Miller's Chicken

An Athens staple that keeps people coming back

BY KAYLA BENNETT PHOTOS BY PROVIDED Miller’s Chicken

Driving on W. State St., one can see a building displaying big red letters reading “Miller’s Chicken.” Despite it being a new hot spot for incoming students of Ohio University, Miller’s has been around since 1946.

However, it was not always a hotspot for chicken; it was named “Miller’s Poultry” at the time of its establishment.

Originally owned by Harold Miller, the business has been passed down through the family. Joe Miller, Harold’s brother, purchased the business in 1972 and is still the present owner. However, Joe’s daughter, Sandra Zoulek, spends most of her time taking care of Miller’s and its customers and employees.

Although Miller’s is now famous for its chicken, the business did not start cooking “Miller’s Chicken” until the mid-1960s. It started out as a business that butchered and sold chickens to local businesses. Once the business started making its famous chicken, it also started making fried chicken, chunk potatoes, french fries, and onion rings. At the time, Harold’s wife Dorothy also started cooking sides like baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad.

Housing in a couple of different locations on House St. and Factory St., Miller’s eventually found its home at 235 W. State St. in 1969.

“YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PUT YOUR CUSTOMERS FIRST, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY’RE TREATED WELL – EVEN IF YOU SCREW UP AN ORDER OR THEY’RE NOT HAPPY WITH IT – THE END RESULT IS THEY STILL NEED TO BE HAPPY.”

SANDRA ZOULEK

The business, now heavy with local traffic, has been able to keep up its business due to the commitment and loyalty of its customers.

Zoulek said when townspeople move away and come back, Miller’s is the first place they visit upon return. OHIO alumni also find their way back to their favorite chicken place, too, reminiscing on “the good times.” Customer loyalty has been of the utmost importance to Miller’s, but it was really shown that Miller’s was of the utmost importance to its customers when the pandemic started in March 2020.

When many businesses were shutting down due to COVID-19, Zoulek found that she would be faced with shutting down the business for a period of time and laying off full-time employees for the time being.

Zoulek’s children handle Miller’s social media, and at the time, they posted on Facebook that Miller’s would be closing due to the pandemic.

Because social media travels fast, the day before the closure, Zoulek said, the number of customers was tremendous.

“You would not believe the amount of traffic that we had,” Zoulek said. “When we opened back up, people knew that we were back. It was just phenomenal. We had never been so busy.”

Zoulek said it was the busiest she had seen Miller’s and this will be her 50th year working there.

The business could not run if Zoulek did not have a reliable team of employees behind her.

However, Zoulek said in the past year, because of COVID-19, it has been really hard to find help. She said finding dependable employees is becoming difficult, but she hopes to see a change soon.

Miller’s has held its ground on W. State St. and hopes to continue being a hometown favorite – as the business continues to grow.

“You just have to try to keep your head above the water and do what you can,” Zoulek said.