DQ News

9 Dairy Queen restaurants around Dallas-Fort Worth close abruptly

A few less Blizzards in the world.

Nine locations of Dairy Queen have closed across Dallas-Fort Worth, including restaurants in Grand Prairie, Euless, Fort Worth, Hurst, Keller, and Roanoke.

All of the locations were owned by franchisee Lickety Split Food Services, who posted letters on the restaurants' front doors, stating that they were shutting down their entire DQ portfolio.

That included three locations in Fort Worth, two in Grand Prairie, and one each in Euless, Hurst, Keller, and Roanoke. The street addresses can be seen here.

"It is with deep regret that we have discontinued operating our Dairy Queen restaurants," the letter said. "Nothing gave us greater joy than to serve you DQ's amazing treats and eats. Thank you for the wonderful season we shared."

Lickety Split Food Services was owned by Tarrant County resident Michael Clarke, an ambitious innovator noted for his flashy, DQ-red 1956 Ford F100. Clarke installed state-of-the-art kitchens with sophisticated appliances at his locations, and was the first DQ franchisee to install self-serve kiosks.

But Lickety Split was also the subject of a lawsuit in 2017 when a diner claimed that a burger he ordered at the Fort Worth location at 6700 Bridge Rd. was moldy and made him sick.

Comments on Facebook indicated that employees were not informed ahead of time and some showed up at their place of employment to find it closed.

Beyond the "deep regret," the posted notice seemed to engage in a small bit of bragging: "Fun numbers: 9 DQ locations opened 2013-2016. 6 years and 7 months in business. 7,500,000+ customers served. 4,250,000 Blizzards flipped. Special thank you to our amazing team members who worked hard to make your DQ experience better than you remember. With gratitude, Lickety Split Food Services, LLC."

The closures leave approximately 40 locations around Dallas-Fort Worth for those seeking Hungr-Buster burgers, Country Baskets, Blizzards, Dilly Bars, and soft-serve ice cream cones.

closings

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.