas (after lusting and debating over which pair to buy) and have never been happier! I wear them everyday and my feet thanks me! They’re awesome after a 12-​hour shift so your feet can breathe… lol. I recommend Birkenstocks if you want healthy happy feet!
To the guy that was working that night, (Josh? Jeff?) Thanks, man!

As I stand here in front of the store at 4pm staring at the «back at 4:30pm» sign, I imagine I would have had a good buying experience if the store had only been open during its advertised store hours… When I called saying I was standing in front all the guy said was that they weren’t currently opened. And I in my medical boot, no less, having made a special trip over to buy comfortable shoes for my injured foot, will take my business elsewhere.

This Birkenstock location is in the middle of Old Town tucked in the walkway next to an extremely busy Mexican restaurant (Café Coyote), a candy shop and a rock/​gem store. If you are on the main street and see Cold Stone it is directly across the street.
After you find parking (street, private lot or Trolley in Old Town) and get through the mass of people waiting for seating to the restaurant, you can relax in this store.
When we went in on a Friday night it was a nice quiet refuge from the hustle and bustle just outdoors.
The guy working was pleasant and let us browse and when we needed help he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. When they didn’t have what we needed, he offered to get it sent there. They do have other brands than just Birkenstocks.
The location is a little smaller than the Encinitas location and seems to have a lot of basic colors (I guess mostly for the aching feet of tourists.) They also had a quite a few shoes on the sale rack.
The guy was helpful and next time I need any comfortable shoes I will go here first.

I love my Birkenstocks. I really do. I absolutely refuse to buy them anywhere else but at the Birkenstock of SD stores. There’s a reason why they have been in business for nearly 4 decades– they know their stuff. With the trendiness of Birkenstocks lately it seems as though big name stores (Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Urban Outfitters, etc) are carrying them for the sake of carrying them. Sure, you can buy them there, but those sales associates don’t know squat about the shoes and are only there to make a commission. This store is knowledgable about the products and genuinely care about their customers– which is why I own 6 pairs the last time I stopped by (was perhaps a few weeks ago) they didn’t have the one I had my eye on unfortunately, but that was because of the demand for these guys! Apparently many of the styles are on back order from Germany. So it looks like this girl is gonna have to wait for her 7^th pair.

Employees weren’t very friendly. There were three people at the counter in this tiny place and no other customers and no one came to help us. Also a pain to find parking

Terrible customer service; neither of the two sales people was even interested in helping me find a shoe that would interest me based on what I was asking for. The few styles that I found appealing in Birkenstocks weren’t even available in my size. Very poor inventory of sizes. Shopping in a store like this makes on line shopping at Zappos so appealing. Wrong size? No problem — free returns and exchanges without a hassle. Customer service is the cornerstone of success in retail and the on line shops beat this place by a mile. Very disappointed in the experience at the store.

I was extremely lucky to find street parking but it took me a couple rounds around the area to find one. Old town gets packed on the weekends so I’d suggest coming here on an off day to avoid the traffic.
My Rainbow flip flops died on me and it was time for me to invest in a new pair of walking open toed footwear. I couldn’t find my size or style at Nordstroms so I decided to check out this place. It was a bit difficult to find the store at first because it was masked by the restaurant out in front. I walked inside and was greeted by two employees who were patient with my decision making process, I came in with one style in mind but when I arrived I was on the fence about two styles and color choices. They were extremely helpful with my indecisiveness and informative about the sandals. I came out with my first pair of Birkenstocks and have now been converted into a Birkenstock lover. Make fun all you want but these sandals are quality and comfortable sandals that I probably will be wearing for the rest of my life!

Found a shoe that I really want but they tell me that they have to be unworn in order to return.
I refuse to spend $ 130 on a nice walking shoe and find that it’s actually not a shoe for me.
Even Big 5 let me return a hiking sandal after it was very painful a couple days later!
I had high hopes for this store and it was a big let down!

This store is quite hidden but they have a variety of shoes here! I recently purchased some Birkenstocks at the walking company and my husband had to come here to try on the same sandals I got because he fell in love. The sandals is all we wear now. They are super comfortable and they are worth every penny spent. I want another pair but I need to wait a bit since they’re pretty pricy and I’m just going to stick with the soft footbed since nothing compares to the comfort! Anyway, the people in this store are very helpful and super nice. I forgot the lady’s name who helped us but she was kind enough to call other stores since they did not have what we wanted, and on top of that she gave us a $ 10 off coupon! We bought the sandals from her since I had to ask if they work on commission, and we went to pick them up at lemon grove.

We were visiting from NC. And found this wonderful store with an AMAZING & Excellent selection of comfortable shoes! I tried on MANY shoes until I found the perfect sandals by Mephisto’s (similar to Birkenstock but soft footbed & hand made in France). There was another lady buying 2 pairs of this brand & they were really cute.
Amanda helped me and she knows her shoe brands. The other guy employees were helpful pulling all the different styles. They let you try on as many as you like & they do not rush you– There is no pressure & they do not hover over you like some stores. They just grab the boxes from the back for you to try until you find the perfect fit.
I was so impressed with their selection that I took my husband back to get a pair of the Olukai shoes from Hawaii. (An Oprah favorite). He said they were very comfortable especially with his high arch. My husband is very picky & hard to fit. There is a reason they have been in business for so long. They have very savvy buyers, good customer service and good prices.
And plenty of customers with tired hurting feet from walking all over Old Town. :D

Located in the heart of Old Town this is great location with a wide variety of Birkenstocks and other brands– tailored towards «comfy» shoes. The store is located in the plaza of Café Cayote across the street from the Cold Stone.
I originally bought the wrong size so a week later I came back and they let me trade in my hair for a size up! They have a wonderful selection and if you they don’t carry your size they will order it for you.

Amanda was the young lady helping us, my younger brother and I tried six pairs in some questionable sizes. Nonetheless, found some new pairs for the both of us. Patient service and answers to all my questions make this a chill place to buy some amazing product, time and time again.

Recently bought a pair of sandles. After bringing them home and walking around
my arch killed. They had been on sale and no return is their policy. Spoke to
manager and she could tell they weren’t worn outside so she did give me my
money back. Told her the sales person should have informed me that there were
no returns on sale items. She was very nice and I was very happy. I will go back.

I wanted to get a gift from here and I had the worst experience. I ordered shoes here that were suppose to be shipped directly to the my house. Kevin placed the order and said that I would get them the Monday before christmas at the latest. Christmas eve arrived and my order still did not come. I called the store and the lady said that Kevin was suppose to call me to tell me the order did not go through and I would be getting the shoes on the first at the earliest. Now, after many years of my family buying their shoes here I will never go back. I am extremely disappointed by their lack of consideration for their customer during the holiday.

I needed to replace my Birkenstock Arizona sandals which I found to be the most comfortable sandals I have ever owned. They didn’t necessarily last as long as some others I’ve had but I did wear them an awful lot. I spoke to Rodrigo on the phone at this Old town location and he knew what I wanted and was able to confirm that he had my size in stock. Less than an hour later I had my Arizona sandals but with the comfort inner sole which was $ 10 dearer but they will be a lot easier and quicker to wear in than my previous hard inner soles which took me about 3 weeks of constant wear. The great thing was because it was Black Friday I got 10% off the top so it was a bargain. This is a well stocked store with a large variety of Birkenstock styles for both genders. Sadly the brand is very hard to find so I will be keeping this store in mind for next time. And the service I received from Rodrigo was very professional.

they refurbished my birks, and did a great job however the inside glue stripped off, but no buggy im sure if i take it back they will do something about it, im a big fan!

My experience was at the Old Town Location. The reason I went to this one is because they are the only dealer that had the brand shoes that I wanted, and I had a good customer service experience here before.
This time I was VERY unimpressed.
The young man who was tending the store did not know any thing about the products. I walked in and asked a question to be pointed in the direction of the shoe I love so much and the young man could not help me.
Once I located the shoe I wanted myself I saw they had more styles then the exact one I purchased previously. So I asked him if the other styles were washable as I knew the previous shoe I bought was.
«I dont know let me read the lable» was his answer. UM rude and unprofessional. Then I decided okay im going to buy the shoe I love so much anyway since I drove down here with my 3 month old daughter on this damn cold day, I need the shoe even though the service sucks. I go to pay and he keeps telling me my debit card is declined. hmmm. okay why? Probably because you dont know how to use the machine. So I go get cash from the nearest ATM. I then have to pay a $ 4 fee to pay for my $ 125 shoes.
Im not happy.
I asked him for a discount maybe since I had to get charged a fee he just stared at me. Yeah stared at me. Okay you could say No, Yes, Maybe, haa haa funny. Nope. Nothing.
Sorry for the poor writing here im still pissed I spent the money there and gave them my business. I cant even think straight.
BOOOO!!!

If you want comfy shoes and you want knowledgeable staff to explain to you the best kind of shoe for your needs this is the place to go.
They have a rainbow of Birkenstock in there and if they don’t have your size they’ll probably be able to order it from another store. Patience people this isn’t foot locker they don’t have a shoe warehouse in the back with 50 pairs of every shoe in every size in ever color. But they’ll do what they can to help you out. And isn’t that the makings of great customer service?
If you want to know dam near anything about a shoe ask Amanda. Shoe knowledge is more like a passion than a job to her. I mean ladies we all like shoes, but go talk to her and you’ll be bowing down to her greatness lol.
So to wrap it up, if you want quality shoes shop here. If you want someone to explain to you the ins and outs of anything from 5 fingers to Birkenstock or my favorite, oetzis, ask for Amanda. Although I’m sure the rest of the staff is great too, she’s pretty much the shit, the bees knees, the snap and crackle to your pop… lol ok I’m getting carried away.
Oh and BTW LEATHER STRETCHES!!!

Not a fan. I had a Groupon that was about to expire, so I came in looking for a pair of Gizeh Birks, which I’d been scoping out for awhile. Parking was a pain in Old Town, and the stock seemed extremely limited in this store. They were totally out of my size in all colors of the Gizeh, so I ended up buying a different pair, of which they only had one pair in my size.
The store clerk, while not exactly rude, sat looking completely disinterested behind the checkout counter the entire time without greeting me or asking if I needed any help with sizes, stock, etc. I don’t ask for much attention when shopping, but I didn’t feel welcome at all in this store. The prices were not that great, even with the Groupon in hand. I may have had a one-​off experience… not sure if I’ll give them another chance.

We went in at closing, without realizing it, and had an ok experience.
When we asked for additional sizes, they didn’t seem to have much variety in sizes for their shoes. Also, the gal behind the counter was very quiet. About 10 minutes before closing, she was closing the door.
We got what we needed and left. It was a pretty small place. Would I shop here again? yeah… Would I recommend it to a friend? maybe… but it surely wouldn’t be my first choice if I had other choices available.