Best & Worst Calgary Dairy Queens

[Ace]

Dairy Queen to me is the most bizarre chain restaurant out there. I find that depending on which independently owned restaurant I go to, I can have either the best meal ever, or the absolute worst. But when it is good, it is soooo good. Hence the inspiration of this thread, when I’ve got a craving for a solid dairy queen cheeseburger, or that super thick, evenly mixed blizzard I got to know where the nearest good location is, and on that same note where to run far far away from. What's the best (or worst) Dairy queen you have been to and why?

Here are mine:
Worst
McMahon Stadium Dairy queen - This place is the worst. My recollections are food on the ground, dirty floors, stale buns, luke warm cheeseburgers, runny ice cream. Yuck. Stay far far away...

Best
Ranchlands Dairy queen, this place is freaking good every single time. They always have a cheeseburger sale, the burgers come out fresh every single time you get them, and the cheese is melted perfectly. The temperature of the meat is exactly like right off a BBQ, and the onion rings and fries are fresh...never stale. The ice cream is the perfect consistency, and I always get prompt, efficient service from the employees. This is by far the best Dairy queen I have ever been too, and it should win some kind of award.

[Burninator]

Here's mine:

Worst
The only two I've been to, the Dairy Queen in Deer Run, and the Dairy Queen off of Southland.

Best

[Looger]

dito on the ranchlands one.

also the one in beddington by the sandstone bus terminal is pretty decent.

haven't had the misfortune to run across a bad one, though i tried that chili burger in BC and was UNIMPRESSED. very very bland taste. yuk.

another franchise that varies greatly, in my opinion more than the others, is KFC. the edmonton trail 12 ave one was atrocious a decade ago but i'm sure that couldn't have continued. also the centre-mcknight one isn't grand either.

the a & w on mcknight and edmonton trail sold me very obviously turned meat once!

i eat too much fast food, i think, is the core problem here... all these warning signs and i keep going back!

[llama64]

The DQ in Lakeview is pretty damn sketchy. Many of the chairs are ripped or are broken. The tables are falling apart and the floor has missing tiles all over the place. I used to work there 9 years ago and these problems still havn't been fixed (last visit, a month ago).

Can't say the food is bad though. One of the last places to use an actual fire grill to cook the burgers. Don't eat the chili though. Definetly don't eat the chili.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by llama64

The DQ in Lakeview is pretty damn sketchy. Many of the chairs are ripped or are broken. The tables are falling apart and the floor has missing tiles all over the place. I used to work there 9 years ago and these problems still havn't been fixed (last visit, a month ago).

Can't say the food is bad though. One of the last places to use an actual fire grill to cook the burgers. Don't eat the chili though. Definetly don't eat the chili.

That was my first job working at that DQ.

That place is a real **** hole - while I was working there it actually failed 2 health inspections and was forced to undergo renovations in order to stay in business.

If you think its bad now, you should see how bad it was before.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Ace

Worst
McMahon Stadium Dairy queen - This place is the worst. My recollections are food on the ground, dirty floors, stale buns, luke warm cheeseburgers, runny ice cream. Yuck. Stay far far away...

This one has always been touch and go, sometimes its good sometimes not so good. I Think that it is a family run business, and it appears that they have a hard time getting anyone else to work for them. So a lot of the time the messy appearance of the hangout area, the long wait in line, etc appears to be because they simply don't have enough staff to do everything that is required.

Mind you, its been quite a bit since I've been there (probably 2-3 years now) so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[Sparks]

The DQ in Lakeview is pretty damn sketchy.

That's the one I was going to say - that place has been bad for a long time. It seems like anyone who works there only works for a couple of days. The staff turnover must be ridiculous.

The one on Bow Trail near 37th Street is good, though.

[CaptainCrunch]

I used to love DQ burgers, but over the last couple of years they've gotten really bleah to me. I still like thier fries though.

Give me a Harvey's hamburger with cheese and bacon and all the fixings including hot peppers every day.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by llama64

The DQ in Lakeview is pretty damn sketchy. Many of the chairs are ripped or are broken. The tables are falling apart and the floor has missing tiles all over the place. I used to work there 9 years ago and these problems still havn't been fixed (last visit, a month ago).

Can't say the food is bad though. One of the last places to use an actual fire grill to cook the burgers. Don't eat the chili though. Definetly don't eat the chili.

Over the next few thousand years I think humans will evolve to the point where it's simply instinctual that we don't eat chilli from a fast-food restaurant.

The Dairy Queen off 17th Ave, just west of Mount Royal Village, I believe, has never let me down. It's been a couple years, but the burgers and fries were always good.

The Canyon Meadows DQ was in the paper for health violations not too long ago.

[phaneuf_train]

A little off topic, but does anyone remember the A & W Steak burger? That was the best fast-food anything ive ever had. I want it to come back!

[CarlW]

The DQ in Northlands mall has the worse Blizzards i've ever had

[Ace]

Originally Posted by phaneuf_train

A little off topic, but does anyone remember the A & W Steak burger? That was the best fast-food anything ive ever had. I want it to come back!

Oh man, the most desired "return of fast food" for me is Wendy's smokey bacon cheeseburger.

[shane_c]

The one at Deerfoot Meadows is nice. They even bring the food to your table.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Best: Deerfoot Meadows Chill and Grill, hands down. It's got to be corporate run, the place is fast and sparkling clean.

Worst: The one on 8th St. SW and 16th Av, (just off the red mile, it's the one rouge underoos mentioned). Maybe it's nicer by day but man after dark that place is a hole. The drunks and sketchies from the Mac congregate around the entrance, so you're always asked for something. Last time I had to step over a drunk native guy who was too intoxicated to stay in his wheel chair while I was exiting. This was last summer.

To top it off, the two Korean guys in there "cooking" appeared to be severely ****ed off at each other and were yelling back at each other all night. Food was mediocre at best.

I grew up by the Ranchlands DQ, have they renoed that place at all, or do they still have the el cheapo one piece arborite booth seats? And the black iron cattle gate pens to line up in? Ahhhh 1982....

[Dodsdomd]

Originally Posted by Ace

Here are mine:
Worst
McMahon Stadium Dairy queen - This place is the worst. My recollections are food on the ground, dirty floors, stale buns, luke warm cheeseburgers, runny ice cream. Yuck. Stay far far away...

Very sick place. And the owners are grumpy as hell. Why I've been there more than once is beyond me. Bad me.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Ace

Oh man, the most desired "return of fast food" for me is Wendy's smokey bacon cheeseburger.

Bacon Mushroom Melt. If Wendys ever made that a regular menu item, I'd probably weigh 350lbs by now.

As far as DQ goes, any DQ Brazier is still pretty good. If it is a DQ that simply microwaves the burgers (which, sadly, is most of them), they are usually pretty awful.

Those Grillburgers are by far the worst thing ever introduced to fast food.

[Incinerator]

Worst:

Woodbine DQ: when I was 12 I got food poisoning from there and spent a week at the children hospital

DQ near Elbow & Heritage: went there a couple times during my high school days and they werent the cleanest operation around, to put it lightly.

[Robbob]

Worst:

The one on elbow by Heritage. You don't make the CHR list for nothing.

Best:

The one across from the southland Leisure centre. They seem to have the same staff most of the time I go.
I was also impressed with the grill and chill by deerfoot meadows.

Regarding harvey's, I don't know what it is but everytime I go there I have to head to the bathroom within an hour. I've been there four times and everytime like clock work I'm looking for the toilet. Needless to say I don't go back. How's that for completely obscure poster information.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Worst:

The one on elbow by Heritage. You don't make the CHR list for nothing.

Best:

The one across from the southland Leisure centre. They seem to have the same staff most of the time I go.
I was also impressed with the grill and chill by deerfoot meadows.

Regarding harvey's, I don't know what it is but everytime I go there I have to head to the bathroom within an hour. I've been there four times and everytime like clock work I'm looking for the toilet. Needless to say I don't go back. How's that for completely obscure poster information.

Which Harvey's? If you're talking about the one in Signal Hill then I'm not the least bit surprised haha

oh and I just checked the CHR list, indeed the Elbow DQ was on there, why am I not surprised

[MrMastodonFarm]

The one at Mount Royal food court is pretty darn good, atleast when I was there, a perky chubby lady always worked, what a peach.