THE ORIGINALLY FAMOUS
CHICKEN FINGERS
For years, the local chicken finger debate has been at the forefront of Bryan-College Station conversation: Layne’s versus Cane’s. Now, Aggies have spoken, not only do they love the local resturant over the chain — they think it’s the best food joint in all of Aggieland.
In 1994, Layne’s restaurant was opened by Mike Layne, and was later joined by Mike Garratt. Layne saw Garratt clean up the flower beds outside of his restaurant and thought him to be a great partner, according to Layne’s website.
Garratt is now the current owner of Layne’s and graduated from Texas A&M in 1998, majoring in agricultural systems management. Layne’s is native to College Station and currently has three locations and will be opening another branch soon in Allen, Texas according to their
website.
Adrian Capetillo, general manager of Layne’s and university studies senior, has worked at
Layne’s for approximately 10
years.
Capetillo said she has many fond mem-ories from working at Layne’s. One of her favorites was when the community came together to show support for Layne’s the day Raising Cane’s first opened near the Texas Avenue location in 2006.
“I think one of my top memories from working here was when Cane’s opened, actually, and we kind of sent out a little thing to our family and friends and regu-lars that came in and said, ‘Hey you know by the way Cane’s is opening, and the day they open we would really like to see some support’ and we had a line out the door that day,” Capetillo said. “So that was kind of a cool day with the
support of the community.”
Shift leader Alyssa Ayers has been working at Layne’s for approximately three years. Ayers said she really enjoys working at Layne’s due to the “college vibe” it
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reflects.
“Honestly the community here is just really great,” Ayers said. “We all just vibe really well
together and that’s honestly just what makes Layne’s, Layne’s … Part of what Layne’s is, just the people that work here and that’s a big part of what makes [Layne’s] what it is.”
Ayers said the most common thing she hears from customers is the question, “Alright which one, Layne’s or Cane’s?” to which she simply smiles and says, “Obliviously, I work at Layne’s.”
Jacob Wilson, Class of 1987, Mike Teal, Class of 1996 and his son Taylor Teal, a freshman at Blinn College, said they are frequent customers at Layne’s.
Wilson, who is a Senior IT Consultant for Texas A&M, works right down the street from Layne’s and goes there often to eat.
Both Cane’s and Layne’s have a special dipping sauce and the ingredients are a mystery to the public. But according to Taylor Teal, Layne’s dipping sauce is “just better.”
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Capetillo said many people come in asking for and about
Layne’s dipping sauce. But according to Layne’s website, “If you want to know the recipe, you’ll have to rely on your taste
buds, because our lips are sealed.”
A unique aspect of Layne’s restaurant is the cartoon illustrations that decorate the walls above the tables. Ayers said a local tattoo artist comes in randomly and will draw pictures on the notepad the waiters use to take orders.
Ayers said anytime people leave notes on the receipts or sheets from the note-pad they put them on the wall; even the fading ones, yellowed by time, are kept. The drawings feature popular movie and TV show characters like Eleven from “Stranger Things,” Rick from “Rick and Morty,” Marvel’s Deadpool, as well as notes in support of Layne’s.
The Layne’s motto is “Soon to be Famous Chicken Fingers.” However, according to the Aggieland population, they already are.
By Bailey Noah