The Chicken Shack Offers Country Cooking, Family Atmosphere

If you've driven down South Lake Drive lately, you may have seen someone standing by the road, waving a sign for a restaurant called The Chicken Shack. 

Deborah and Tracy Dyches opened the restaurant in January at 114 Glassmaster Road just off South Lake Drive.

Although their fried chicken and home-cooked sides have drawn large crowds from nearby plants for lunch, the Dyches are struggling to bring families in for dinner. 

Bars have always occupied the building where The Chicken Shack is located, and that's the reason families are hesitant to bring their children in at night, Deborah Dyches said. 

"We're trying to change the stigma," she said. "It's always been a bar and grill. I'm working to make it family-friendly."

She and her husband created a game room with pool tables and kids' games in one section of the restaurant. They do serve beer and wine, but no liquor. 

"I'm trying to accomodate the lady and the husband," Dyches said.

For dinner, guests can order the same family-recipe fried chicken and home-cooked sides served during lunch, or they can choose from burgers, salads, chicken strips and wings. 

And with so many fast-food restaurants in the area, Dyches said she's learned families mostly go for the home-cooked meals at dinnertime.

"We're trying to grow with the area. We didn't know what people would want in the evening, so we kind of left that open," she said. "But it turns out people want country cooking."

While guests order from their tables at dinnertime, the Dyches try to speed up the experience for their lunchtime customers who have to get back to work. Guests order at the counter, pay and then sit down to eat. 

They also offer lunch specials of a meat, two vegetables and a drink for $6.45 or a meat, three vegetables and a drink for $7.45. 

The Chicken Shack is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit their Facebook page.