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International Dairy Queen, Inc.

The current Dairy Queen logo (top); a modern Dairy Queen restaurant in Hiawassee, Georgia, United States (bottom)
Trade name	Dairy Queen
Type	Private
Industry	Restaurant
Genre	Fast food restaurant, ice cream parlor
Founded	June 22, 1940; 85 years ago (1940-06-22) in Joliet, Illinois, US
Founders	John Fremont McCullough Alex McCullough Sherb Noble
Headquarters	Bloomington, Minnesota , US
Number of locations	4,455 (US domestic, 2018) 6,800 (global)
Area served	United States, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, Guyana, Indonesia, Kuwait, Laos, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam
Key people	Troy Bader (President and CEO)
Products	Soft serve, ice cream, milkshakes, cakes, sundaes, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, chicken strips, french fries, cheese curds, onion rings, soft drinks, salads (in Texas: tacos, taco salads, nachos)
Revenue	US$3.64 billion (US, 2017)
Parent	Berkshire Hathaway
Subsidiaries	Orange Julius

Dairy Queen (often called DQ) is a famous American fast food chain. It started in 1940 and is known for its yummy frozen treats and hot food. The very first Dairy Queen opened its doors on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois. Today, its main office is in Bloomington, Minnesota.

History of Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen Stores
Dairy Queen Products
- The Blizzard
- Cage-Free Egg Commitment
Dairy Queen Advertising
Dairy Queen Slogans
Dairy Queen Logos
Dairy Queen Around the World
See also

History of Dairy Queen

The idea for soft-serve ice cream came from John Fremont "J.F." McCullough and his son Alex in 1938. They asked their friend Sherb Noble to try selling it in his ice cream shop. On the first day, Noble sold over 1,600 servings in just two hours!

Noble and the McCulloughs then opened the first Dairy Queen store in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois. This original store closed in the 1950s. However, the building at 501 N Chicago Street is now a special landmark in the city.

DQ in Moorhead, Minnesota, United States, built in 1949

Since 1940, Dairy Queen has grown by letting other people open their own DQ stores. This is called a franchise system. By 1947, there were 100 stores. This number grew to 1,446 by 1950 and 2,600 by 1955. The first Dairy Queen in Canada opened in Estevan, Saskatchewan, in 1953.

In 1962, the company became International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ). Later, in 1987, IDQ bought the Orange Julius chain, which is famous for its fruit drinks. In 1998, a big company called Berkshire Hathaway bought IDQ.

Today, the state with the most Dairy Queen restaurants in the U.S. is Texas. If you look at how many DQs there are per person, Minnesota has the most. By 2014, Dairy Queen had over 6,400 stores in more than 25 countries. About 4,500 of these stores were in the United States.

Dairy Queen stores were very popular places for people to meet in small towns in the 1950s and 1960s. They even appear in many books and stories about small-town American life.

Dairy Queen Stores

Dairy Queen stores come in different types, but they all have the DQ logo and their famous soft-serve ice cream.

By the end of 2014, Dairy Queen had over 6,400 stores in 27 countries. More than 1,400 of these were outside the United States and Canada.

The largest Dairy Queen in the U.S. is in Bloomington, Illinois. The largest in the world is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The busiest Dairy Queen in the world is in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Standard Dairy Queen Stores

A Chicken Strip Basket from Dairy Queen with four chicken strips, french fries and Texas toast

Some Dairy Queen stores mainly sell frozen treats and might only be open in spring, summer, and fall. But most DQ restaurants also serve hot food and are open all year.

Some locations, called "Limited Brazier" stores, might offer hot dogs, barbecue sandwiches, french fries, and chicken. However, they usually do not sell hamburgers. "Full Brazier" restaurants have a complete fast-food menu. This includes burgers, french fries, grilled and crispy chicken, and hot dogs, along with all the frozen treats.

DQ / Orange Julius Stores

These stores are also known as "Treat Centers." They are an improved version of the original stores. They serve drinks and food from the Orange Julius menu. These stores are often found in shopping mall food courts.

Dairy Queen Brazier Stores

A Dairy Queen Brazier in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This DQ was renovated into a Grill & Chill.

The name "Brazier" started in 1957. It came from a type of grill that uses open flames, like a "brazier."

The "Brazier" name has slowly been removed from signs and ads since 1993. However, you can still see it on older signs, especially in smaller towns. Newer stores that are like Brazier restaurants in size and menu are now called "DQ Restaurant."

DQ Grill & Chill Stores

A DQ Grill & Chill in Canada

DQ Grill & Chill locations offer hot food, treats, and even table delivery. They are the newest type of full-service Dairy Queen restaurant. These stores are larger than older ones and have a new design. They often have a bigger menu, including breakfast items, special GrillBurgers, and grilled sandwiches. You can also get free refills on soft drinks.

The first two DQ Grill & Chill restaurants in the United States opened in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in December 2001. The largest DQ Grill & Chill in the nation is in Bloomington, Illinois.

Texas Country Foods

A Dairy Queen outlet in Burnet, Texas, United States, using the chain's previous logo

All Dairy Queen locations in Texas have a special hot food menu called Texas Country Foods. For example, they have "Hungr-Buster" burgers instead of the usual ones. Other unique items in Texas include the "Dude" chicken-fried steak sandwich, steak finger baskets, and "BeltBuster" hamburgers.

Texas has the most Dairy Queen restaurants in the U.S. The Texas Dairy Queen Operators' Council has its own website for marketing.

Dairy Queen Products

Dairy Queen has added many new products over the years. In 1950, they started selling malts and milkshakes. Banana splits came in 1951, and Dilly Bars in 1955. In 1958, they added a range of hamburgers and other cooked foods under the Brazier name.

Mr. Misty slush treats were introduced in 1961. The Buster Bar, with soft serve, fudge, and peanuts, was invented in 1962. The Peanut Buster Parfait, with peanuts, hot fudge, and vanilla soft serve, came out in 1971. In 1995, the Chicken Strip Basket was introduced. This includes chicken strips, Texas toast (in the US), fries, and gravy. Other popular items include sundaes and the blended coffee drink, the MooLatte.

The Blizzard

A woman holding a Banana Cream Pie Blizzard

A very popular Dairy Queen item is the Blizzard. This is soft-serve ice cream mixed with yummy ingredients like candy, cookies, or brownies. It became a favorite when it was first introduced in 1985. In that first year, Dairy Queen sold over 100 million Blizzards!

Popular Blizzard flavors include Oreo cookies, M&M's, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Butterfinger. Dairy Queen also offers special seasonal flavors, like pumpkin pie in October. In 2010, Dairy Queen added a new "mini" size Blizzard. Since 1985, there have been over 170 different Blizzard flavors!

Blizzards are so cold and thick that employees often hold the cup upside down to show that nothing will fall out. If an employee forgets to do this, you might get a coupon for a free Blizzard for your next visit!

Dairy Queen also offers a Blizzard Cake, which is like a regular ice cream cake but with Blizzard flavors. These are great for celebrations and birthdays.

Cage-Free Egg Commitment

In 2016, Dairy Queen promised that by 2025, all their egg suppliers in the United States and Canada would only provide eggs from cage-free hens. This means the hens are not kept in small cages. Many people believe this is a kinder way to produce eggs. Dairy Queen is working towards this goal for all eggs used in their restaurants and products.

Dairy Queen Advertising

From 1971 until 2002, the cartoon character Dennis the Menace appeared in Dairy Queen ads. He was removed because Dairy Queen felt children could no longer relate to him. Later ads featured a large mouth licking its lips, which would then turn into the Dairy Queen logo.

In Texas, Dairy Queen ads often end with a waving Texas flag and the slogan "Eat Like A Texan." Earlier Texas ads featured Texas Country Reporter host Bob Phillips as a spokesperson. In the early 1990s, Texas ads also had animal characters called the Fun Bunch Munch to advertise kids' meals.

Dairy Queen Slogans

Dairy Queen has used many slogans over the years. From 1979 to 1981, the slogan was "It's a real treat!" For many years, it was "We treat you right." In the 1990s, "Hot Eats, Cool Treats" and "Think DQ" were popular. Later slogans included "Meet Me at DQ" and "DQ: Something Different."

In 2011, they used "So Good It's RiDQulous," with "DQ" inside the word "ridiculous." In the mid-2010s, their slogan was "Fan Food, Not Fast Food." As of April 2019, Dairy Queen uses the slogan "Happy Tastes Good."

Dairy Queen Logos

A Dairy Queen in Key West, Florida with the pre-2007 logo

An outlet in Ottawa, Ontario used the original retro-style neon sign with a cone until 2013.

The first Dairy Queen logo was a simple text sign with a soft-serve cone. In the late 1950s, the famous red oval (ellipse) design was adopted. This red oval became a very recognizable symbol for Dairy Queen.

In the 1990s, a new store design appeared with red strips showing the "Hot Eats, Cool Treats" slogan. A large blue sign with a modern soft-serve cone design was also used.

Even though "DQ" had been used for many years, it officially became the company's name in 2001. In early 2007, Dairy Queen updated its logo. The letters became italicized, and they added an orange curved line above (for hot foods) and a blue curved line below (for ice cream products). This new logo was meant to show the brand's growth and the "fun and enjoyment" of its products.

Early prototype Dairy Queen logo from 1940 to 1960, still in use at a small number of locations
1960–2001, secondary logo from 2001 to 2007, still in use at some locations, including Brazier locations
2001–2007, still in use at some locations
2007–present, current logo