The Red River Valley’s Sweet Spot: Moorhead DQ Open for Business

The famous restaurant is open for its 68th consecutive year at the corner of Eighth Street and Main Avenue

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The community celebrated the opening of the Moorhead Dairy Queen for the season.

Customers braved a chilly day for their first chance at savoring their favorite treats at the iconic restaurant.

The first day at the Moorhead Dairy Queen is an annual rite of passage for many in the community.

For those who work there, opening day is long, but flies by quickly.

“It’s enjoyable to come here and see the customers and hand out the treats we make and it makes it fun,” said Troy Deleon, owner of the Moorhead Dairy Queen. “Yes, it’s a lot but the time goes by so fast because we are constantly busy.”

March 1st is an unofficial city holiday for Moorhead with people coming out from all across the community to get their favorite treats at their favorite outdoor restaurant.

Even though it may not be summer quite yet, opening day has many thinking about warmer weather.

“It is just a little slice of summer…you just take a nice summer evening stroll, come up and get a little ice cream…it’s a good part of life here,” said Rob Kupec, longtime resident of Moorhead.

For others, it’s a day to celebrate a tradition and their favorite treats.

“We’ve always liked this place; it’s a great place to be,” said Ron Williams of Moorhead. “We’ve met Deleons, we like them a lot. Opening day is a pretty cool day.”

“You can’t break the tradition,” said Brianna Schaub, student at Moorhead High School.

“It’s the first day of Dairy Queen, you got to come,” said Jasmine Ghauri, student at Moorhead High School.

For the owners, seeing happy customers makes it all worth while.

“It’s just seeing the customers. I would say that’s the main thing. Talking with them and getting to know all of our customers and seeing them smile as they walk away with their treats that they just ordered,” Deleon said.

The Moorhead Dairy Queen has been serving smiles for 68 years, and many hope it’ll be around for at least 68 more.

It has operated in the same location every year since 1949.

Today, they expect to serve over a thousand customers.