The Chicken Basket was established in 1946 out of a gas station next door that sold fried chicken. It served as a Blue Bird bus stop as well as a restaurant, and it once featured ice skaters on the roof to attract Route 66 travelers. In 1963, when the Rhea family took over, it became Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket, and it has operated continuously as a restaurant and bar since opening in 1946.
