A new student-created restaurant concept is coming to Hey Day Market this fall as Auburn University students Sophie Salinger and Cayden Peacock launch Bird & Batter, serving their own take on chicken and waffles from The Incubator at Hey Day Market.
Bird & Batter will take over The Incubator, a restaurant space within Hey Day Market designed to give students in Auburn University’s Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management the opportunity to develop and operate their own food concepts. Salinger and Peacock were selected through a student pitch competition and will operate Bird & Batter throughout the fall semester.
Sophie and Cayden originally entered the competition with separate concepts before faculty recognized similarities between their ideas and paired the two students to create a joint restaurant. The result is Bird & Batter, a concept centered around variations of chicken and waffles, with Salinger leading much of the culinary side and Peacock focusing on operations and restaurant systems.
“Bird & Batter has been an incredible opportunity to bring an idea from the classroom to life,” said Sophie Salinger. “It’s been so rewarding to see people enjoy something we worked so hard to create, and I’m so grateful for The Incubator program within the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management for giving student entrepreneurs the opportunity to make their dreams a reality.”
For Salinger, the semester also serves as an internship and an opportunity to pursue a longtime goal of opening a restaurant. Through The Incubator, the students receive access to equipment, staffing and mentorship while gaining firsthand experience in the day-to-day responsibilities of running a restaurant, from developing the menu and preparing food to managing logistics and serving customers.
Bird & Batter will operate from The Incubator throughout the fall 2026 semester, giving Salinger and Peacock the opportunity to bring their concept from the classroom to the kitchen and welcome the Auburn community to experience it firsthand.
For more information, contact Sophie Salinger at scs0139@auburn.edu.
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