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!
Wedding pictures
My husband (’08) and I (’09) are proud members of the Dixie Chicken family! So many memories and lifelong friendships were made.
– Lauren Diehl
Archive
Roger Creager playing to the crowd.
Dub Miller singing "Fightin' Texas Aggie"
June 14, 2014, the Dixie Chicken celebrated its 40th birthday with live music from Aggies and local talent.
Pat Ryan, Austin English, Dallas Shipp, Geoff Spahr, Rosehill, Clayton Gardner, Dub Miller, and Roger Creager all shared their talents to a large crowd packed throughout the promenade.
A few beers later
Marissa Tamble, Fightin' Texas Aggie class of 2013
The first story that comes to my mind as one of my favorites is the first day of my senior year at TAMU. I had a class before that ended around 1PM. My next class wasn’t until 4PM, so like any 21 year old college student on their first day of class, you might as well go to Northgate for a beer or two and let the time pass. My friend and I chose the Chicken to have some burgers and Shiner Bock. We got there, reminisced our time in College Station and how we were amazed the time has already flown by. After a few beers, it was time to head to our 4PM class. We ended up getting to class late, which sucked because we had to sit in the front row. As class went by, we realized this was going to be the most difficult class that semester and there wasn’t going to be much time to drink between classes like we had that day. At the end of the class, our professor made the day a little bit better. Thanks to having a few beers at the Chicken, being late to class, and having to sit in the front row, we ended up getting 100 bonus points for sitting in the front row. I ended up getting an A in that class that semester and I’d like to thank the Chicken for being part of that reason.
The Dixie Chicken will always have a place in my heart and is always going to be one of my favorite places to go to whenever I’m in College Station. Thanks for the “nights I can’t remember with the friends I’ll never forget”.
Gig ‘Em
Marissa Tamble, Fightin’ Texas Aggie class of 2013
18 years apart
Our family sat down for lunch on November 8, 2015. My husband looked up on the wall beside our (randomly picked) table and found our names – signed November 8, 1997. We were in the exact same spot on the same day 18 years apart.
– Dana Chancellor
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
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 short story and a long relationship
To keep it short… Let’s just say that I got the complete tour. Including an escort to Don’s office. Closest I ever got to the Wild West. Many amazing times with my buddies playing pool and 42. Still stop by for a burger and Tijuana fries when I can! Met Tara Long (now Hutton) on the Fish Camp bus and have somehow got her to hang around… Still convince her to shoot a little pool there now and then.
Billy Faught
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
A chance meeting leads to forever
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
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