YORK-Residents of York County can look forward to having a local Dairy Queen in early 2023. Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen, a Virginia-based DQ franchise, runs a collection of 14 local DQ restaurants, soon to be 15.
The franchise recently broke ground on its latest restaurant at 5704 George Washington Memorial Highway in the Grafton Shopping Center in York County near the Grafton Post Office. The new DQ Grill and Chill will add some variety to the Grafton Shopping Center with hot entrees and creamy cool desserts.
Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen will soon debut its new 2,400 square-foot location to service York County and fill a much-needed sweet spot. The new location will offer a drive-thru and delivery. The restaurant will also seat approximately 60 guests. It will also partner with DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub.
Though DQ is known for its original Blizzard treat, the Grill and Chill locations also offer what DQ calls “stackburgers” and popular chicken strip baskets with gravy. The establishment also serve sides such as pretzel sticks, cheesy fries, cheese curds, and onion rings.
The new location is currently under construction and will finish in time for a late winter 2023 opening. Director of Marketing Matthew Bean said, “We’d like to see it open in February and give our crew a chance to get ready for Free Cone Day in March. That’s always a busy day.”
The store is looking to hire about 50 employees when it opens and has already begun hiring managers.
“Anyone with a good background and experience in management should apply for the manager trainee role listed online,” said Bean.
“We are always looking for people with good work ethic who want to run their own store,” said Mitch Sandlin, CEO, in a prepared statement. Managers can be expected to be hired immediately and start training at another location. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply on the company’s website.
While Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen looks forward to opening in the winter, they’re savvy that construction is taking longer than usual due to supply-chain issues.
“The issue that goes without question is that everything equipment-wise takes forever right now,” said Bean. “According to manufacturers, we’re looking at having all of our equipment within a December timeframe.”
There are three other Dairy Queen locations on the Peninsula: two in Newport News and one in Hampton.
