Texas Monthly magazine reported in 1979 that McDonald's had trouble gaining a foothold in small Texas towns because Dairy Queen was the social, cultural, and culinary center of many of them.
The magazine interviewed James Utley, who owned a 38-location Dairy Queen franchise in West Texas and was not afraid of competition from this Yankee chain:
“I don't think they could ever compete with the lady behind the counter who knows everyone's first name and has been pouring coffee for the whole town for 10 or 20 years,” he said.
Dairy Queen was a staple of life in Texas even before Whataburger. However, it is not a Texas company. The first Dairy Queen opened in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940. But Texas quickly embraced Dairy Queen. According to the Houston Chronicle, the company sold the Texas franchise rights around 1947 to Rolly Klose of San Antonio. Today, the oldest continuously operating Dairy Queen in Texas is in Henderson, in the northeastern part of the state. It opened in 1950.
Today, Texas has more DQ locations than any other state—nearly 600, according to the Chronicle. That's a lot of BeltBusters, folks.
Texas Dairy Queens have long had their own Texas menu. They served burgers at a time when DQ locations in the rest of the country sold only soft-serve ice cream. Savory dishes still account for a larger share of sales at Texas locations.
DQ ranks among the most important institutions in small towns, right alongside schools and churches. It is often one of the few places to eat and the town's main gathering place. Bankers go there for coffee before the bank opens; ranchers meet for lunch at DQ to discuss beef prices; teenagers go there after school to see one another.
Before the internet era, Dairy Queen served as Facebook. Status updates were shared in person, over coffee or while splitting a butterscotch sundae.
If someone was “in a new relationship,” it was announced nonverbally when Becky Sue walked into DQ on Jim Bob's arm, wearing his letterman jacket—or when Jim Bob pulled into one of the drive-in spots with Becky Sue sitting close beside him on the seat. When Becky Sue and Jim Bob broke up after two months, that was announced too, when she came into DQ without Jim Bob and without his jacket. Relationship status change: officially announced.
No one took pictures of their food. They simply looked at the next booth and said, “I like what Carlos is having.”
Selfies were unheard of and would have been considered rude anyway. But you could have someone take a Polaroid of you receiving a 4-H award for best breed, and the folks at DQ would put it up on the bulletin board for everyone to see, alongside photos of newborns and newlyweds.
DQs no longer play as dominant a social role as they once did, but they still serve as a parking-lot stop for kids cruising the new version of “Main Street” on weekends.
And DQ has expanded internationally. You can visit a DQ in London or Madrid. Even in Thailand, where you can get a vanilla cone, but not Texas tacos.
