Birds and Burgers

On 1st Street North in Alabaster, Birds and Burgers built its name on a simple pairing: chicken bites and strips on one side of the menu, hand-patted burgers on the other, both served fast without leaning on a drive-thru chain’s shortcuts. The restaurant markets itself with the line real food, fast, and the menu is built around that idea, carefully sourced ingredients served quickly rather than a long wait for a slow-cooked plate.

The chicken side of the menu is the restaurant’s signature, with chicken bites and tenders available fried or grilled, sold in baskets or by the box in counts running from a handful up to fifty pieces for a group order. The chicken bites in particular have built a local reputation, marketed on the menu as voted best in the city, and they come with a choice of the restaurant’s classic sauce or its spicier B&B blend.

The menu runs on a numbered system familiar to regulars. The four Original Burgers move from a $9.80 classic up through cheddar and bacon versions, while six Original Sandwiches, including the Simple Chick, a chicken salad sandwich, the Spicy B&B, the Mac Stack, a grilled chicken sandwich, and The Tim, price out between $10.85 and $12.10. A run of specialty sandwiches, each priced at $11.99 and built around the same burger base, adds more variety: the Hippy with Swiss, mushrooms, and onions, a Hawaiian version finished with pineapple and BBQ sauce, and the Farm, topped with a fried egg and bacon, alongside the Governor and the Guac. Wraps, bowls, and salads round out the rest of the menu for diners who want something outside the burger and chicken format.

Family meals and bulk chicken orders make Birds and Burgers a practical choice beyond a single lunch order. A $38 family meal lets a table choose between a dozen tenders, thirty chicken bites, five roasted chicken breasts, or a seasoned grilled steak to feed the group, and the chicken-by-the-box options scale further, from an eight-piece box at $15.92 up to a twenty-four piece box at $39.80, with bites available in bulk from fifteen up to fifty pieces for $10.50 to $35.00. House-made sides are sold by the scoop at $2.75 each for the three-cheese mac and cheese, cast-iron rice and gravy, crispy Brussels sprouts, and fire-roasted corn, with seasoned fries, sweet potato fries, and onion rings priced separately up to $3.75.

Individual combos scale by count as well: chicken tenders run from a two-piece combo at $8.75 up to a five-piece combo at $13.25, and chicken bites move from a six-count combo at $8.75 up to a ten-count combo at $11.85, with additional bites available a la carte in four, eight, or ten-piece add-ons for a table that wants to split several counts. The brand’s reach extends beyond the Alabaster storefront, too: the company offers franchising opportunities to outside operators and stays active with regulars on Instagram, at birds_and_burgers, and on Facebook, posting menu updates and daily specials between visits.

The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays, running from mid-morning into the evening. Birds and Burgers offers dine-in seating, online ordering, delivery, and catering, along with a rewards program and gift cards for regulars. A dedicated kids menu, chicken bites, a mini burger, and a cheese quesadilla, each priced at $5.95, keeps the restaurant workable for families, not just diners eating alone or grabbing a quick lunch.

For a restaurant built around two of the most common fast-casual formats, chicken and burgers, Birds and Burgers has carved out a distinct identity in Alabaster through the depth of its specialty sandwich list, its house-made sides, and a chicken bite that has become something of a local calling card. The result is a casual spot that covers a lot of the same ground as a national chain but keeps the ownership and the kitchen local to Alabaster.