Dairy Queen Grill & Chill — Restaurant in Kelowna

I usually try to give businesses the benefit of the doubt, but after several visits with no improvement, I cannot recommend this Dairy Queen. The location feels run down and poorly maintained. Right when you walk in, you’re greeted by a “cake book” that’s falling apart, sticky, and stained. The staff often seem either severely understaffed or simply uninterested in providing good service (I’m assuming the latter). On multiple occasions, my friends and I have had to wave someone down just to place an order after waiting for quite some time. Often, after one person in our group pays, the staff will walk away before taking the rest of our orders, leaving half the group waiting while the others already have their treats. Service is consistently slow, with 15–20 minute waits for ice cream being the norm. Cleanliness is another issue. The floors near the drink machine and garbage bins are so sticky you can feel your shoes pulling up with each step. The bathrooms are dirty every single time I’ve used them, giving the impression they aren’t cleaned regularly. On top of that, I’ve witnessed staff standing on the counters in the back with their shoes on, and not washing their hands between running the till and making food—something that should never happen in a food establishment. This week, I tried calling several times to order a cake but was repeatedly hung up on. When I went in person, the employee was dismissive and rude, telling me I should have come earlier even though he stated himself their phones weren’t working and never do because of the location of the phone. He refused to take my order, citing a “mandatory 48/24-hour notice.” I ended up driving to another DQ farther away, where the staff were friendly, the restaurant was spotless, and they took my cake order without issue. At this point, I’d rather drive the extra 15 minutes for good service and a clean environment. It’s disappointing, because this location could be just as good as other local DQs if management held it to the...

I’ve never been to a restaurant where I have to talk to the employees about customer service. I got a Flamethrower burger, and after getting it I noticed that it was still cold and not warm, the cheese slice was as cold as it is when you take it out of a refrigerator. But at first I wasn’t going to say anything, so I kept eating and took three small bites from it but then I decided to just let the people working know. I wasn’t looking for a replacement, I just wanted my concern to be noted, they offered me a new burger, but later I hear them talking about me in Punjabi, saying things like we made so many burgers and not even a single one was returned, to which the other employee replies, you know some people are just looking for a confrontation. When I went to grab the new burger, I let them know that I understood everything they were saying, and after I sit down to eat, I hear them talking about me again, and I was sitting in the corner by the exit, and I could still hear them very clearly, after I finished my burger, I went to talk to them, to which they replied, hey you bring back a sliver of the burger and ask for a new one, and I let them know that I only took 2-3 bites and I just wanted you to recognize the fact that it is a possibility that the burger could have been cold, but no, they refuse to admit that and to prove my point, I literally fish the burger out of the trash can and then they saw that more than half of the burger was still in it, to which she replies but that’s a double, I didn’t hear a single word of an apology to how I was treated or how the food was. They guy apologized towards the end. The names of the employees were Ishant and Sukh. And after I offered to pay for the second burger that I didn’t even finish but then they mention that I don’t have to, well!! it doesn’t...

My Second Review (April 2023):

This location is not too far from where I live. My daughter wanted lunch and she loves the hamburgers from Dairy Queen. I really didn’t wanna go back, but I decided to give it another try.

Once again, I witness the cook touching his face and putting his fingers through his hair numerous times before he began making my daughters burger.

I took a picture for proof. I didn’t want to take a picture — but this is the second time this has happened!

This time, I told the cook to stop the order. I said, “you need to be wearing gloves”. He responded, “we aren’t supposed to wear gloves.”

I looked at the young lady on the register and told her I’d like my money back. Not for the ice cream, but for the burger I ordered. I asked her, “would you eat the burger knowing he touched his face?” She said, “no. I understand.”

This is crazy. Nobody wants food that is made by somebody who’s not wearing gloves. I just googled: how many times does the average human touches their face?

Answer: On average 23 times per hour. Of all face touches, 44% (1,024/2,346) involve contact with a mucous membrane, whereas 56% (1,322/2,346) of contacts involved nonmucosal areas.

Gross.

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My First Review (March 2023) The floors are dirty, the restrooms are old, and it is generally a store in need of a renovation.

We didn’t love the big guy making burgers without gloves on so we skipped the burgers. He kept wiping his hands on this rag that looked like it had been used for an oil change.

We’ve been going there for years but I see no sign of reinvestment in this location so I won’t be...