Dairy Queen Grill & Chill — Restaurant in South Bend

stopped here last night for a quick dinner date with my partner around 9:45. lobby was pretty full of people and the employees seemed frazzled, but the lady taking our order was very patient and respectful. we got our ice cream before our food and went to the back to eat our ice cream and wait for our meals, because it was too overstimulating in the front of the store. we sat there for a few minutes before an employee walked up to us at 10 on the dot and very rudely said that the lobby was closed. they then showed us the door, walking past all of the other patrons, and we walked out in confusion before realizing nobody else was made to leave and we still hadn’t received our meal. so we stepped back in and waited in front of the door, received a very mean look from the employee who told us to leave, and continued to eat our ice cream standing up for a couple of minutes before deciding to just take a seat nearby. within a min or two the same employee brought our food up to the counter. we sat to eat at one of the picnic tables outside, found that my partner had been given the wrong sandwich, but we were both too anxious to go back in and ask for it to be corrected. every customer who was in the lobby when we left it was allowed to stay until they were finished eating and ready to go, and we watched as new patrons entered and were also allowed to dine in. i’m still absolutely floored — i have never been treated so disrespectfully at any fast food establishment and i don’t understand why this occurred. we weren’t bothering anybody. we waited all week to go on this date, and it was ruined. neither of us will be returning to this location. bonnie doon has better food and ice cream for cheaper anyway, they just weren’t open.

editing to add that the owner(s) of this location never reached...

I believe this is the first 1 star review I've ever left...

We spent a total of $45 for 2 adult meals with small blizzards, and 2 kids meals. The portions were skimpy and insanely overpriced. The quality was sub-par fast food quality that you'd expect, but for the price, it absolutely should have been better. But this is how it is to eat out now - it's the world we're living in. This isn't my main complaint, this is just simply an annoyance.

Main complaint:

We had paid to upcharge one of our meal desserts from a sundae to a small blizzard. The worker accidentally made a medium blizzard instead of a small, and we asked if we could just take the medium since it was already made. The manager decided to throw it away (waste) and make us a small instead of just letting us just take the medium. This made no sense, because that costs the company more money. The manager began to be rude and high-strong, openly reprimanded the employee (who seemed to be new) in front of us. We got the blizzard and there was hardly any oreos in it. No chunks, just crumbs that looked like pepper specks. We showed the manager, and she said it was made correctly and that's how it is. So we all go sit back down, and realize that our sons blizzard was made wrong. It was cheesecake, but he ordered cookie dough. So we go back to the front and tell the manager, and she angrily grabbed the mistake blizzard from us and throws it in the trash. We get the new one back and it is correct.

This whole experience was ridiculous. The behavior of the manager was appalling, and we will never return. I wouldn't work for her in a million years and will be sure to tell others that the management at this...

It's been awhile since I have been to a DQ, but it sounded good tonight. As a person with allergen needs, I know I can make staff cringe because it means extra work. Everyone I dealt with tonight was polite, friendly, open to answering my questions, and they took care of the things I needed them to take care of like glove changes and cleaning the Blizzard blender before making mine. They also did all of this within 30 minutes of closing which says a lot about the people in the restaurant; if they can be friendly and patient then, it's likely they will be earlier in the day as well.

As with most fast food chains, the gluten free options are small, and even DQ corporate recommends avoiding most things. However, the staff at this location seem to be knowledgeable about handling food allergies, so if you go into it knowing cross-contamination is a potential possibility and knowing what to ask for, then you should be okay. However, as always my gluten sensitive/Celiac friendos, exercise caution and know thyself! Also, do watch prep. There was almost an incident with the blender NOT being washed, & that would've been unfortunate.

Overall, it was a great visit, and I'd go back to...