For a good time:
It may have started as just a bar, all those years ago, but it has been much more than that to many aggies. For over 40 years, we’ve been on Northgate, celebrating the big wins, knocking back a few after a tough test, reminiscing and reconnecting with friends. We’ve been there for the awkward first dates, the 20 year wedding anniversaries, the nights to remember and the nights to forget!
More beer please
This is what I'm talking about.
One time, beer. And then this other time, beer. The best part was when, beer. But then after that, beer. And then again, beer. But the crazy part, beer. In conclusion, beer. Nevertheless, beer. Will we be back? Yes because, beer.
Kasey Irvin
We always started and ended...
It was always ladies night for us at The Chicken! We always started and ended our Northgate nights at The Chicken! The best part was heading back to the bar for one pitcher of beer, some Tijuana fries, and Goodnight Irene! I believe our bathroom tag is still in the big stall somewhere- Hussies Class of 2006! We look forward to trips back to remember our great times! Thanks for all the memories!
❤️ The Hussies
Kid on a mission...
My husband (’04) and I (’05) loved Aggieland so much, we moved back to College Station in 2015 to raise our family. Now that they’re old enough, we are trying to take the kids to all the Aggieland classics. So, of course we started with lunch at the Dixie Chicken before catching their first Aggie Baseball game! My youngest was so excited to see the famous rattlesnake and was on a mission to see it as soon as we walked in.
– Katie Brading ’05
Love Story
Welcome to Miller Time
Friday, February 3, 1989, my husband, Dennis looked up from playing a game of pool to see me (a 5’2 blonde, blue eyed girl) walking through the crowd carrying and trying not to spill a pitcher of beer. My girlfriend and I had gone out to dinner and then headed over to the Chicken that evening. She knew one of the guys playing pool with Dennis, and we hung out with them and drank way too much! We were married almost 15 months later (April 28, 1990) and are inseparable! We have the pleasure of coming back to visit the Chicken through the years (especially when our son was going to school class of ’14) and enjoy how welcoming young Ags are when we older Ags come in!
Gig ’em and God Bless,
Dennis ’88, ’92 and Peggy Hill
An enjoyable down-home bar
“The Dixie Chicken is a creation of two local residents, Don Anz and Don Ganter, who met one day several months ago and decided to do something. That something is a unique blend of new ideas and old objects combined to create an enjoyable down-home bar, a place to meet friends over a cold beer or soft drink and a snack.
The ice cold beer doesn’t come out of a refrigerator. It’s literally iced down — each and every long neck bottle. Soft drinks come good and cold, too, and wine will soon be added to the menu.”
The Chicken will be a place we will return to for years to come...
I met Don & his wife back about 2002ish...
I met Don & his wife back about 2002ish while sculpting in a Gallery in Jackson Hole, WY. He was at the back of a crowd watching me and I hear someone holler, “what year did you graduate?”! He saw my ring and after everyone cleared out he said, “ever heard of The Chicken? I own it!” I told him it was a post exam tradition and a great place to unwind! My son just turned 21 and his first beer purchase was at The Chicken! Don created a great place and a wonderful Aggie Tradition!
I have so many great memories of The Chicken...
The Dixie Chicken is where I had my first paid gig. It took 6 months of playing there for free and then I got a raise, 4 hours of music for $100. I have so many great memories of The Chicken and it will always have a place in my big maroon heart.
– Rich O’Toole, Texas Country artist
What's the worst the could happen taking your date to a concert?
It was 1998ish and I was living in (and B.T.H.O. Bonfire with) McInnis Hall on Northside (which unfortunately got torn down to build some fancy schmancy dorm with a Starbucks in it, but I digress)…. and one night I was on a date with a girl from FHK. We walked over to the Dixie Chicken to get a Freddy Burger and to see this brand new Texas County singer/songwriter named Kevin Fowler, who just so happened to be playing an acoustic set inside that night. Well, Kevin had a little merch table set up, but didn’t have anyone to stand there and sell his merch while he was playing. So, he asked if anyone would help him out, to which my date happily volunteered (because of course she did).
So Kevin is playing, my date is selling merch, and I am sitting there awkwardly by myself eating a cheeseburger. When he finished the show, he hung out at his merch table for a while and talked to all the folks who wanted to say hi. As things started to wind down, and all the merch-selling duties appeared to be over, I asked my date if she was ready to go. This is when she leaned over and informed me that she was just going to stay a little longer and hang out with Kevin for a while and that I could go ahead and go because she would not be walking back to the dorms with me that night. Ouch. As I strolled back across University Avenue to my dorm all alone and confused about the drastic turn of events that had just occurred, I thought to myself…” surely there has got to be something to be learned from this experience”. That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks….girls like guys that play guitar! And dang it, I needed to learn how to play the guitar! So I did just that.
I guess when it comes down to it, if it had not been for the Dixie Chicken, there would probably not be a Brandon McDermott Band..(not that we are a big deal or anything, but we have a lot of fun playing music). Because after that night I learned how to play guitar, started writing songs, put a Texas Country band together, released some albums and have even shared the stage with Kevin Fowler himself multiple times, who went on to become a huge star in the Texas Music Scene, and by the way turns out is a really nice guy…though when we play shows with him, I definitely don’t let my wife volunteer to sell his merch.
42, it's the answer to life...
42. It’s the answer to life, coincidentally, it was the game of my life at the Chicken. I shot pool a lot as well, but most of my faded memories involve playing Bones. With my fish buddies, with old friends and new, it was a staple. I actually learned how to play at the tables in front of McInnis. It was practically a requirement to play if you did bonfire. I remember going to the Chicken almost weekly one year.
It was either sophomore or junior year… I can’t remember which because it all blends together. But I remember. I guess it was junior year, as beer is in many of those blurs. But I remember. The clacking of the dominoes hitting each other as someone dropped down the box onto a table. When someone was washing, I was watching for the one with the little nick on the corner? It was a good one. The laughs that ensued as we played. Follow me. Trying to improvise signs with my partner. It was never successful. Slamming down my last piece signaling I wouldn’t be the bitch in a box as we closed down.
Stories were always shared over a game of bones with a side of beer. Deep conversations were had. Philosophical discussions. Obnoxious arguments. Dumb jokes. Slightly drunkenness and a sad attempt to play but not remembering all the rules and bullshitting my way through a round? Yeah. My tenure at A&M was the best four consecutive years of my life. The Chicken certainly deserves some credit for that.
Sometimes, a little Chicken time can make you smile!
We have been happily married for 40 years now, and it all started at the Dixie Chicken!
Our love story began at the Dixie Chicken back in 1979! I had been standing in line that day to register for summer classes
(we didn’t have computers) and saw this gorgeous man in front of me. We were standing in the “S” line and he had “JOHN” on his belt. He was talking to another student so I wasn’t able introduce myself. I went home and told my roommate and best friend about John S. That night we all went to the Chicken as usual. When we walked in, a guy named Steve motioned for us to come over and join them because he really liked my roommate. When we sat down, THERE WAS JOHN S!!! We played 42, drank a few rounds, and became instant friends. We went dancing at Lakeview the next night and had a great summer together. Friendship grew quickly into love and he proposed in November of that year. We were married the next summer. Fast forward to 2009. My future daughter-in-law goes to A&M to take skiing lessons at Mount Aggie. She and her friend go to the Dixie Chicken. They see a bench that has been carved with “JOHN + DANA”. She asks if this is us. I never knew about it, but John confirms that he had done it that summer we met. It was still there after 30 years!! Last time we went there, our bench had been moved by the snake pit. We have been happily married for 40 years now, and it all started at the Dixie Chicken! 
– Dana Smith Swanson