Dairy Queen

[UnclePete]

Open one mainly for the best foot-longs in the whole world (and even better when they were on sale).

hopefully one day we can get a Dairy Queen in OKC

[Larry OKC]

UnclePete: not sure if I ever had a Dairy Queen foot-long, but would be hard to beat the one at Big Ed's

[BBatesokc]

The wife and I actually ate at a DQ yesterday near Paige, TX after completing the Tough Mudder. Figured we deserved some useless calories and wanted to know if DQ was what I remember - fortunately and unfortunately it was..... The chili-cheese footlong coney I had was awesome and the fries were pretty good too (pretty close to McD's fries). Wife had the crispy chicken sandwich. She said it wasn't crispy at all and was nowhere near as good as a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. She also ordered some sort of fried jalapeños - those were pretty good.

Restaurant was clean and pretty new looking, but service was terrible. The girl at the register didn't know anything and claimed she wasn't new. Asked what came with a chili-dog combo and she said 'just a drink.' I asked how can that be when its an additional $3? She just shrugged and said "I don't know, but the people in the back will include whatever its suppose to come with." We then had to repeat/clarify our really simple order 3x before she got it right. She also asked my wife if she wanted the lettuce, tomato and mayo on her sandwich - she said yes - but it arrived with none of that because it apparently is not an option.

To top it off, it took 27 minutes to get our order! The restaurant wasn't even 1/4 full an everyone was complaining about the wait. Some people came in, heard about the wait and left.

Food was 'good' enough, but nothing I'd crave or miss.

[kevinpate]

Where oh where do fast food places find their 'service' people? And why are there so dang many of them?

Growing up in the 70's, and even as a young adult in the 80's, it was fairly rare for an order to be delivered wrong. Ditto for encountering poor service or the 'how should I know, I just work here' mentalities, even in the order at the counter places.

I don't know what happened, but once we hit the 1990, bad service seems to have steadily become the norm instead of the exception.

[Hawk405359]

UnclePete: not sure if I ever had a Dairy Queen foot-long, but would be hard to beat the one at Big Ed's

Does Big Ed's still exist? We used to have one near where I lived growing up, but they got into tax trouble and had to close. I remember loving the burgers.

[Steve]

There is one left at Penn and NW 122 in the Camelot Square shopping center. A franchising scheme messed up most of the restaurants....

[RadicalModerate]

I don't know what happened, but once we hit the 1990, bad service seems to have steadily become the norm instead of the exception.

This is a real puzzler . . .
If bad service has steadily become the norm, isn't it average service?

Dairy Queen footlongs were normally above average.
But Sonic's are delivered at the speed of sound.

[Jim Kyle]

Where oh where do fast food places find their 'service' people? And why are there so dang many of them?

Somewhere around the mid-70s, we stopped teaching children that actions have consequences and that the actor must bear responsibility for them. Instead we began concentrating on building self-esteem and protecting them from the consequences of their acts. This switch had a number of unintended side effects, including a breakdown of classroom discipline and a general attitude of "couldn't care less" among the great majority of youngsters. Peer pressure then took care of squashing the desire to do a good job, for most of them. And the lack of preparation for real life left them with little choice other than flipping burgers uncaringly...

Fortunately, cultures swing "like a pendulum do" to quote Roger Miller. We seem now to be on a backswing, and there's hope for the future. Meanwhile, we can just enjoy the brave new world we created for ourselves...

[Jim Kyle]

Steve, didn't Ed (Ed Brown, as I recall) have some family health problems that took his attention away from keeping the chain going? There may be a story there for one of the history blogs. Another one would be Neptune's Submarine Sandwiches, which began as a single shop on Penn a couple of blocks north of NW 23, expanded to blanket the metro area, then collapsed to just one remaining...

[Steve]

That didn't help either. I got to meet and know Ed. Good guy. Things got bad not just with health problems, but also with his wife being seriously injured by a drunk driver. You're right .... something Doug or I will have to blog on....

[bluedogok]

"Service" all comes down to store management and the franchise owner. The DQ by our previous house in South Austin had exceptional service for a fast food place, they tended to have a mix of people in their 20's to 40's, there rarely seemed to be the number of high school kids in there (even though it was a block from Crockett HS). The one near my office in North Austin was a bit more inconsistent service wise (Burnet Road south of 183) but the food was good at both. I know many of the small town locations vary greatly depending upon what they pay, the one in my wife's hometown of Monahans tends to have older workers but some of the ones along the way do not.

[flintysooner]

I thought Big Ed was Ed Thomas.

[boscorama]

Yes, it was Thomas, I think. I knew his brother Alex Thomas.

[Larry OKC]

Does Big Ed's still exist? We used to have one near where I lived growing up, but they got into tax trouble and had to close. I remember loving the burgers.

Steve is correct. If not mistaken the next-to-last one was across the street from St. Anthony's Hosp there on 10th (in an old IHOP A-frame building). The hospital bought the land and they were supposed to reopen inside the hospital but it never came to be. Some of their stuff was slightly different, like they didn't have a foot-long, just a regular sized and they didn't use the same chili on it as the one up on 122nd & Penn. The one has added some new menu items that I need to try the next time I am up that way.

[RadicalModerate]

Not to go all 60MinutesAndyRooneyish on this topic of immediate pressing culinary concern . . .

But have you ever noticed that all of the pretenders to the throne of excellence in terms of algae-based soft-serve "ice cream"--that is, Dairy Kings and their Ilk--are always inferior to Dairy Queens?

I think this goes back to the 1500's in Russia.
It may have something to do with the development and resurrection, to the west, of The Kaiser.

I think that Sonic and Kaiser may be preparing for war in terms of preferred ambiance but I've been wrong before. And will be again.

Would it be possible . . .
for, say, a mobile Food Truck Operator . . .
to declare himorherself . . .
Dairy Pretender to The Throne?
Dairy Emperor Dowager?
Dairy Prime Minister?
Dairy Dictator?
and not get busted for whatever?

Sorry . . . Sunflower turned to Sprouts and I'm all confused =)
I'm waiting for Whole Foods to turn to Point 75 Foods.

[boscorama]

Dairy Boy, Dairy Maid ... never know what you'll find in small towns. The "ice cream" is consistent but that's the only thing I be getting there. McDonalds now has a dip cone which I've tried a few times. I swear, the chocolate is too hard and shell-like, a problem I never encountered within the Dairy Family.

[Jettmiester]

If someone wanted to make a killing they'd open a DQ in Edmond/NW Okc area around 178th and Penn. There is no decent fast food in the area except Sonic and Braums (I dont think those are very decent).

[Dubya61]

"Service" all comes down to store management and the franchise owner. The DQ by our previous house in South Austin had exceptional service for a fast food place, they tended to have a mix of people in their 20's to 40's, there rarely seemed to be the number of high school kids in there (even though it was a block from Crockett HS). The one near my office in North Austin was a bit more inconsistent service wise (Burnet Road south of 183) but the food was good at both. I know many of the small town locations vary greatly depending upon what they pay, the one in my wife's hometown of Monahans tends to have older workers but some of the ones along the way do not.

I read an article quite a while back (pre-2008 financial collapse, etc.) that said employers can't enforce any requirement for customer service because there was such a strong competition for employees. You didn't dare tell your employee to step up there game or else, because they would happily leave and you'd be out an employee -- likely for a very long time. Now that that's no longer a concern, I can't say why good customer service is going the way of the dodo. Maybe it's just not expected any more.

[bluedogok]

I read an article quite a while back (pre-2008 financial collapse, etc.) that said employers can't enforce any requirement for customer service because there was such a strong competition for employees. You didn't dare tell your employee to step up there game or else, because they would happily leave and you'd be out an employee -- likely for a very long time. Now that that's no longer a concern, I can't say why good customer service is going the way of the dodo. Maybe it's just not expected any more.

Go to a Rudy's BBQ location in the Austin area the other K&N Management concept, Mighty Fine Burgers and service seems to be a key component of what they do, of course they offer a higher starting wage than most places of its kind (I think the last time that I saw a sign up something like $10.50/HR was the starting pay). The Rudy's in Colorado Springs does not have the same type of service and their staff looks like they are mostly high schoolers or young college students.

[RadicalModerate]

Food Trucks are the Dairy Queens of The Next Generation.
(resistance is futile . . . here, have a free clone . . .)

Bricks and mortar detract from The Dairy Experience.
Well . . . don't they?

(of course they do)

yet . . . just hoving over the horizon of that bleak expectational paradigm . . .
Rock Island PlOW Company--Implemented to Move The Taste Buds to The Next Generation . . .

etc....and so forth . .... include non Zooish Biker Security Farce . . .
TonZ o' Bucks!!! =)

[wallbreaker]

Growing up in the early 80's in Edmond... one of my best memories is that after my dad's softball games, we all went to Dairy Queen. Hit one of the one's in Texas recently and it about ruined my memories. Real life never stands up to nostalgia, does it?

[RadicalModerate]

"Nostalgia" started out as a "mental disorder" among some foreign troops in a foreign land.
(they were probably german or russian. homesick. really homesick.)

If there had been a Dairy Queen in the vicinity, the disease probably would have remained non-existant/nameless.
(much like peanut allergies . . .)

[BBatesokc]

Go to a Rudy's BBQ location in the Austin area the other K&N Management concept, Mighty Fine Burgers and service seems to be a key component of what they do, of course they offer a higher starting wage than most places of its kind (I think the last time that I saw a sign up something like $10.50/HR was the starting pay). The Rudy's in Colorado Springs does not have the same type of service and their staff looks like they are mostly high schoolers or young college students.

I would agree. We eat at a Rudy's in Austin whenever we go and they have tons of staff and they are all very friendly. Speaking of, we took time while leaving the Cheddars yesterday in MWC to tell the manager on duty how much we liked our waiter that afternoon (Javonte (sp)). Real professional and friendly young man who was making the most out of what I'm sure could be a pretty depressing job.

[Larry OKC]

Growing up in the early 80's in Edmond... one of my best memories is that after my dad's softball games, we all went to Dairy Queen. Hit one of the one's in Texas recently and it about ruined my memories. Real life never stands up to nostalgia, does it?

That is often the case but there was one that proved the exception to the rule. It was/is a place called "Black Angus" (a mom-n-pop burger place) in Little Rock. Even though they moved the location from near the university to the burbs the food is exactly as I remember it back in my grade school days in the early 70s. Still a family owned/run place. Don't get to Little Rock often but when we do we would stop there.

[Larry OKC]

duplicate post