Orange Julius – DQ

Worst DQ in the city. Something is wrong with their arctic rush machine and the staff don’t speak English. I ordered something which came out inedible and I asked to exchange it. I was told by RENNIE that only a manager can approve this and I should take the item home, put it into a freezer and come back the next day to deal with it. They even acknowledged that the item, an Artic Rush float, didn’t look appetizing as it was ice cream melting into sugar water yet they were unable to help. Don’t waste your time or money coming to this location.

It was my birthday, so of course, that calls for some tasty Dairy Queen cake. It was easy to order online, and while they couldn’t do all the customization I wanted, they called to let me know (and the other option was cheaper and still fun, so a win in the end). They were quick and worked with my pick-​up timeline (less than 24 hours!). The staff were friendly, they take credit cards, and really, who doesn’t like ice cream cake? A nice way to celebrate!

I don’t go to Dairy Queen often, but twice I have gone to the 438 Robson St. location to get an ice cream cake (I had $ 5 off coupons that were for that location specifically). And both times, I was absolutely thrilled with the results!
The first time was in November 2012 when friends and I were planning a surprise birthday party for our friend Nina. Nina was studying Swedish at UBC (I had previously studied Swedish and got her obsessed with it), so the decorations were blue and yellow, and the cake had «Grattis på födelsedagen» on it.
The second time was yesterday. Nina unexpectedly passed away at the beginning of June, and tonight we are having a Celebration of Life for her. Nina regularly brought ice cream cakes to parties, so of course we had to have an ice cream cake in her honour.
I went in on Monday evening to order the cake (I wanted to give them plenty of time to have it ready for Thursday evening), and originally I asked for the cake to say ‘We love you Nina” or something equally as uncreative and cliched, with a couple of cats on it, because she loved cats. After placing my order, someone gave me the best idea ever about what to write on the cake.
I called DQ the next day to change the wording (with my schedule, I didn’t have time to go down in person), and the woman who I was speaking to was having trouble hearing what I wanted to have written down (it was a bad connection, and there was a lot of background noise), so she asked me to text her the new wording. Kind of unorthodox and risky for her, as it was her personal cell phone number (good thing I’m not some psycho stalker), but I texted her anyway. I’d say that’s above and beyond what is expected of good customer service. (Also, I was impressed that she pronounced my last name correctly. She is only the second person ever, who is not an immediate family member, who has ever pronounced my last name correctly after only seeing it written. Points for that.)
Anyway, I picked up the cake yesterday evening, and I was SO PLEASED with the results! See the photo for the most ridiculous, but awesome, ice cream cake ever. Nina would love it.

I love Dairy Queen!!!
Why??!
Because I AM ONE!
But I prefer the location on the West-​End or the one in the food court in the pacific center downtown Because the location on Robson doesn’t make good Blizzards…
They are so CHEAP with the stuffing…
Look I paid 75 cent more for adding extra candy in my blizzards…
And I can’t find no more than 2 pieces of Oreo cookie…
I don’t mind to pay for an extra but for nothing?! Not really…
And last time I ordered the ”French silk pie Blizzards” that come with whipped cream on the top. Surprisingly it was A LOT of whipped cream… Well… I grab-​it for to go and I found on my way that it was a ”Reese peanut butter” one…
Well, well, well…
So I ate-​it because I was had an intense craving for ice-​cream…
And I was starving…

one of the few braziers (grill burger) stands remaining, this is also one of the dirtiest and slowest locations I‘ve been in.
I don‘t usually go to DQ at all, aside from the Orange Julius locations (mostly owned by Speedy Gourmet) because when I‘m in the mood for a burger, I normally opt for a place that has real cheese.
Whatever– I was hungry one time. There was lots of people standing around, and a lady (manager) comes in flush– faced from a shopping trip at Safeway.
Line starts moving, but I‘ll not be back.

I’ve never tried a Dairy Queen ice cream so I thought I’d take advantage of the $ 7 for $ 14 worth of desserts groupon. I heard so many people talk about how amazing the blizzard ice cream is so I chose the «Strawberry Cheesequake» blizzard ice cream and it was hands down the worst ice cream I’ve ever had. very mushy, very obviously artificial in flavour but something I definitely would’ve enjoyed as a kid… I would rather have yogen fruz over a blizzard anyday. I ate ¹⁄₃ of it and threw it out. I also tried the orange julius smoothie and it was too sugary sweet for me again something that kids may like.
I give 2 stars because the Asian girl working there was very friendly, enthusiastic and friendly… and I’m definitely glad I did not pay full price for those treats!
If you don’t mind sweet, artificially flavored ice cream you will like the frozen desserts here :) Good fast service.

I only come here as a guilty pleasure and not for any real culinary standards. I love those Oreo blizzards, hands down especially during that time of month… enough said. I love when they turn it upside down for me. All the other ice cream juices and blends I can do without. I appreciate they have the snack size for those like myself watching the waist, however, beware as this even packs a lot of calories, therefore, share. During the fall when they have the pumpkin pie blizzard it’s mixed with real pumpkin purée. Improvements can be made on the mint version of the Oreo blizzard as it’s not minty enough.

The DQ part of it is 4.5 stars easily. I love the dipped cones and Blizzards.
The Orange Julius is a disappointing 1. I ordered one today expecting some thick delicious orange-​ness. I watched the guy make it, and it was obvious that he put in way too much water when a third of it failed to fit in the cup. The result was a watered down orange Julius that tasted like watered down sweetened orange juice with some froth on top.

The vanila cone was a tiny bit too soft. Maybe they should have let it run a bit before serving it. The ice milk, not the cone.