'm taking my 8th grade daughter to visit Texas A&M and BCS this weekend. I was thinking of taking her to Dixie Chicken to eat, then maybe the GB Library. Maybe the MSC. She is a piano player, so I might take her to the MSC section where the piano was if it still exists.

Possibly go to a baseball game, but she is not a big baseball fan.

I am ashamed to admit I have not been back for at least 20 years. Maybe since 99 graduation.

Just looking for some suggestions so she has a great experience.

Take her to the original Freebirds in northgate or Blue baker on Dominik.

Baseball game will be tough since we are hosting regionals.

Century Square area would good for lunch.

Take your kid to Fuego.

Jesse's Taqueria for a breakfast taco on Saturday

michellecan said:

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Jesse's Taqueria for a breakfast taco on Saturday

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Ooh. Good idea.

Jesse's is delicious but is she a 40 year old man?

This is why we need more info.

I think there's a free concert at Wolf Pen Creek Saturday night. Journey tribute band. Not sure how much shed enjoy it but it is free andbyou can bring a cooler.

Aggie Park for sure coupled with a creamery visit would be good touch.

Century Square area has a lot to offer. Could eat lunch or dinner there (or both) at any of the various food spots and then play putt-putt at Pop Stroke in the evening.

Lake Walk area is scenic. Walk up to the top of the lookout tower and see Kyle Field and other sights as you look to the southeast.

I'm planning something similar this summer with my own son. Given he's a bit older and will be selecting college soon, but the official campus tours out of rudder Tower and maybe a lab visit or two would probably make sense.

Why the Dixie chicken with all the other good restaurants available?

TXAG 05 said:

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Baseball game will be tough since we are hosting regionals.

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You can go to Aggie alley in deep left field - no ticket required and that way you can watch for a little bit and then when she wants to go you can go - no strings attached


Park at the hotel and walk there are enjoy you lunch at the chicken and walk there through campus as others have suggested.

histag10 said:

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What does she enjoy?(outside of piano and not enjoying baseball)

Century square has some great food and shops. GB library is a good idea. If she enjoys history stuff, see what Cushing Library has on display. There is an icecream shop on campus in Aggie Park (spence park).

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She gets the most enjoyment out of Tennis. Now that she is in summer she is playing tennis 2 or 3 hours almost every day. She is actually going to the Aggie tennis camp this summer. She likes to read, always reading books. She has been playing piano since the third grade, I remember going to the MSC and watching students walk up and play piano, now its her turn.

The Ice Cream shop on campus sounds amazing. Sounds a bit unreal for there to be an ice cream shop on campus now. A later poster on this thread also recommended Century Square, we will be sure to check that out.

Nab85ag said:

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Campus is beautiful right now (grass green, flowers blooming…) so fun to stroll the interior and see Sully, Century Tree, etc. The MSC has changed a lot since you last visited and both of you should enjoy touring. Piano still there. You may be able to arrange a tour of Kyle Field, which would be fun. Hope y'all have a blast!

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Getting a tour of Kyle would be amazing. Great idea. The Century Tree is something I need to show her also, a special place. Thank you for the ideas.

doubledog said:

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Take her to the original Freebirds in northgate or Blue baker on Dominik.

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I went to that Freebirds so many times, like at least 50, probably over a 100. I don't remember Blue Baker though. I will look into it.

bobinator said:

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Yeah there's definitely a ton of options depending on what she likes to do.

I haven't been this spring but The Gardens on west campus are a great place to just walk around if you're just popping around campus. They really knocked it out of the park with that project in my opinion.

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I remember West Campus was either in the process of being built or starting to be built when I was there back int he late 90's. If I am thinking of the same place. I will try to check it out.

halibut sinclair said:

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You should take her to Chicken Oil instead of the Chicken. Also, check out downtown Bryan. It's changed a lot since '99.

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I laughed about downtown Bryan, back in the day I worked at CompuView Microsystems my freshman or sophmore year. I can't imagine how it must have changeed.

I think part of the appeal about the Chicken is the Domino game 42, plus the rattlesnake, and lots of memories. I've been trying to introduce her to 42, just hard to get two other players that are interested.

Tailgate88 said:

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If you take her to the MSC take the short walk through Aggie Park to the creamery for some ice cream. It's right across the street from the dorms at the south end of the quad. And Aggie Park is beautiful and especially right now. Classes just started today so there should be students around.

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I am definitely going to do that. I know for sure she would enjoy some ice cream, and I've heard Aggie Park is beautiful. I"ve been wanting to see Aggie Park for several years now.

TXAG 05 said:

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Baseball game will be tough since we are hosting regionals.

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I konw it, I looked on SeatGeek, and there were some tickets for the Saturday afternoon game. if it was all up to me, I would definitely go to at least one baseball game.

Pantera said:

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We have a new attraction! You can go check out the alligator in the pond at research park.

https://www.kbtx.com/2026/05/26/small-alligator-spotted-pond-texas-am-campus/

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LOL, thats wild!

Captn_Ag05 said:

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Century Square area would good for lunch.

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Century Square sounds like a must see attraction. That and Aggie Park.

maroon barchetta said:

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michellecan said:

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Jesse's Taqueria for a breakfast taco on Saturday

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Ooh. Good idea.

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Now you are talking my language.

whoop1995 said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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Baseball game will be tough since we are hosting regionals.

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You can go to Aggie alley in deep left field - no ticket required and that way you can watch for a little bit and then when she wants to go you can go - no strings attached


Park at the hotel and walk there are enjoy you lunch at the chicken and walk there through campus as others have suggested.

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Thats a great idea. Never knew about that. I wonder how much Olsen Field has changed. I remember watching Rupe I think and a few others.

bobinator said:

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dirkjones said:

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Why the Dixie chicken with all the other good restaurants available?

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Because you need that place where you can tell your kids it hasn't changed much since you were in school. For us, that's the Dixie Chicken (or maybe Koppe Bridge). Not to get too poetic, but I do think kids connect, even if they'd never admit it out loud, to seeing their parents connect with a place. They don't want a whole day of it, but popping into the Chicken for a burger or some Tijuana Fries and just hang out for a little bit can help with that "this place is special" feeling that I think we all hope our kids get when the visit here (even though it's quite a bit harder for those of us that already live here.)

You show 'em the new stuff, whether that's Century Square, downtown Bryan, some of the new coffee shops, brunch stops, or book stores around town, whatever they might be into, but you gotta show 'em one or two of the classics that are still around.

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Great thought. It is indeed a special place, I have a lot of memories of Dixie.

I really need to see downtown Bryan for myself. I am sure it will be completely unrecognizable to me. I don't have a lot of fond memories of Bryan, will be cool to see how it has changed. Thank you for your time and direction. Great ideas.

EriktheRed said:

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Exactly. My daughter would much more impressed with Sweet Paris. Know your audience.

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Sweet Paris sounds unusual for College Station. I will look into it. It does sound like a place my daughter would enjoy. She has wanted to go to France for some time. one of these days I will take her to the French open.

I remember when Cafe Eccel I think it was called opened up. Supposed to be the classy restaurant at the time in College Station. never went though. There was a really good Chinese restaurant back then, Confucious I think it was called.

I am going to print out all of these responses so I will be prepared. It will be my tour guide this weekend.

With more info here's some more detailed information:

There's a really cool book store in South College Station (https://hyperbolebookstore.com/about-us) and if she likes to read I'd take her to at least one of the local coffee places, particularly Polite Coffee in the Kyle House near downtown Bryan. (https://politecoffee.com/pages/the-kyle-house) - During the school year it's always packed with students reading/studying/just hanging out. Polite is a roastery as well as a coffee shop so grab you a bag of beans to take home (I love their coffee, we have a subscription.) This is going to sound like a dumb idea but if she really likes reading, the College Station library is really nice and/or the Evans library could be cool to check out. Those could be cool stops if she's like some teens/pre-teens these days that are back into actual physical books as opposed to Kindles.

I would check out the directory of Century Square first and see if there's some places that are up y'alls alley before committing there. I'd say there's two "walk/eat/shop" areas here, Century Square and Downtown Bryan. Century Square is definitely more modern, high end shops, etc. Downtown Bryan is a little more classic Texas downtown but they've done a great job with it over the last couple of decades. Lots of interesting shops and stuff. It's too bad it's not next week for First Friday where there's street vendors and performances and that sort of thing.

We have a TON of breakfast/brunch options, but stick with the local ones for a first visit. Stella Southern Cafe (near Hwy 6 and Rock Prairie), the students love Mess Waffles (Century Square), Wild Grain Cafe is relatively new and I haven't been but everyone says it's great (Texas Ave. towards Bryan.) There's even more that I'm sure people would recommend. I love Jesse's Tacos (And La Familia in South College Station) but I'd think a middle schooler would prefer a nicer place.

I would actually recommend against Aggie Alley for the regional, it's going to be packed and absolutely nuts out there, standing only, and it'll be hot. My recommendation would be to find some GA tickets and sit in the grass in right field. If we win the Friday afternoon game though the Saturday game doesn't start until 8 so that's going to be a pretty wild and rowdy scene at Olsen. The kind of environment where's she's either going to fall in love with this place or completely write it off as a possibility. High risk/high reward environment there.

This isn't local to College Station either because there's a few of them around the state now, but we have a PopStroke putt putt golf place which is a really fun way to just hang out (also at Century Square) depending on your schedule.