Newport Vet Celebrates Grand Opening For Dairy Queen In Cranston

CRANSTON, RI—So, the original plan was to open Rhode Island's first Dairy Queen 'Grill & Chill' sometime around Dec. 1. But then the cold weather hit.

"We were trying" to open, said Will Dailey, of Newport. "The ground froze." And they couldn't pour asphalt.

Still, Dailey and co-owner Damon Draught, two Army buddies who served together in Afghanistan, took the delays in stride.

"It was definitely a drag," Dailey said. "But we held the ship steady." Plus, except for the asphalt, everything else went pretty much by the book.

Dailey and Draught decided to go into business together and open the new restaurant in Cranston after they met up for lunch in summer 2016. Draught knows the Dairy Queen business. After the military, he bought the franchise for two outlets in New York. Dailey still on active duty, so he is hiring three fulltime managers to run the store.

Dailey lives in Newport and wants to stay in Rhode Island after he retires.

For the grand opening, they have a promotion. Customers who buy the first 100 cakes get a punch card for a free small blizzard every week for a year. A blizzard (for the uninitiated) is a soft serve that comes in different flavors and can be blended with treats like cookies.

Other specials are the happy hour menu from 2 to 5 p.m. which includes pretzels and spicy queso dip; small smoothies for $2 and DQ's misty slushes, which are like Del's Lemonade slushes.

The store was set to open at 1o on Monday morning. The address is 275 Atwood Ave.

Dailey said they're still hiring crew and will have a staff of 78. Youngsters can apply, as long as they're old enough to work per state law. However, there are limitations about the types of work teens under 16 are allowed to do.

"It's a great job for kids," he said and added he feels they've hired a "good mix" of teens and older workers.