Nostalgia on the menu at Brandon’s drive-in DQ

Brandon’s ice cream aficionados looking for a little nostalgia mixed in with their soft serve don’t need to go far to get their hot afternoon fix. One of the oldest Dairy Queen franchises in the province — if not the oldest — has served up sundaes, banana splits, cones and parfaits for more than 70 years at the corner of 18th Street and Park Avenue.

“There is debate if our Dairy Queen was the first in the province,” says Laird Lidster, who owns the historic franchise with his wife Tracy. “There’s a walk up Dairy Queen on Sergeant Avenue in Winnipeg, but neither of us have really figured it out. But we were definitely the first in the city, and I would say arguably first in the province.”

A grand opening advertisement in The Brandon Sun on Aug. 7, 1954 with the tag line “The Cone with the Curl on Top” suggests the business first opened its doors on Aug. 9 of that year.

“Here’s downright good refreshment!,” the advertisement reads. “Dairy Queen is a freshly frozen dairy food … frozen just seconds before you eat it. Nutritious … refreshing … satisfying.”

While modern patrons may quibble with the nutritious part — it was the 1950s after all — there’s no doubt that this seasonal Brandon staple has been on our city’s summer radar ever since.

Of course, Dairy Queen has evolved with the times, with new menu items added to the growing list of options all the time, with the most popular among them being a Dairy Queen Blizzard, which comes in 17 different flavours, including Mint Oreo, Strawberry Cheesecake, Mixing Bowl Mashup and Cotton Candy.

Brandon’s drive-in Dairy Queen sells DQ Treatzza Pizzas — fudge and crunch covered in soft serve ice cream and toppings — as well as their signature ice cream cakes starting at $30 for an eight-inch round cake, $35 for a 10-inch round, or $44 for a 10- by 14-inch sheet cake.

But if it’s a walk down memory lane you’re looking for, you’ve got to go for those concoctions that have stood the test of time — dilly bars, drippy dipped cones, thick milkshakes and sundaes. And if you’re an ice cream lover like Laird Lidster, you can’t ignore the appeal of an old fashioned banana split ($6.29) or a peanut buster parfait ($6.49).

“These classic treats have survived on the menu on their own,” Lidster said. “We don’t really see a lot of, you know, marketing behind them. We see ads talking about the new Blizzard flavours that come out, because Blizzards are the number one selling product.

“But we as operators, we love those old treats — the banana split’s probably oldest of them that are still on the menu, other than sundaes and cones. But when you look at a big built treat, a banana split is the legacy treat for sure. And if I open in the spring and put a peanut buster on sale, it just sells like crazy.”

In fact, Lidster says the visual appeal of these two items requires special care to put together, and as the owner he asks his staff to take the time to get the look just right.

“When you’re making a banana split, I always say, it takes a little bit of care. And you’ve got to go slow because you want it to look good. In the end, it should look like the poster. It might sound a little funny to some people to say, ‘No, I treat it like it’s a work of art.’ You’re trying to get that little curl on top. You want to get the whip in just the right spots and the banana sitting just right,” Lidster said.

“It takes a little practice for sure. New staff get very scared of that banana split, but it’s a fun treat to make.”

While other Dairy Queen “Brazier” franchises have popped up selling hot food like burgers and hot dogs on a charcoal grill, among other items, Lidster says there’s both a sentimental and a financial reason why this particular ice cream shop has remained devoted solely to ice cream treats.

Taking down a piece of Brandon history would go against family tradition, for one, as the franchise has been in Lidster’s family for more than 50 years, Lidster and his wife having run it since 2007.

Aside from family, there are also good reasons to keep the business seasonal, and the franchise a drive-in rather than an eat-in facility. He says that a drive-thru experience is totally different than the drive-in. But so much of it comes down to the memories that are built by customers and staff alike, he says.

“Winter is always a tough time for ice cream sales in general,” Lidster said. “But you get that spring opening, and we do still get a lot of connection with our customers when spring is here. Watching families come up, the kids can put their faces right up against the window and watch the products being made. It’s that experience — it’s more than just a transaction.”

Other spots around the city to check out:

• Velvet Dip — One of Brandon’s other beacons of summer, the Velvet Dip has dished out tasty ice cream treats on Brandon’s Victoria Avenue since 1965. Besides soft serve cones, this walk up favourite has 12 flavours of hard ice cream and offers several different frozen specialties, from splits and sundaes to Slush Puppies, floats, and ice cream sandwiches (the “Sammich”).

• Chocolato — One of the newer ice cream stops to set up shop in Brandon, Chocolato on Currie Boulevard claims to have “The best chocolate in the world,” according to its website. Considering the menu, however, that may not be far from the truth, with twist cones, large and beautiful “royal” sundaes, Belgian waffles, cakes, dessert pizzas and even a chocolate-dip fondue for all your chocolate needs and desires.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com