Long live Dairy Queen, Blizzards and Dilly Bars. Here’s why they won’t go away in Texas
Dairy Queen is very much alive.
The recent shutdown of 25 DQs, mostly in small towns, made panicky headlines to Texans afraid of losing their neighborhood Blizzard fix.
But Texas is only down to our last 560 or so Dairy Queens. There is no risk of a Dilly Bar shortage.
Judging from one of the new Dairy Queens, the 80-year Texas roadside landmark will be around another 80 years.
A new DQ is nothing like the worn-out shops that dot small-town back roads.
The menu offers homestyle chicken-and-dumplings, or Texas tacos with plenty of actual ground beef, or a new-wave Country Basket with spicy chicken fingers and spicy-sweet “Texas sauce.”
To check Dairy Queen’s heat level, try somewhere like the new location in south Burleson, 1620 SW Wilshire Blvd. (Texas 174).
In fact, Burleson seems like a good Dairy Queen town.
Both city locations get praise online despite the city’s intense competition. Every other fast-food restaurant in America seems to have a Burleson location, if not two.
A recent lunch was a complete surprise.
Dairy Queen’s menu is full of spice, creativity and flavor. Frankly, it tastes more like Texas than it used to.
Fifty years ago, the “Country Basket” was the first time any of us ever heard of a steak or chicken “finger.”
Now, the fingers come in a not-shy spicy flavor, with a side called “Texas sauce” that mixes barbecue sauce, honey and mustard for a flavor that beats other chicken restaurants’ “tangy” sauce.
The fries tasted like 50 years ago. Dip them into the tangy sauce, the Heinz ketchup or the cream gravy.
But the Texas toast didn’t seem Texan. It was one lone, thin, barely browned, rubbery slice of bread.
This might be tough to believe, but Dairy Queens in Texas have sold tacos longer than Country Baskets — since at least 1973.
Now, they’re a welcome throwback to the days when crispy tacos actually contained a big helping recognizable as ground beef.
The big bottle of Cholula on the counter elevates the Dairy Queen taco above other fast-food versions with their squeaky little sauce packets.
Another new menu item at some Dairy Queens is a homestyle chicken-and-dumplings made from a Texas recipe.
It’s a good offer for winter, but on this day the version at the Burleson location was short on chicken.
In a major upgrade from old Dairy Queens, the ice cream case offered a wide selection of all the modern cakes and Dilly Bar flavors — butterscotch, chocolate, cherry and even reduced-sugar and plant-based versions.
Look, I’m a Braum’s snob who thinks the Oklahoma chain might now be better than Whataburger.
But only DQ has a Dilly Bar variety pack.
I realize I didn’t mention burgers, shakes or Blizzards. But I figure you know about all that.
Not every DQ has the menu or the style of new locations. Some are not nearly as reliable, and most are not as modern.
They’re franchises owned by different companies, so they vary widely.
But DQ v3.0 has a place in Texas.
Dairy Queen opens at 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. at 17 locations in or near Tarrant County; dairyqueen.com.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
