DQ Grill & Chill

RAW CHICKEN and NO APOLOGY!
Went to Dairy Queen Grill and Chill with my kids who wanted dinner and ice cream. Ordered a chicken sandwich which was served raw in the middle. Not just a little under-​cooked, but raw! Thank god I cut it in half. When I alerted the cashier, by showing her the uncooked portion in the middle, the manager came out, ignored me completely, and started barking to the cashier, «make sure he gives you the rest of it,» as if I was not standing right there. Despite several other opportunities to offer an apology, none was forthcoming. After waiting over 10 minutes I finally received a replacement that was so overcooked it tasted like shoe leather. Once my kids had finished their meals, I requested to speak with the manager in private and asked her to explain how she could justify not apologizing for serving me raw chicken. The managers response was «mistakes happen, we re-​made it for you.» Only when I explained to her that the right thing to do in that situation is apologize for almost poisoning your customer, did I get her to say, «I’m sorry, we re-​made it for you.» This lame, qualified, apology felt forced, insincere, and angry (as if I had done something wrong). Needless to say, we did not order ice-​cream and on our way out, I could see them all huddled up talking about me instead of doing their jobs. This is what you get when you hire an idiot to manage your restaurant. If a manager is that clueless, who knows what is going on behind the scenes that we do not know about? Awful Service + Awful Food = Awful Experience.

Oh Dairy Queen what have you become? I grew up in Texas where the old fashioned DQ is still alive and kicking. I remember going on a Saturday and getting a Dude Sandwich and a Peanut Buster Parfait. Well it seems like times have changed.
DQ Grill and Chill is a new concept that is spun off of the original model. While it has hamburgers and chicken strips and the classic DQ ice cream novelties (Dilly Bar, etc) it lacks the classic sandwiches of my youth. Gone are the Hungerbuster and the Dude (chicken fried steak) in its place are generic run of the mill burgers and fries.
We opted to have the Chicken Strip basket (4 piece). The pictures on the menu board show nice plump chicken tenders a bowl of gravy and Texas Toast (a guilty pleasure of mine). First the good: the chicken tenders are quite tasty. Well seasoned and crisp, they were almost as good as the unnamed chicken tender restaurant down the street. The fries were generic, but hot and well seasoned.
Then I opened the gravy. I will say it tasted quite good. I assume it’s a prepackaged mix, so consistency shouldn’t be a problem, however it was thick as wallpaper paste. Nicely peppered wallpaper paste but still rather unappealing to look at.
The «Texas Toast» was downright laughable. Rather than thick pieces of crisp buttered toast, we were served what looked like basic grocery store white bread (read: thin, limp and flavorless), literately SOAKED in artificial butter. It wasn’t toasted, in fact it was barely warm. There was so much «butter» that was soggy and gummy. Very disappointing.
We also opted to try the fried Cheese Curds, now in Texas we don’t have cheese curds, as that’s a very WI thing, so I can’t vouch for authenticity, but they were little nuggets of cheesy goodness. Not really all that different from your basic fried cheese. I’d totally order them again.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, but not really a great one either. Just kind of ho-​hum and mostly disappointing. I’ll return… but I’m not in a rush to do so…

Good hamburgers. Staff is a little lazy. The blonde that waited on me (she had hemp necklaces with turquoise beads) was on some kind of sedative. She was dazing off into space. Watched one customer walk in and wait then walked out because she was gazing into space and nobody offered to wait on him.

The inside setup of this DQ is really impressive. There is a huge selection of ice cream cakes and packaged ice cream bars for purchase. You can even buy candles and number candles for the cakes.
We were a huge group of 17 people that showed up at 9 pm and they had no problem taking care of our food orders. Then, we ordered a bunch of ice cream and blizzards. Everything was brought out to our table — all orders were correct and no complaints.

Fast food is fast food however a blizzard and a banana split after dinner is heaven. There just aren’t words to describe why I deserve this right now. Awesome yummy delicious perfection… enough said. Now Unilocalers go get your blizzards!!!

It’s a Dairy Queen on steroids. Same food as a regular DQ, so if your a DQ fan you should love the Grill & Chill concept. Instead of eating outside on picnic tables & ordering through the window you eat the same great stuff like orange Julius, chili dogs, blizzards, sundaes, banana splits, all served using the famous Soft serve ice cream in a «Chili’s» like environment. This is the only Grill & Chill in the area, the rest are regular Dairy Queens.

I was asked to pull forward so the folks behind me could get their ice cream. No problem. However, the clock kept ticking and it was 8minutes before I received my sandwich. Once received, it was so hot I couldn’t actually hold it. Squishy bread from microwaving, stringy flavorless chicken breast (grilled chicken breast sandwich) and 25mins after the order I still couldn’t physically hold my sandwich without getting burned. Worst ever. Threw it out and stayed hungry.

As far as chain burger places go, I liked this one quite a bit. I ordered the $ 5 lunch combo, a good burger with lots of ‘stuff’ on it. Good crispy French fries, and on this day they had a promotion, free sundae with lunch. I asked if I could substitute the sundae for a cone and they complied with a smile. I don’t know about the other ice cream options, I’ve never been big on those at Dairy Queen, but the food was good. Most of all, the employees were very, very friendly and helpful. It was as if they were there to make my day, to make me happy. Quite a difference from the sullen attitudes you can get at most fast food places.

Ordered a Brownie Earthquake which was very good BUT there was very little of it to enjoy. And it cost over $ 4.00. The DQ in Wilton Manors is much more generous with their portions.

I’ve gone to DQ so many times. I’ve even worked there. This is the worst blizzard I’ve ever had. Let’s just say my Butterfinger blizzard had barely the dust of a Butterfinger in it. And I had to stop at a CVS to pick up a Butterfinger to be satisfied…
Never again am I going to his location.

It’s here! Blizzards, slushies, shakes, sundaes, dilly bars, cakes and too many tempting toppings/​mix-​ins. This was my first time ever eating food from a Dairy Queen, so here goes: chicken strips (the honey mustard dip was tasty), a ¼ lb grillburger and [a skimpy side] of fries … all were palatable and made a good fast-​food snack. My Oreo blizzard and chocolate cookie dough blizzard were delicious, of course. This drive-​thru is a welcome addition to the neighborhood… wish they were open later (open ’til 10:30pm Sun-​Thurs, 11pm Fri-​Sat). Overall:
1. great because it’s clean and new
2. convenient for a snack or satisfying a full-​on fast-​food craving
3. awesome because I LOVE ice cream.
Located just south of 62^nd Street on the east side of Federal Hwy.

Being a chain subsidiary of Dairy Queen, one might in many ways know what to expect. It’s clean, neat, orderly, well managed, great for kids or for those like me who have never grown old enough to cease continuing in their years of having a happy childhood.
The menu is limited, basically consisting of burgers, with their best being the «Flame Thrower GrillBurger,» various chicken sandwiches and wraps, hot dogs, clubs, BLT’s, basket selections, salads and a wide range of «kid’s menus.»
I’ve had several of their burgers including their «Flame Thrower» and their BBQ Burger. I found them all to be rather good and there «$ 5 Buck Lunch» to be a super bargain. Though I’m not one to eat on the cheap, I can say that if I were, I’d probably be a fan of DQ. However, since I’m not and because I can’t find anything about the place to be something out of the ordinary, unique or innovative, about the best I can say for the place is that it is A-​OK.