Birdman Restaurant Takes Flight in Victoria

When most people meet David Healey for the first time, they immediately notice the chef’s many tattoos. “I talk about having my philosophies of life on one arm and my philosophies on food on the other, and then I just have a lot of stuff in between,” he says.

A tattoo he calls his “pinup pig” riffs on the old-school sailor tattoo of a pinup girl. His tattoo shows a pig sectioned into butcher cuts, honouring the idea of using the whole animal without any waste. “Salt” is also written across one of Healey’s hands. “I feel that so many people under-season, so I’m a big proponent: use salt.” A corkscrew tattoo with “terroir” written across is a reminder: “Food tastes of where it comes from,” he says. “If it comes from both a land of love and a place of love, you’re gonna taste that in there.”

Food was the love language in Healey’s boisterous family growing up. “Whoever’s the loudest is the most right,” he jokes, “but when food showed up, everybody would stop all of the arguing.” As a child, Healey witnessed firsthand the power of food to bring people together. “I think that if we all shared more meals, the world would be a lot better place.”

It’s a philosophy evident in Birdman, which opened in May 2026 with a menu filled with Southern-inspired comfort foods ideal for sharing. Think fried chicken, fried oysters, hush puppies, ribs, wings, mac and cheese, waffle fries and onion rings.

“I’d rather have a smaller menu that’s all executed well than a big menu of stuff I can’t stand behind,” Healey says. “Although we’re not making serious food, we take it very seriously.” An array of sauces on each table guarantees a delicious—and delightfully messy—dining experience.

Birdman is the newest endeavour from chef Healey and Jesse Dame, the creative minds behind Rudi and Wind Cries Mary.

It grew out of one particular sandwich that helped Wind Cries Mary weather the COVID-19 pandemic. When restaurants throughout British Columbia were ordered to close in March 2020, Wind Cries Mary pivoted to takeout meals, and a chicken sandwich that Healey had been tinkering with became a hit. That sandwich is now the star of the menu at Birdman.

The name of the lively downtown spot is a nod to chicken, without being limited to one specific style of cooking. “We focus a lot on fried, but that doesn’t mean that we will only ever do fried chicken,” Healey explains. “We never like to be tied down.”

Open seven days a week, from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, the restaurant is a much-needed late-night spot in a city that tends to see eateries close by 9 or 10 p.m. Healey says that industry workers in particular are “loving having a spot to go where they can get house-made food and great crafted cocktails” after working their own long shifts. The goal at all three of Healey and Dame’s restaurants is to have “a great food program, a great cocktail program and a great wine program.”

Unlike with many restos in the post-pandemic era, finding experienced staff for Birdman hasn’t been a problem. “Although we’re a new restaurant, we are not a new company,” Healey says. “Once you’ve built a bit of a name, it is a little bit easier to get people on board.” And many of those who work for Healey and Dame have been with them for years. “I believe in investing in your people,” Healey says.

One inescapable challenge of opening and running a restaurant in 2026 is the rapidly rising price of ingredients. “The cost of goods is just going up, so everything is more expensive.” But Healey refuses to scrimp on quality. He works with regional suppliers as much as possible, including Michell’s Farm on the Saanich Peninsula and Rossdown Farms in Abbotsford. He likes to feature local, in-season ingredients.

Healey cultivated many of his relationships with B.C. suppliers during the time he spent working in Vancouver—including at The Flying Pig, where he first met Dame—before moving to Victoria.

Whenever Healey gets the chance to return to his old stomping grounds, he enjoys visiting Chewies Oyster Bar and Rodney’s Oyster House. “I love hanging out and eating oysters, laughing and drinking, having a good time.” He’s also eaten some stellar meals at Toptable Group restaurants, Elisa and Blue Water Cafe in particular. “Toptable executes at the highest level,” he says. “They make it their mission to make sure you have a good time.” And after a late night at the bars, he’s been known to indulge in a donair from Donair Dude on Granville Street or a rosemary rock salt bagel with smoked meat from Siegel’s Bagels in Kitsilano.

After growing up in Alberta and living in Vancouver for several years, Healey is excited to reside in Victoria, in part because of its evolving dining scene. “There’s a lot of people that are doing some really cool things,” he says, singling out Ugly Duckling, Shuck Taylor’s, Part and Parcel, Bistrot L’Stage, YuaBistro and Marilena (of Toptable Group). “I think it’s going to continue to grow,” he predicts. “Victoria is a place I want to see continue to bloom, so I really want to be part of that.”

Birdman
537 Johnson St., Victoria
Open 11:30 a.m. to midnight daily