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 50 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!
Is there a 1st Grade?
Most memories I can’t remember or repeat, however, my wife (’01) and I (’98) had the privilege of taking our daughter (’31) to the chicken, and the next day, after asking if TAMU had a 1st grade, my daughter said she wanted to go back to the Chicken and play some bones
– Ryan ’98
Enjoying another fun night of bones...
Enjoying another fun night of bones in the Spring of ’91 with Mark Gaither ’90 (right) and Patrick LaCicero ’92 (left). Finally, Pat has the “God” hand and plans his execution, only interrupted by female domino groupies drawn in by the gravity of the situation. Pat was their mascot. What is the “God” hand in 42, you ask? Bidding 41 and making it EXACTLY by walking the 1-blank on the last play. Patrick didn’t complete the feat that night but he entertained us with every hand played. Even the stuffed white-tailed buck just above us was impressed.
Tragically, we lost Pat last year. He was an amazing father, husband, and friend. You are greatly missed my brother. The world just isn’t the same.
-Bruce Cherniak ’87
Archive
My family has always been Ags. My stepmom and brother both graduated there. As the only non-grad, I had to find a way to get there. As a firefighter, I was able to attend the annual TAMU fire school. When I became a Dad, I knew the college I wanted my daughter to attend. When she was in elementary and middle school, we made nearly every game we could. Each time we came to The Chicken.
At first, my daughter saw it only as “a bar where Dad drank beer.” But after her first bite of a Freddy burger, I knew she was hooked. Why you ask? Because I couldn’t get a darn bite! I bought it only as a hunch she might like it! Now. If we’re in town for a game, she will know the time the game ends and the time The Chicken gets crowded and let me know it’s time to go.
I’ve told her the history of the place and explained the names etched in the walls and th tables. After about her fourth trip there she snuck in a Sharpie and while waiting on our food, left our mark at the Chicken. It’s now or defacto place to go on trips there. She limits her dear old dad to two beers but states she’s not limited in her food choices or her places to sit.
As a single Dad, it gives me such an honor to pass on to my little girl, the sense of feeling that the Dixie Chicken is. For all of us that have inhabited it since it’s glory days and the gravel parking lot; we know it’s more than just a bar or burger joint. It’s a way of life, it’s a family dinner on Sunday, it’s the pace you see your friends, it’s the place you’ve shared losses and gains. More greater than that, it’s a place we call home. And the Beasley’s, Kristen and Troy, call it home too. Thank you for all the memories!
– Troy Beasley
16 years later
I worked at The Chicken in 1989…. my last semester in Aggieland. Started as the daytime front bar man and worked my way to Manager.
At the time, I noticed a pretty little sophomore working in the kitchen with Janelle and Freddie, named Maria. Smiles turned into flirts, turned into dates and we spent a few months dating.
I graduated, we broke up, and I moved away but I never forgot that pretty girl I dated while working at The Chicken.
16 years later (2005), I get an email, “Remember Me?” and six months later we were married!! We now have 2 kids (Class of ’26 & ’28).
Ben Denison ’88
Maria Theologos Denison ’94
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.”
1st official beer at the Chicken
Got a little story for you Ags…This kid was born and raised an Aggie!! This is my nephew Anthony Schimmenti, class of 2020! WHOOP! With the help of his Dad, Mark “Scoop” Schimmenti, Class of ’83, he has always bled maroon! Only fitting to have his 1st official beer at the Chicken for his 21st birthday! Here’s to many more family gatherings at the Dixie Chicken!
So many memories...
I took my ring to the Chicken to dunk it before I put it on...
On April 7, 2017, I received my Aggie Ring. Receiving my Aggie Ring was one of the most anticipated moments of my life. Surrounded by those who have impacted my life in enormous ways, I finally joined what I like to call the “Real Aggie Club.” Like my dad, FTA Class of ’90 did before me, I took my ring to the Chicken to dunk it before I put it on. My family and I sat around, had a couple pitchers, lunch, and generally enjoyed each others’ company before I finally managed to get through an entire pitcher mostly by myself. I have worked hard to be where I am today, but that could never have happened without the support of my parents. I am so thankful to attend this university, and the part of my life I am most scared for is any path that takes me away from Aggieland.
Charolotte Hammer ’18
The pretty lady in the wedding dress is Pamela...
we fell for each other...
My favorite (out of many): In the summer of 1998, I met a woman in Austin, who lived in Houston, who agreed to come up to College Station to meet me for an official first date. We went to the movies (Armageddon), to Shadow Canyon (Shiner Park today), and then to our last stop at my favorite bar, The Chicken.
We sat down, grabbed a pitcher of Shiner, and started getting to know each other. I carved my fraternity/her sorority letters into the table. While chatting, listening to the playlist that probably hadn’t changed since 1985, and constantly introducing her to people I knew, we fell for each other. Maybe it was the music, the hardwood floor, or the unique ambience, but we’ve now had 24 years together, a wedding, and 3 kids. None of that would’ve happened without that date at The Dixie Chicken.
I still remember it every time I hear Rose Colored Glasses on the radio.
– Ryan Taylor
A story about Don
This story had less to do with the Chicken and more to do with Don but here it is. That year had been dry. Don owned a little place kind of west of town over by the power plant. His cows had gotten out and were running on a much larger place. Don knew this but he did not have any grass so he just left them there. Finally the guy that either owned or leased the other place politely told Don that he was going to take those cows to the sale and where did he need to send the check….LOL. So late one afternoon we had to go out there and find his cows, drive them back to his place, and fix the fence. Now we had never seen his cows and we had never been on the other place which was quite large. Well against all odds we managed to find his cows and get them back. That only left fixing the fence before we could call it a day. There were 4 of us but only Nathan and myself had ever built fence. We were stretching the top wire when Don decided to intervene. He said we had not stretched it enough. We told him nope it is plenty tight. He disagreed as only Don could so we made it tighter and tighter. Finally when you could play music on it he was satisfied. Nathan and I were both concerned that that sucker could pop at any moment so Don grabbed a hammer and a fence staple and started pounding that sucker in. He had one misfire and that was enough. The wire popped and a barb went right across the top of his bald head. It may have bled a little. After that he left the fence building to Nathan and myself.
She said yes
He put a ring on it
Last April I decided it was time to propose to my beautiful fiancé (girlfriend at the time). I’m from a tiny town just North of Lubbock and she’s from a town outside of San Antonio. When I started school at A&M I met her through a student group that puts a high value on hanging out at the bird, so when the time came to ask her to be my wife, I knew exactly where I wanted to do it. I didn’t want to ask under the century tree, cause even though it is beautiful and has a fantastic story, it just was not us. I went to the front bar and asked the bartender to put the ring in a box of bones and to give me that specific box when I came to get dominoes. All of our friends were there already as she walked in. We sat down and ordered a beer ( I ordered a few more than one) and finally I asked if anyone wanted to play some 42. I went and picked up the box and came back to the table and asked her to be mine forever and she said yes!! I attached a picture of the moment, and the best part of the picture is actually my buddy joes face haha
Christopher Coulombe