Chicken Salad Chick will hold its grand opening Feb. 10 in Foy Hall after several months of construction delays.
According to Ali Rauch, director of marketing at Chicken Salad Chick, a ribbon cutting ceremony will take place the morning of opening day.
"We expect it to be a very strong turn out, and we are planning accordingly," Rauch said. "We are preparing ourselves to be able to handle a rush of students."
The new restaurant plans on bringing in at least 800 students a day, according to Will Sallustro, district magager of Tiger Dining's partner, Chartwell.
The restaurant will be the first Chicken Salad Chick to open on a college campus and Chicken Salad Chick founder, Stacy Brown, is excited to have been able to help in the design process.
"We came from Auburn, so we hope the students are proud that it is the only Chicken Salad Chick to be on a college campus," Brown said. "The University has been just great to work with."
According to Glenn Loughridge, director of Tiger Dining, Campus Dining is excited to partner with a brand that loves Auburn as much as Chicken Salad Chick does.
"We love the idea that this is an Auburn brand, they are really dedicated to giving back to the University throughout their growth," Loughridge said.
The restaurant will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature 10 of Chicken Salad Chick's 15 flavors.
The restaurant will feature three custom order stations as well as an open-air refrigerator that will offer single sides, scoops and pounds of chicken salad.
"Students will be able to grab and go if they please," Rauch said, "They don't have to wait to get a sandwich made, but if you do order a sandwich, we expect to be able to have your plate to you while you are still at the counter."
According to Loughridge, the restaurant planned to open by the end of 2014, but poor weather and difficult scheduling set back the construction process.
"Many times building projects on campus go so differently than what you except to have," Loughridge said. "There was an expectation that a lot of work would get done over the winter break, but the rain really set us back."
Loughridge said construction was mostly done in the evenings, when there are fewer students on campus.
"We have to be respectful of students," Loughridge said. "The first concern is their safety."
The restaurant will have 50 seats inside as well as an outdoor patio area when construction is complete.
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