Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain

Chain store

Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...

 of soft serve

Soft serve

Soft serve is a term used to describe a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.- History :...

 and fast food restaurant

Fast food restaurant

A fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...

s owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius

Orange Julius

Orange Julius is a chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s. The eponymous beverage is a mixture of orange juice, milk, sugar, ice and vanilla flavoring.- History :...

 and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve

Soft serve

Soft serve is a term used to describe a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.- History :...

 product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or "DQ". The first Dairy Queen store opened in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois

Joliet, Illinois

Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...

. The company's corporate offices are located in Edina, Minnesota

Edina, Minnesota

Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...

.
The soft serve formula was first developed in 1938 by John Fremont "Grandpa" McCullough (1871‒1963), his son Alex McCullough.