Business & Tech

'It's Always Ice Cream Weather:' Downtown Dairy Queen Opens for Season

Regular customers say it's a sure sign of warm days ahead when the downtown mainstay opens for business.

Get your blizzard on, Rochester.

In what is perhaps the surest sign of the spring days to come, the downtown opened for its 46th season Thursday.

"It's always ice cream weather," said John Lambert, whom employees greeted by name as he walked into the Rochester mainstay Thursday afternoon. He ordered his favorite: an Oreo Blizzard. Then he took a minute to catch up with the people who run his favorite ice cream shop.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"I've been looking forward to this," said Lambert, who works at the nearby . "It's a long winter without it."

It was a conversation repeated throughout the day at the Main Street shop. When DQ opened at 11 a.m., there were about 25 people waiting in line. One car had been there since 8:30 a.m., employee Heidi Snell-Whitney said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"It's the place to be," Snell-Whitney said. "We start to recognize customers and develop relationship with them. That's how we've become Rochester's favorite dessert destination."

Owner Tom Keller agreed. His family built the Dairy Queen in 1964. The shop, which is a short walk from the and , closes each winter. During spring and summer days, its parking lot is a frenzy of activity.

Keller said the shop's most-ordered treats are the Cookie Dough Blizzard and the Oreo Blizzard. His personal favorite? A simple vanilla cone with nuts.

Dairy Queen is open 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. In the summer, it is open from 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Rochester-Rochester Hills