Mid-Michigan Dining

• 1 Bradie Drive
• Clifton, IL 60927
• (815) 694-3202
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The Dairy Queen in (and only fast food option anywhere near) Clifton, IL

For those of you that didn’t grow up in a small town, you will have no idea what I’m talking about.  Imagine growing up in a town without a McDonald’s, a Walmart, or a Blockbuster.  In fact, imagine that the closest location of any of those three was a half hour away.  That’s how things were when I was growing up.  We only had two options when it came to eating out.  There was the local family run restaurant and a Dairy Queen.

Things haven’t really changed much in the town where I grew up (and my parents still live).  Well, actually they have.  The Dairy Queen is gone.  It moved five miles north.  That actually happened when I was in high school, so it wasn’t a big deal.  I had my driver’s license by then so I could still get the Blizzard’s that I craved.  

While I moved away from home, my brother stayed pretty close.  He moved to that town five miles to the north which is still in the same school district and for all intents and purposes, is still considered part of the same community.  We didn’t really go by towns where I’m from.  We go by school districts.  Yes, my high school was sixteen miles from my house in the middle of a cornfield.  Literally.  It’s in a corn field. 

I was at my parents house over the weekend and after eating dinner, we decided to make a DQ run.  When my mom’s paying, it’s hard to argue.  First, we had to run by my brother’s to drop off some new toys for my niece, but that only took an hour.  I don’t get to see her often, so when I do get home, I spend as much time as I can at their house.

After we got that taken care of, we headed to the gas station for some ice cream.

The Dairy Queen in Clifton is on the south edge of town near the Interstate 57 interchange.  The store is inside the Huot Oil gas station and has been there since Huot moved from their location in the center of the town back in the late 90’s.  When it first opened, it was a combo Dairy Queen/Taco John’s.  The Taco John’s lasted a few years, but eventually, it went out and DQ was left by itself.

The Dairy Queen inside the Huot Oil gas station in Clifton, IL

For a while, the owner’s dropped the food from DQ and used their own brand called Charburgers.  When I was in there the other night, all the packaging was DQ branded, so I’m guessing they went back to the DQ food as well. 

I’m pretty predictable when it comes to ice cream.  I ordered a medium Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.  Either they got my order wrong or DQ has dramatically downsized the “medium” sizing.  It actually looked smaller than what I would have called a small.  Very disappointing.  The Blizzard itself is what I wanted…I just wanted a lot more of it. 

My mom got a waffle cone sundae.  I’d never seen this one before.  It’s a really good idea because she still got the waffle cone she wanted, but it’s a lot easier to eat in sundae form.

My dad, being the adventurous eater he is, got a vanilla cone. 

The three ice cream treats was just over ten bucks, but I really felt ripped off.  The sizing was brutal.   In a town like Clifton, where DQ is all there is, it’s great to have the place, but here in Lansing, I still prefer the local joints.