This Illinois Dairy Queen Is the Oldest in the World
Who doesn’t love a soft-serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen? I mean, it’s the dessert that never goes out of style. Somehow, it always makes its way onto those “top five desserts” lists, and honestly, it deserves to be there.
The Birth of Dairy Queen in Illinois
And get this: here in the Land of Lincoln, we’re home to a Dairy Queen that’s not just iconic…it’s the oldest Dairy Queen in Illinois, and actually the oldest in the entire world.
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According to OnlyInYourState.com, that legendary DQ is located in Kankakee. How cool is that? Even better, Illinois is where Dairy Queen got its start in the first place. The very first DQ opened in Joliet back in 1940, and the same group of people brought Dairy Queen to Kankakee just a few years later, in 1947.
So yeah—Dairy Queen and Illinois go way back.
How Dairy Queen Has Changed Over the Years
It’s wild to think how much Dairy Queen has changed over the years. What started as a place just serving up cool treats has turned into a full-on fast-food menu, plus all those seasonal Blizzards, which, by the way, are my weakness if I’m getting dessert.
So if you’re ever heading toward Chicago and find yourself driving through Kankakee, do yourself a favor. Take the exit, swing through town, and stop by the OG of Dairy Queen locations. It’s still there, still iconic, and still serving up those classic soft-serve cones we all love.
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Gallery Credit: Meg Dowdy
