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!
Heavy rain and strong winds led towards disaster...
The story of our roof collapse on May 27, 2020, was featured on Texas Voices.
A chance meeting leads to forever
The Chicken will be a place we will return to for years to come...
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
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
Spinning records and cheap beer!
Before Don installed electronic cash registers and before I had a single strand of grey hair on my head…my guess 1979 or 80… We were still spinning LP’s; had crackers in the barrel; a guy named Woodie who you most definitely did not want to play pool against; 75 cent Pearl, Shiner and Lone Star, 80 cents for a Miller Lite and 35 cents for Texas Pride….; oh and our imports were Little Kings from Cincinnati and Lowenbrau from Germany (actually Dallas)…. Donnie’s wife snapped this pic…
– Mark Rogers
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!
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
40c Beer
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
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.
Well, there I was, trying...
Well, there I was, trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life at the career center above the parking garage. It wasn’t called the Koldus Center yet, in 1993. So I was in the office with other Ags helping me determine my future and we realized that #1-We were all graduating next year together, #2-We were all Virgos, and #3-We all needed a drink. Already dressed in maroon (is there another color?), we agreed on a time and after work and school that Thursday evening met up at the Chicken and a few pitchers later were agitatin’ the rattlesnakes behind the thick plexiglass. Ronda Harris beat me at pool and Shelly Redelsperger, a track star at A&M dragged us to a Tracy Byrd concert at the Hall of Fame. Ahhh, I miss those foggy endless nights at College Station and the Dixie Chicken.
– Charles Reed