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!
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
A chance meeting leads to forever
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
40c Beer
Old Milwaukee longneck beers @ 40 cents a pop
Over the years, as a UT medical educator, I like to tell my Aggie students that I attended the grand opening of the Chicken in 1974. That year I stayed in College Station after spring semester ended, to attend the summer session and the Willie Nelson Picnic in College Station. You could have a good time on Saturday nights before 1 a.m. closing, with $3 in your pocket, drinking Old Milwaukee longneck beers @ 40 cents a pop, free crackers, and shooting pool!! It was our favorite hangout with my new (at the time) girlfriend I met that summer, now wife of 40+ years!
Still the best hire I've ever made...
In January of 1988 I was working as a Manager for the Dixie Chicken. During the week before classes started, a young woman brought her mother in to show her “The Chicken”. As they walked in the front door, her Mom noticed the “Help Wanted, Apply Upstairs” sign and told her daughter, “You need to get a job, go upstairs and apply”. So she did.
Just as she finished turning in the application, I walked upstairs. Peggy, the secretary said, “Larry, this is Beth Partheymuller, she is looking for a job”.
I asked, “Can you work Tuesday & Thursday lunch rushes?”
“Yes.”
“You’re hired, I’ll see you at 11:00 on Tuesday.”
We started dating a couple of months later, then got married in November of 1988.
It has now been 30 years and that was still the best hire I’ve ever made.
We took the family to the Chicken in January of 2018 for a “pilgrimage” to where it all started for us.
Larry Odom ’88 (actual grad ’91)
Beth Odom ’91 (actual grad ’92)
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
We’ve been married 35 years this year
One perfect summer afternoon in 1983 I met my future wife at the Dixie Chicken. She was sitting a few tables over playing 42, wearing a low cut summer dress with her perfect legs and big blue eyes. I decided I just had to meet her.
I talked my Corps buddy James to go with me to meet her. On the way over James stumbled and knocked the stove and stove pipe over into me. Resulting in me dumping a half-pitcher of Lone Star onto her barefoot. Classic smooth moves for two Ag major cadets.
Fast forward to Fall 1983. We were steady dating, she was a good catch because she could talk JD into a free pitcher with her big blue eyes. One night, she was sitting on my lap while I played 42 with my Corps Zip buddies Dondo, Terry, and Old Man ( Jay). I carved our initials into the tabletop inside a heart.
My nickname was Gramps. I got caught as a freshman one bitter cold morning in Fall 1980 wearing thermal underwear under my uniform at formation. Just like an old Grandpa.
My steady girl and I got married a few years later and raised a family. A couple years ago she went to The Chicken and found “ our table”. And it stunk, like three decades of spilled beer. And bought it. $$$$$. One of the best presents I was ever surprised with. We’ve been married 35 years this year.
The top is worn smooth. I calculated a minimum of 20 domino games a day, for at least 320 days a year, for over 35 years. That table was worn slick with over 200,000 domino games. The tables were old in 1983.
I cut the legs off and hung it on my wall. Our initials are in the lower left corner. My nickname is on the lower right side. Amazing they didn’t get worn off.
Love you sweetheart!
– Louis Peter
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
The Dixie Chicken has been there as a shining beacon for this young Aggie...
My first (legal) beer. Exciting parties. A breakup. Drowning my sorrows. No matter the occasion, the Dixie Chicken has been there as a shining beacon for this young Aggie. The first time I was able to set foot on the glorious back porch of The Chicken was in 2008 When I was first visiting campus. We had a tour at 1 o’clock and we decided to grab lunch first. The hospitality and friendliness of the bar was my first real taste of what being an Aggie was all about. The first time I spent extensive time with my friends in the Texas A&M singing cadets was at a Thursday night dinner at The Chicken where I first learned about the game 42. After that, many of my college nights are spent spending time with my friend James, Adam, Ryan, and many others enjoying fine beer, great company, red dirt country, and playing 42 until the pitchers ran dry. The Thursday after I turned 21, I remember my cousin Zane inviting me out for a beer. This of course turned into shots over at the Dry Bean and to many more fun times at The Chicken. I’ve watched many away games there, was broken up with there on a Sunday afternoon, and contemplated life decisions while sipping on a Shiner. No matter the occasion, I’ll always find my way back to the place I’ve come to call a home away from home, other than Olsen Field of course.
Robert White, ’14
aka Don's Boys
Back in the late 80’s I worked on the bud crew. I am not sure who reads this email but in case you do not know what the bud crew was, we were basically Don’s boys. We did whatever needed to be handled. Some days it might have been mowing his yard, the next mopping the Chicken, and the next catching his cows. I spent one summer working on Alfred T. Hornback’s. I forget what is was before that but an old carpenter named Ben and I did most of the work to make it a pool hall. I was also one of the guys that replaced the floor at the front bar. I probably have more stories than I have time to write but here are a couple of quick ones.
The little door that kind of hides the ice machine at the front bar was built by me. In true Don fashion I was given a hand saw, a few pieces of wood, a hammer, and a few nails. That was it. I built the door and hung it in such a fashion that when open it would hang the floor to keep it open. It all worked out great. Don looked at it and liked it but felt something was wrong. After thinking he realized that it looked too clean. He had me take it down, take it outside, and rub it down with mud. With a little effort it pretty much matched the rest of the Chicken so I put it back in place. I have not been there in the last few years but the last time I was there the door was still in place.
-John
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