You May Want To Avoid Ordering Cheese Curds At Dairy Queen. Here's Why

Dairy Queen's slogan may be "Grill & Chill," but when it comes to the chain's cheese curds, we highly recommend that fans stick to the "Chill" part of the equation. DQ's cheese curds made Tasting Table's lineup of the eight items that foodies should avoid ordering at Dairy Queen. Squeaky cheese curds are a Midwest enterprise, and at DQ, they come breaded and fried, state-fair-style ... that is, at least, in theory. The very first Dairy Queen may sit in Illinois, but, when it first opened, cheese curds weren't on the menu – and, apparently, it was for the best. As we mentioned in our Hall of Shame review, DQ's skippable cheese curds "are more of a hit or miss item," and the variable increases even more broadly depending on which DQ location you visit.

Beyond inconsistent quality, these curds consistently come with a high price tag for what you get. The portions are small, and if you happen to visit on an "off" day, sometimes they're still frozen in the middle. Quoth our taste-tester, "If you like a gamble and potentially losing out on your money for a non-edible, expensive mess, then try the curds." By our count, foodies are better off hitting fellow Midwestern-based fast-food chain Culver's for some proper cheese curd action. Trader Joe's even carries breaded cheddar cheese curds in the freezer aisle. DQ may have the ice cream game on lock, but (famously) you can't win 'em all, and its fried curds are a miss.

A Reddit thread shares a photo of strange-looking, unidentifiable ... mozzarella sticks? Breaded nuggets? Whatever they are, they certainly aren't the golden-hued morsels foodies expect when they order "cheese curds" — and indeed, that's exactly what the poster writes: "These are not cheese curds. What have you done, DQ?" Commenters share the outrage, writing, "OMG they must have been out and got some wack ones from the grocery store. I'd be p*ssed lmaooo," "To me they look more like pizza rolls instead of actual DQ cheese curds," and "Some DQ somewhere is about to lose its license." Elsewhere online, a negative Yelp review shares a photo of DQ's curds in which the cheesy innards have erupted and created a smashed, stuck-together, "Alien" (1979) mass, writing "Disgusting."

Another post on Reddit critiques not the curds themselves (which, in this order, look pretty scrumptious), but the portion size. "Dairy Queen better count their days," writes the poster. "This 'large' size of Cheese Curds costs 8$." The basket is not even the size of their hand. Some commenters mention shrinkflation, while others maintain that DQ's cheese curds have always been overpriced for their size.

Our advice? For home cooks looking to satisfy a serious cheese curd craving, we have an easy Canadian poutine recipe that comes together in a half hour, showcasing those craveable curds. For the full DQ experience, foodies can also recreate Dairy Queen's iconic Blizzards at home, too, with the help of one kitchen appliance.