Ground broken for new Dairy Queen development on Sandwich St. S.

By RTT Staff

The ground is broken and construction is underway for one of the proposed new fast food developments. Dairy Queen is being constructed at 51-57 Sandwich St. S. The two homes that were there have been cleared from the property and the fast food restaurant will be erected soon.

It is the fifth Dairy Queen restaurant for the Barr family with other locations being in Tecumseh, Detroit, Chatham-Kent and Kingsville with another planned for Lakeshore (specifically Emeryville).

The Barr family are the only franchisees for Dairy Queen that operate on both sides of the Canada-United States border.

The family owns rights to the corporate brand locally and runs the restaurants together. They look forward to the Amherstburg location, adding they love bringing Dairy Queen restaurants to communities like Amherstburg and Kingsville.

While Kurt Barr said “there’s nothing better than serving a kid an ice cream cone,” he added it will be a full

“Grill & Chill” restaurant with a “full array of ice cream and food.” It will be open for lunch and dinner, with likely hours being 10 a.m.-10 p.m. with summer hours possibly being extended to 11 p.m. with a patio in the front. Delivery will also be an option in the future.

The proponents state they worked with the town and its heritage committee to arrive at a final design for the restaurant. They feel it fills a void in this part of the county and want it to be a “destination for people.”

The new restaurant will be approximately 2,200 square feet with 45 seats for in-person dining. Anywhere from 25-40 people will be employed, many of whom will likely be high school-aged youth.

The new DQ is expected to be open in the third quarter of 2023 with a three-storey, 12-unit apartment building to follow.

The apartments will be a mix of one and two-bedroom units with rent pricing to be determined.