Dairy Queen Grill & Chill — Restaurant in Florida

I've been kind of riding the fence on this one since my visit. This is a newer location and I've been meaning to stop since they opened. I waited till the lines were shorter and I was close by to them. I decided to use the app to place my order to get my points. The app is fairly easy to navigate and I was able to find something I wanted and placed the order. I ordered the Cake Batter Cookie Dough Blizzard and I decided to just go with a small. I was only about 3 doors down from them when I placed the order so it only took me a few minutes to get there. I placed my order to pick up inside as I wanted to get a look at the restaurant. It's much bigger than the usual Dairy Queen and has seating for quite a few people both inside and out. Everything is well lit and easy to access. When you enter through the side door the counter is in front of you with the menu boards up above. You can see right into the prep area to where the drive-thru window is. I arrived over 5 minutes before I was told my order would be ready and it took a couple of minutes before I was actually greeted by anyone. A couple of employees did notice me but they seem to be fairly busy. No one was at the counter itself and I just kind of spent some time looking around at things. When the gentleman greeted me he asked if I was picking up an order and what name it was under. I gave him the information and he spoke to someone else and it took a minute before they found my order. The gentleman back handed my Blizzard to the gentleman who had spoken to me and he brought it over and handed it to me along with a red spoon. My first impression is that their sizing has gotten much smaller since I used to order. Another important fact to me is they advertise Blizzard's where they make them and turn the cup upside down and then turn it back fairly quickly and nothing comes out. Mine was melted enough that it would have all just poured out of the cup if I had tried to turn it upside down at the counter. I'm not sure how fast they made it and where it was sitting but it clearly had a chance to warm up quite a bit. I took my treat home and put it in the freezer for a little bit so I could enjoy it a little more like I would expect it to be.

The Blizzard itself tasted really good and my only issue was that the vanilla ice cream was a bit gritty. I did enjoy it but I realize that I like the products from their competition better. I'm still considering trying some of the hot food from them but the prices are a bit high for me for what I would be getting. It's hard to justify a cheeseburger from them when there's a Five Guys right next door now.

Basically the restaurant that's off is quite nice as it is brand new but the service is lacking a bit and the ice cream for me wasn't really the quality I expect from them. I can't really comment on the hot food at this point but I do intend to try something in the near future.

I do shudder to think how tiny the mini size is. I'm thinking maybe it's one of those little Dixie cups that you used to use to rinse your mouth out after...

This has been the worst DQ experience I have ever had.

I'm not going to comment on the service times, as they're too variable to say if they're good or bad, and I'd be subjective in saying I wait a long time because those are the most memorable to me and I had not actually measured it.

Their food, however, has objectively frustrated me. The quality is fine, it's a chain fast food restaurant so of course it tasted consistent, but their portions are deceptive.

I first noticed when my wife and I bought two double cheese burgers for something like $5. It was a great promotion. When I got home I opened up the burger to add some salt and what do I see? A missing half of my burger paddy. The outside looked perfect, but the inside had HALF a paddy removed? That's when red flags went off. I ordered again, a double cheese burger for my wife, some weeks later and this time there was a quarter missing in one of the patties in the burger? Is that not theft to charge for two patties and give 1.75?

Today was my last straw, I went in this time for just a simple chocolate dipped cone. What I got back was disappointing, it was half the ice cream that any other DQ gives and looked more like a narrow cone of ice cream rather than what they show (they tried saying it's in a medium cone, but even on a small cone the ice cream was wildly inaccurate for what was supposed to be given). The lady servings me then hands me a chocolate cone so conservatively applied with chocolate the vanilla was still plainly visible beneath it and in some spots weirdly bubbling out. I asked her if that's how it's supposed to look and she just started back and eventually said, yes. After I protested about the amount of chocolate she brought it back for another dipping that actually covered the ice cream beneath it.

If you're going to eat here check your portions because this is three times now we've caught them stealing paid for portions and it's quite frustrating.

I wish I had taken photos, but there are other reviews that show the sleezy and deceptive food practices that will attest to...

This place, as another poster said rips you off on the portions and the stuff they add inside your ice cream. I got a blizzard and it was all just vanilla ice cream under the top layer. Ordered Oreo cheesecake, and I barely ate into it before I hit all the plain vanilla that was in that cup. Not enough added and obviously not mixed well.

I went through the drive through and was driving home so I couldn’t take a photo before I just ate it all so it would not melt.

Another reviewer mentioned young adults working here, and I can confirm this. No issue here, but the workers I observed seemed distracted and giddy, one was even just walking around talking. I think work should be fun, it’s important to enjoy time at work. But not to the point of distraction from the business operation.

The blizzard I got was already melting as if it was sitting around before being served, despite the wait I had after paying. They don’t seem to be trained properly or they were trained to not give the right amount of things.

It’s honestly sad.

I’d recommend going to C right down the road on 192 and westside, or even TT right next to it. You won’t be disappointed or ripped off like other reviewers are reporting, and the sizes are bigger for the cost. Cup filled with whatever mix ins you ask for, and I’ve never gotten a cup of just vanilla ice cream with a little bit of mix ins on top from those establishments, the way I did at this Dairy Queen.

DQ Fan team, this location is a one and done for me. I will not be back and don’t want or respect your copy and paste response to all of these poor reviews. Make a change if you truly care about improving. Hoping people with bad experiences will return is not how you...