The fourth McDougal's chicken restaurant in Tennessee opened on 17^th Street last Wednesday, Oct. 28.  Tommy McDougal, founder of McDougal's, is an entrepreneur that attended the University of Tennessee.

While McDougal majored in Family Studies at UT, he always had a real interest in cooking chicken and creating sauces.

I would make sauces in my kitchen at my house in the Fort. McDougal's founder, Tommy McDougal

"I would make sauces in my kitchen at my house in the Fort.  Half of the sauces we have at McDougal's I made when I was in college," McDougal said.

McDougal said that opening a chicken restaurant after graduating college was a risky idea, but with the help of loan money from his mother, McDougal found success with his first McDougal's in Nashville.

"I went out on a limb by opening a restaurant right out of college.  I found an old house on Vanderbilt's campus, built a deck out the front of it, and started cooking chicken out of the front bedroom," McDougal said.

The first McDougal's opened in Nashville, the second in Franklin, the third in Murfreesboro, with the fourth now being in Knoxville.  McDougal's is known for its unique "Sauce Bar," free ice-cream, fresh chicken and homey atmosphere, according to McDougal.