Dairy Queen Has Closed Its Only Manhattan Location

The 14th Street blizzard shop quietly shuttered in May.

Courtesy of DQ
Courtesy of DQ

As a New York transplant, I get an occasional pang of homesickness cured only by a visit to the grungy East Village bar that shows Cubs games or a blizzard dinner at the 14th Street Dairy Queen. But now, a piece of my midwestern soul has died right along with DQ's Union Square outpost.

The dipped cone maker has permanently closed its only Manhattan location following a six-year stint near Union Square, Time Out confirmed with company reps earlier this week. The two-story, 2,500sqft restaurant, which was reportedly boarded up in May, will not reopen despite the buzz surrounding its 2014 debut.

But for those of you who require that perfect soft serve blend for survival (me), I've got good news: you can still get that blizzard fix. The Illinois-born ice cream joint has three remaining locations in NYC: two on Staten Island and one in the Bronx. 

This isn't the only landmark loss we've seen in New York City as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. After 17 Big Mac-slinging years, McDonald's 42nd Street flagship shuttered, as well. 

"McDonald’s reviews its restaurant portfolio on a regular basis to make the best decisions for our business moving forward,” the company said in a statement shared with Thrillist and other media outlets. "The closing of the 42nd [Street] Times Square restaurant, which was planned before the pandemic, was a difficult decision, and allows us to focus on serving customers a few blocks away at the new flagship McDonald’s on 45th and Broadway and in the neighboring communities."

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Megan Schaltegger is a staff writer at Thrillist.