Dairy Queen Store — Restaurant in Iowa City

For your safety, I recommend that you only get take out instead of dining in, and that includes the tables outside. Or, insist that they sanitize your table and chairs before you sit to eat. My friends and I sat down inside to eat dinner and then get dessert. During the entire time we were in there, the front counter was only sprayed and wiped down three times...and with the same towel each time instead of paper towels or wipes. The indoor tables were only wiped down if an obvious spill had been made by one of the kids. The outdoor ones were never disinfected. None of the chairs were wiped, and neither were the couches or end tables, or even the counter that held condiment packets. Adults were required to wear masks, but the rule was not enforced for children, pre-teens, or teens. All of the staff wore masks, but no one wore gloves, even when filling the napkin holders at the tables, which had been touched by many hands, but never sanitized. Then he went straight back to making dipped cones and handing them to people with the same bare hands. Ick!!! The food, desserts, and drinks were really good, though. The pizza burger was very yummy, the quarter-pound cheeseburger was delicious with a crispy edge, and the chicken tenders were fantastic! The fries were good -- but DON'T get chilli on them; it was watered-down and extremely bland! And of course, the dessert, blizzard, and malt that we tried were all wonderful! So, be...

A REALLY important thing everyone should realize is that this store is NOT an actual franchised Dairy Queen. It is simply a locally owned restaurant that licenses the Dairy Queen brand to sell some of their products. Because of that, this store CANNOT take any Dairy Queen gift cards. I found this out after several attempts to use a gift card and finally receiving the explanation about its non-Dairy Queen status. This also makes much more sense because the employees are not trained or dressed for a Dairy Queen job and the store looks nothing like a Dairy Queen. Furthermore, the high school students that the manager hires to do the job are pretty pitiful. The service really isn't that great. You can really tell they don't have a care in the world. The only upsides to this store are the wide menu options for Blizzards, a cozy interior, and the close location to local neighborhoods. I will stress that it is really convenient for walking or biking and that helps make it accessible for families and kids. If this place made some better hiring decisions, posted clearly why it can't take Dairy Queen gift cards, and tried to create a stronger identity, I think people would be able to enjoy and appreciate...

I've visited this location twice and I think that will be all for me. It's laid out so that you can see the menu when you walk in, but your back is to it when you're at the counter ordering. There's no good spot to stand and check it out or to stand and wait for your order. Granted, I order a small vanilla cone 99% of the time that I end up in a Dairy Queen, but I still like to see what's on offer. The music has been deeply unpleasant on both visits and the place is always a little grubby. On my latest visit the cones were not being stored in a neat little stack, but were instead in a bucket on top of the soft-serve machine. The young lady that served my cone touched the top of it when she pulled it out. I didn't see any hand-washing happening while...