The first Dairy Queen restaurant opened in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940.
John Fremont McCullough and his son Alex developed a soft-serve formula and tested it at Sherb Noble’s ice-cream store in Kankakee, Illinois, in 1938. The product sold rapidly, encouraging the partners to develop a dedicated restaurant concept.
The first Dairy Queen opened in Joliet on June 22, 1940. Its early menu focused on soft serve, while later restaurants added burgers, fries, malts, and other fast-food items. The brand’s name refers to the central role of dairy products in its original business.
A common mix-up is confusing Dairy Queen’s first restaurant with the 1938 soft-serve test. The test came first; the Joliet location was the first Dairy Queen store.