Dixie Chicken celebrates 50th Anniversary

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Hundreds of people gathered at The Dixie Chicken and the Northgate promenade on Friday to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The Dixie Chicken sits across from Texas A&M University in the Northgate District and since it has arrived become a go-to place for Aggies and a tradition. To celebrate the occasion a live concert was held featuring Aggie alumni Max and Heather Stalling, Dub Miller, Keller Cox, Donice Morace, and Hayden Baker. There were also some giveaways involved.

Kirk McGarrah is a Texas A&M Aggie class of 88′ who showed up for the celebration and has been coming for many many decades.

“In 85 was the first year our fightin’ Texas Aggie football team went to the Cotton Bowl. we beat the Sips here so after that game that night. We all came from the stadium. I lived at Crocker Hall which is now hullabaloo and we blocked off University and there were guys up on the roof of the chicken doing yells,” McGarrah said.

For Kiersten Faith, class of 19′ she met her husband while attending A&M and the two spent countless nights at the Dixie Chicken.

“It’s awesome to see all the Aggies come back from countless different classes, future graduates, former students so it’s pretty cool to see it all in action,” Faith said.

When George Hester was going to school in 75′ The Dixie Chicken was the only pub at Northgate and he would used to come to the restaurant for a good time. Later on in his life, he said he was the contractor who helped them expand.

“I was also here for the first-anniversary party, one year in operations and they sold out completely of all the cold beer that they had really all the beer,” Hester said. “It’s kinda neat that they have that kind of staying power and something like A&M traditions that keep going on forever. Now my kids have gone to school at A&M so now we have that connection.”

As for the future people said they are excited and would like to see the Dixie Chicken remain a staple in Aggieland for years to come.

“When people think College Station they think A&M but they also think Dixie Chicken so for it to be here 15, 25 more years would be huge,” Faith said. “I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon, so I think it’s the place for the community to come together and be the family that A&M is and Aggieland is and hopefully my son will be here in 20 years and see the 75 anniversary.”