Dairy Queen adds patio and new online ordering feature

 

If you have been to Grand Marais recently, you can’t miss the town’s colossal Highway 61 construction project. While much of it that work has taken place near the Grand Marias Dairy Queen, you might not have noticed the work that has been done behind those large mounds of dirt and deep holes. Because of the past year’s COVID- 19 pandemic, many businesses have changed their business model, and Seth Macdonald, the owner of Dairy Queen, talks about the recent improvements he has made to accommodate customers.

“We had planned on updating the outdoor dining area for a while, but last years’ experience prioritized the project,” said Macdonald. “For months last year, we served 100 percent of our customers through the old drive-through window. Having that window saved us and seemed to work well for our customers. In addition, last years’ experience guided us on what customers preferred. They like the option of picking up their orders outside and most prefer sitting outside versus inside, even on cooler days. With our new outdoor patio space, we actually have more outdoor seating than indoor seating.

“The customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Macdonald.

Some of those customer comments include:

“This is the best-looking Dairy Queen I’ve ever been too.”

“I’ve never seen a DQ with an outdoor fireplace before… brilliant idea.” “Being able to pick up our orders through the pick-up window is what I prefer to do.”

“All Dairy Queens should have this much outdoor seating.”

The patio addition wasn’t the only improvement, however.

“One additional service we are providing this year is ordering through our new Dairy Queen Mobile App. You can order and pay for your DQ favorites through the app and pick your order up at the inside counter or through the outside pick-up window. It’s as easy as ordering from Amazon. In addition, the app provides you with exclusive mobile app deals, and you can collect points on each purchase which gets you free DQ Food and Treats as you build up points.”

“With these new services, we are looking forward to providing our customers with a more enjoyable experience, and a successful year ahead,” Macdonald said.