Dairy Queen (Treat) — Restaurant in Gainesville

This location was my second favorite in North Florida...BUT our last two visits have been disappointing. The location is ideal for this iconic ice-cream franchise to thrive, perfect for travelers, and somewhat close to Santa Fe College and the University of Florida to satisfy student's sweet tooth cravings. This location is in a busy eating hub of Gainesville, so be prepared for traffic and hustle and bustle. There is always a large homeless presence around this location, so if that is uncomfortable maybe Ocala twenty-five minutes south may be a better pick. Although this location shares space with a shell gas station, there is plenty of room for parking and there is an around-the-building drive through for no time to stop cliental. Navigation from I-75 is easy for north and south bound travelers, and there is a large shopping center just behind this location that might be ideal for tractor trailers.

On our visit we ordered three ice-creams and a malt through the app. This location was somewhat busy, and had three people working. We had an extensive wait as the workers were having trouble with the equipment that makes the ice-cream. The workers definitely get a thumbs up for trying to get the equipment to work, but there was no success. The workers had to refund customers...but not all. They were not able to refund our order as we ordered ahead via the app. We were told to call corp or return the following day for the order to be completed. I will skip ahead...still waiting for a refund.

On our previous visit, we always pay for extra topping or mix-ins, but the ice-creams were 90% plain with none. Ice-cream is one of our favorite desserts, and we visit many ice-cream stops in north, central, and southwest Florida. Based on our experiences...both in the past three months, we may just stick it with our favorite locations in...

To start this off, I must say I would rate this location 0 stars if it was possible, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Today, September 30th (at 9:10 PM!) my girlfriend and I went to this location as we wanted a quick treat and we knew that Dairy Queen closes at 10 PM. As we’re pulling into a parking spot, we see an employee mopping that seems to glance at us and stare. After a few seconds, he walks over to the door, opens it (while still staring at us), closes it, locks it, then proceeds to jiggle the door to ensure it’s locked. Both confused, my girlfriend and I look just at each other. After a short amount of time I stepped outside of the car and walked up to the door, not being acknowledged once by the employee inside mopping. I went to try to open the door to see if it was actually locked and to see if it would grab the attention of the employee, yet he didn’t bat an eye. This is all taking place between 9:11 and 9:12, still a whopping 48 minutes before they close!!! If we had shown up right before they close, I would understand this situation much more, however that was not the case at all. If something was causing them to need to close early I would completely understand that as, but it was the lack of communication on that employee’s end and the complete rudeness that was upsetting. I will most definitely not be returning to this location, and my views of the company have unfortunately been affected...

I had an awful experience at this ice cream shop, and unfortunately, it seems like it’s a pattern. My friends and I were on the mood for a sweet treat and dairy queen is usually our go-to. We walked in 15 minutes before closing, and the staff member made it clear they were NOT happy to serve us. Mind you, we were not the only ones to walk in considering this location is near a college town. The worker was incredibly rude from the moment we stepped in, rushing us and making very snarky comments as if we were a huge inconvenience.

After reading reviews about this dairy queen at this location, I learned that this isn’t the first time this particular worker has been rude to customers. The pictures of this person are posted on a previous review and I can confirm it was definitely the worker that was rude to us. I believe her name was Leightton as it was printed out on the receipt. It seems they have a reputation for having a bad attitude, which is completely unacceptable in a customer service role. I get that it was close to closing time, but treating paying customers like they’re a nuisance is no way to run a business. If you can’t handle customers near closing time, adjust your hours or hire someone with a better attitude.

If management doesn’t do something about this, they’re going to lose a lot more business. I definitely won’t be back, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone who values good...