New Dairy Queen comes with larger menu

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This article was published 16/02/2019 (2445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandonites will soon be able to try Dairy Queen’s full line of hot food, not just Blizzards and Peanut Buster Parfaits.

A Dairy Queen Grill & Chill is set to open at the Corral Centre on Monday and features the chain’s whole selection of burgers, fries and chicken.

Owner Laird Lidster said it’s something people in Brandon have been waiting a long time to see open in their city. While Neepawa and Portage la Prairie have full Dairy Queen restaurants, Brandon was left out.

“There’s been no access in town forever, and a lot of small towns and even bigger centres have Dairy Queen; small towns have a Dairy Queen with food and Brandon never has,” Lidster said. “When you don’t have it, when you get it, feels like a little more of a special treat.”

Lidster said he heard some people loved the food so much they would take road trips for the sole purpose of eating at a Dairy Queen. Out of all the options on the menu, he said his favourite thing is the flamethrower burger, but the chicken strips are also very popular.

He said he thinks Brandon’s love for the chain comes down to nostalgia and the memories people in the city have of the ice cream. The location at the corner of 18th Street and Park Avenue is especially nostalgic and is the city’s oldest Dairy Queen.

“You can’t just build a store that has that type of nostalgic feel; we’ve never really wanted to change the layout of that store.”

Lidster grew up around Dairy Queen and the restaurant scene. His father started managing the 18th Street location in 1974 after his uncle suddenly died.

“I literally grew up with a diaper on in a DQ.”

Lidster also owns the location in Shoppers Mall, which is combined with an Orange Julius, and the Qdoba Mexican Eats restaurant on 18th Street.

The new restaurant at the Corral Centre is moving in next to Brandon’s second Freshii, which is scheduled to open sometime in April. The new buildings are located on a pad in the southwest corner of the Walmart parking lot.

The idea to open at the location came after seeing drawings of what the new restaurant spaces at the area would look like and how a Dairy Queen could be set up, Lidster said. The Corral Centre is also a big draw for people in the Westman region, so customers were already making the trip out.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on at the Corral Centre; that’s what feeds the desire for a store, you want to be where the customer base is.”

There was also an opportunity to set up shop in the north end of the city, which he said doesn’t have as many options for food or restaurants.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people that they’re excited to have something in this area, and the Corral Centre is a little bit under-serviced in terms of food choice from the (quick service restaurant) industry,” he said.

With a location now in the north end, Lidster said Brandon is well-covered. While he doesn’t have any current plans to open any additional restaurants, he said it’s possible if the right place came up.

“The nice thing about Dairy Queen, we like our menu — we like our product mix,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just a grandma and grandpa, seeing them come in with the grandkids for a treat on a Sunday afternoon is something — the best part of the business for us.”

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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