A Big Yellow Cup and a Dream.
Ok, maybe not. The cups didn’t turn yellow until 1988. And they didn’t grow to their current size of 32 oz until 1991. But dreaming of serving nothing but the best barbecue has been around since the first Dickey’s restaurant opened in 1941. So we’ll try to keep the tall tales to a minimum and stick to the facts about how Dickey’s came to be as you know us today.
Learn a little more about Dickey’s Barbecue by rolling over our signature sauce to the right.
320 BC - Well maybe we're not this old. But we're sure if we'd been around back then the cave people would have loved us. We technically got started in the early 1940's...
2003 - Dickey's goes to the Big Apple. Roland Dickey, Sr. cooks some rib ticklin' barbecue for Regis on Live with Regis and Kelly.
2006 - Passing things on to the third generation, Roland Dickey, Jr. becomes president of Dickey's Barbecue.
1991 - Talk about tradition. At Dickey's 50th anniversary celebration, the original store on Knox/Henderson sold beef sandwiches for 50 cents. Ollie Dickey, matriarch of the company, was greeted by several of our customers that had been coming to eat there since 1941.
1994 - Dickey's decides to add to the family. We began our franchising program. Strong franchise partnerships and great barbecue has built Dickey's into what it is today.
1984 - Where's the chicken? Dickey's adds chicken breasts to menu and it becomes a top seller.
1986 - And why not turkey? Dickey's adds boneless turkey breast to menu. Together with chicken, poultry sales soon accounted for almost half of Dickey's sales.
1988 - Dickey's Big Yellow Cup is born. Well at least it turns yellow in 1988 (it technically grows to 32 oz in 1991).
1972 - Dickey's continues opening stores in North Texas in the early '70s, making it the largest barbecue restaurant chain in the state. What can we say? Texans know good barbecue.
1977 - Dickey's becomes the biggest barbecue company in the US.
1977 - Inspiration strikes twice! Why not let Dickey's be the life of the party? Dickey's transforms its catering business, under the leadership of legendary catering director Lee Daramee. Dickey's has catered for Presidents, royalty and trailer park socials. Catering remains a big part of Dickey's business today.
1967 - Brothers Roland Dickey and TD Dickey, Jr. take over Dickey's as the second generation to run the family business. We wanted to keep a good thing going.
1969 - Dickey's becomes a small chain by opening two additional stores around Dallas. We were pleased as punch - never dreaming we'd grow much more than this. We did think it was a good time to add a few more sides. The menu is expanded to include ribs and a variety of homemade vegetables and salads - starting the tradition of always offering things just the way you like it.
1952 - Travis Dickey begins Dickey's tradition of cooking holiday hams and turkeys. We've always been a merry bunch.
1941 - Travis Dickey opens the first Dickey's just north of downtown Dallas. This original location on Knox/Henderson still serves as a Dickey's today. And, who would have guessed the original menu in '41 consisted of beef brisket, pit hams, barbecue beans, potato chips, beer, bottled milk and sodas.
