At the edge of Ohio University's campus, on 235 West State St., lies an Athens institution.
Miller’s Chicken, serving up fried chicken and classic sides, has been a part of the Athens food scene since the 1940s.
Miller's Chicken started off as a meat market, said Sandra Zoulek, current owner.
“My grandfather had a meat market in Canaanville … in the 40s,” she said.
However, in the late 1940s, Zoulek said her grandfather’s oldest son, Harold, moved the business to Athens and sold “strictly poultry.”
“Local farmers would bring in live chickens at Thanksgiving time, like turkeys, and we butchered and processed (them),” Zoulek said. “So, it really started out that everything was fresh, just raw poultry and eggs and things like that.”
The business continued to sell poultry until around the mid ‘60s when Harold decided to start cooking the chicken and other members of the family got involved.
“It started out very small, just like chicken, maybe some french fries, and then it grew,” Zoulek said. “My aunt Dorothy, his wife, started adding coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, which she actually ... would make them in her home.”
Dorothy’s home was right up the road from the restaurant and the food was always sold fresh to customers, Zoulek said. Freshness was an ideal the restaurant fostered since the original meat market days.
OU bought Miller’s property in the late ‘60s, which is now occupied by the Central Food Facility and some athletics fields on South Shafer Street. This was a blessing in disguise, as Miller’s moved to their current location on State Street.
“By then, … (we were) cooking more chicken than raw chicken,” Zoulek said.
For a brief period, Miller’s offered delivery services for local grocers and Greek life organizations. Zoulek said the services “dissipated” because of larger distributors, including Cisco.
Despite the restaurant’s location, far from the heart of campus, Zoulek said Miller’s still serves plenty of college students especially on busier weekends such as homecoming.
“Now the university colleges have bigger apartment buildings and a lot of rentals, but back then when I started working, they didn't have all that,” she said.
With Athens housing other options for fried chicken, including Hot Box on 74 N Court St. and the soon-to-be Raising Canes on 63 S Court St., Miller’s has some competition. Each restaurant has its own style and price range.
While a Miller’s five piece fried chicken order costs $9.25 and does not include sides, Hot Box’s four-tender combo, served alongside a sauce, coleslaw, garlic toast and french fries or tater tots comes to $12.
Cane’s box combos range between $8.59 and $15.59 and include french fries, coleslaw, Texas toast and a fountain drink.
Prices can deter a student or local at any restaurant; however, Zoulek said Miller’s is special not only because of its fresh and tasty chicken, but family-rooted history.
“We cut our own chickens,” Zoulek said. “We have a meat cutter … which makes it a lot better than ordering them in. We've been around a long time. I've been told that Miller's is an institution … and our (customers) are not going to get the same quality food elsewhere.”
Miller's historical and welcoming qualities resonate with customers such as Bella Davis, a junior and intervention specialist.
“I'm a sucker for any kind of restaurant that's not a chain and it originates in that place, so I love that,” Davis said. “And it just kind of has that Athens feel, which is nice.”
Maggie Louderback, a sophomore studying theater design production, shares a similar outlook on the establishment and said Miller’s food quality is unmatched.
“What makes Miller's different is the style of the chicken and the breading,” Louderback said. "It's very juicy. The crust is thin and flaky, rather than thick, bumpy crust. It's thinner and softer and you don't get that dry chicken inside that you get at other places.”
For many locals, Miller’s positive reputation is due to the restaurant’s high-quality chicken, strong connections and representation of the spirit of Athens.
Miller’s is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and closed Sunday.
