When taking someone out to a restaurant for their bday, shouldn't the guests all treat the bday person?

Wow, that's some group of "inner circle" friends you got there, they sound very rude and very cheap. I never heard of ANY group of people, male or female, who would agree to pay for a birthday meal for ostensibly a close friend, then bail on you at the restaurant and not bring any gifts. They sound beyond dreadful and they are, of course, not going to honor their promise so you two are stuck. Best advice for you is to find new friends, ones who are at least fundamentally decent human beings, an attribute sorely lacking in your current "inner circle."