*Huge baseball fans, Nicki and David attended a NLCS championship game between the Dodgers and Braves in October 2020 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.*

When trying to describe Nicki and David Oliver, owners of The Dugout, one word comes to mind: heart. It’s apparent to anyone who meets them they have heart—a heart for their family, a heart for their customers, a heart for their employees, and certainly not least, a heart for helping others.

Together, Nicki and David have a Brady Bunch family. The two married after both were divorced from 18-year first marriages. He had two daughters and a son, she had three sons, and they married in September of 2014 and had one son together.

David was a Navy veteran employed at Red River Army Depot. Nicki was in the midst of raising three boys, (an 18-year-old, 13-year-old, and 7-year-old) when the two started their life together. It wasn’t long after the two got married and united their blended family that David introduced the idea of owning a restaurant.

Nicki and David’s oldest son, Nathan Chamblee, married Lucy White on September 28, 2019. Family members pictured are: Ethan, Nicki, Nathan and Lucy, Ashton, and Deacon. (Photo by Lela and Lyla Photography)

“He’s not afraid to do anything,” Nicki said. “He had a friend, Randy Latham, who owned Randy’s BBQ and Smokey Joe’s who he helped on his days off. Eventually, when Randy was ready to be out of the restaurant business, it led to an opportunity to walk into a fully-furnished turnkey restaurant, and that’s just what we did.

“David pushes me out my comfort zone constantly,” Nicki said. “I was six months pregnant and had no restaurant experience other than waiting tables, but hey … why not?” Shortly after opening The Dugout in October 2015, the couple welcomed their son, Deacon, who is now 5 years old.

The Olivers’ oldest daughter, Madison, married Brett Rhinehart on October 3, 2020. With them are: Nicki, Mallory, Deacon, David, Dawson, and granddaughter Peyton.. (Photo by Lexie Wood Photography)

Nicki grew up in Fouke and worked on the Texas-side before owning the restaurant. “I’d never really explored this side of town,” she said. “I always left home, and drove straight to work, so I never even knew anything existed over here.

“When we started crunching numbers and figured out we needed to sell 75 hamburgers a day, I thought there was absolutely no way. I never believed it would happen,” she said. “And then it did.” The location they started out in was tiny, the former Randy’s BBQ at 3809 East 9th Street. The menu was also small in the beginning, but has expanded over time. “The customers started asking us to fry fish, so we tried it on Fridays, and it really took off,” Nicki said. “We expanded to the weekends, and then the customers started asking for it every day of the week, so now we have fish, every day!”

Celebrating Christmas is a family affair for the Olivers. In 2017, the entire gang got together for the holidays, including Ethan Chamblee, Nathan Chamblee, Ashton Chamblee, Nicki, Deacon Oliver, Dawson Oliver, David, Mallory Oliver, and Madison Rhinehart.

The Olivers outgrew their original location fairly quickly. “We started seeing people open the door, see the crowd, and turn around and leave,” David said. “So, we knew it was time to find some place bigger. In our old place we’d have standing room only on Fridays and Sundays, and when God opened a door to relocate, we quickly seized it.”

The Olivers went from employing just over 20 people to 48 current employees. “We have a bunch of hardworking people who have been such a blessing,” David said. “They’ve helped us be successful, and we couldn’t have done this without our employees.”

Nicki adds that the success of their business over the last few years has been steady and spurred by loyal customers and new ones. “During COVID, our sales went up instead of down,” she said. “The delivery side of things has been big for us, making daily deliveries to several businesses in town. Now we’re faced with increasing food prices, which will cause our menu pricing to change, but we will do our best to keep providing quality food and a great experience.”

*The Dugout received the Four States Living Magazine Best of Texarkana Award for Best Burger in 2021.*

“I’ve always wanted to own a burger restaurant,” David said, “and we’re about to expand again.” Plans are currently in the works for the Olivers to add a new pizza restaurant in 2022.

Expansion on the business front isn’t the only thing keeping the Olivers busy. In March of 2021, the Olivers became foster parents, first provisionally fostering a family member, and then transitioning into one of only eight foster homes in Miller County. “There are over 130 foster kids in Miller County that need a place to stay,” Nicki said. “Since there are so few homes available, a lot of them end up going to Little Rock, away from everything they know. When we went through foster parent training with The Call, and learned that it’s just as easy as giving someone a bed to sleep in for one night to avoid an overnight stay at the CPS office, we knew what we were supposed to do. We’ve had foster kids ever since.”

The Olivers have had six foster children come through their home so far, including two newborns at the same time. “We try to keep the foster kids younger than our son, Deacon, who is 5,” Nicki said.

“He [Deacon] is so great with fostering, rolls right with it, talks about his foster siblings, and has a soft heart,” David said.

“The thing I wish everyone knew is that sometimes these foster children come to us with nothing,” Nicki said. “When I got a call that I was going to foster a newborn girl, I had to go find the items I needed to take care of her. It was like starting completely over, and when you donate to organizations like For the Sake of One or The Call, it really does help.”

The Olivers are full of heart. When talking about their own children, their foster kids, or their employees and customers, its no secret that each of the subjects hits close to home. The couple is selfless in their service to community and others.

“It’s knowing what you’re doing to provide for the child,” David said, “Knowing that for tonight or today or for a little while, that baby has everything he needs—that’s what it’s all about.”

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Full of Heart