8 Discontinued Dairy Queen Menu Items We Don't Miss At All

Dairy Queen usually manages to make people happy, no matter what they get, but there have been a few less-than-exciting items to hit the menu over the years. There are plenty of Dairy Queen menu items that we miss, like butterscotch dipped cones and the mushroom Swiss Grillburger. However, there are certainly some that we wouldn't be sad to never see again. Interestingly enough, all the ones that didn't go over well or just aren't worth bringing back are frozen dessert treats.

We've identified three Blizzards, two dipped cone flavors, one shake flavor, and one novelty item that are discontinued — and that we don't want back. However, we do want to mention the strawberry mango-flavored mochi Blizzard that's on the menu as of this writing — we also think this will be discontinued soon, and it won't be missed. The mango mochi pieces have such an odd, non-mochi, and weirdly grainy texture.

There are some strong contenders for the worst Dairy Queen items to ever hit the menu. Luckily, the list is short for Dairy Queen failures, as the chain doesn't put out too many bad eats and treats. Still, there are certainly some subpar, less exciting items to order, like the chain's french fries. However, as of now, there are only eight discontinued Dairy Queen menu items that were lackluster enough that we don't ever foresee them making a comeback.

The Zero Gravity Blizzard sounded interesting, but it didn't provide the out-of-this-world flavor Dairy Queen had hoped. However, we do have to respect the chain's creativity in making a Blizzard that at least looked worthy of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in 2019.

It was largely blue, with crushed Oreo cookies and sparkly silver glitter swirled throughout the treat to add to the cosmic effect. Plus, there was a whole galaxy of cotton-candy-flavored sprinkles as a topping, including balls and stars in shades of blue, pink, white, silver, and purple. The look of the treat was certainly on point. Unfortunately, the flavor left much to be desired. We found people on social media saying that it tasted like cleaning solution, and others saying it was so horrible they spat it out. It probably didn't help that the glittery swirls were bitter, likely due to the blue food dye used to make the Blizzard teal.

Dairy Queen even created a playlist on Spotify to go along with the launch of this treat. Honesty, we think the playlist was the best thing to come from this rollout, as it includes everything from obvious songs like David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" to hits you might have forgotten or never heard before, like "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys and "City of Stars" by Gavin James.

Fruity Mr. Misty slush treats were introduced at Dairy Queen in 1961. Since then, they have dropped the "Mr." honorific, and there have been several offshoots like the Misty Float, a drinkable concoction that pairs vanilla ice cream with a Misty slush. Then, there's also a Misty Freeze that blends the Misty slush with ice cream into a frozen treat. However, one Mr. Misty offshoot that came and went without tons of fanfare was the Mr. Misty Kiss.

Mr. Misty Kisses were fruit-flavored push pops that came on a stick and in a clear plastic sleeve. You pushed them upward with a straw as you ate them. We're not sure what flavors they had, but the colors were purple, green, orange, and red. We're also not sure exactly when it came out, but Dairy Queen applied for a trademark on the name in 1967, the trademark terminated in 1987, and people have memories of them from the 1970s and 1980s.

We don't think the absence of this product from the Misty lineup represents much of a loss. After all, it was just a popsicle. In fact, it was the kind of popsicle where you could easily suck all the flavor out of it and be left with nothing but a clear tip. With it being possible to buy a whole box of fruit-flavored ice pops to keep in your freezer for less than $0.10 per pop, we can't imagine ever picking a Mr. Misty Kiss over something more novel, like a Blizzard or even a Misty Float.

If you don't remember blue raspberry dipped cones at Dairy Queen, you're not alone. This flavor came and went so quickly in 2022 that, if you blinked, you missed it. It was clearly a failed experiment. We found a Dairy Queen location on social media that was urging people to come in and try it quickly because it only had one can of the bright blue dip. Once it was gone, it was gone.

There's still a blue raspberry Misty Slush on the menu, and that seems like the right place to put blue raspberry for those who like it. However, it seems like an odd choice for a Dairy Queen dipped cone. While we were a fan of cherry dipped cones, we can't imagine ever getting a blue raspberry one on purpose.

Blue raspberry is a controversial flavor in general, with plenty of people who find it too artificial or medicinal tasting to like. Blue raspberry is a flavor with an interesting origin story. The earliest reference for it is from 1958 when Gold Medal was using it as a cotton candy flavor, and it's a flavor the company still uses for its snow cones. However, it seems to have really taken off in the early 1970s when it became an ICEE and Otter Pops flavor, providing a distinctive blue color to the flavor lineup. It was an especially prudent raspberry change with red dye having safety concerns, while blue dye was deemed safe.

Some ingredients just weren't meant to become shakes, which is why we don't miss Dairy Queen's S'mores shake. This shake first became available in 2022 and included graham cracker pieces, chocolate, and marshmallow topping. While it sounds like a good idea, it didn't really work very well as a shake.

The flavors weren't very balanced in this shake, with a reviewer saying that the marshmallow flavor tended to overwhelm everything else until they finally got to more chocolatey flavor pockets. Plus, some reviewers found that it was too sweet or didn't like the contrast of the gritty texture of the graham crackers. The other problem was that it was really too thick to drink through a normal-sized straw. The pieces of graham cracker and the chocolate cone dip pieces in it made it more interesting, but they sometimes got stuck in the straw, too. Even if the graham cracker crumbs were ground to a powder, they had a tendency to clump together, which meant they were still getting stuck in the straw.

Basically, customers ended up resorting to a spoon to eat rather than sip the shake. And if you're eating a blended ice cream dessert with a spoon at Dairy Queen, it's really a Blizzard, isn't it? We're not the only ones thinking it would be better left as a Blizzard flavor – it actually hit the D.Q. Blizzard lineup twice in 2013 and 2023.

The D.Q. Jet was just plain vanilla ice cream inside a cardboard push-pop tube, and it featured a signature Dairy Queen curl on top. D.Q. Jets came out in the 1960s, when the U.S. was at the height of the space race. The name and shape were meant to remind you of jet packs. In fact, in a 1967 D.Q. Jets ad, you can see a Major Matt Mason astronaut action figure in the background. This Mattel action figure came out in 1967, a couple of years ahead of the 1969 moon landing, and the fictitious astronaut had a jet propulsion pack as well as other accessories to use for exploring the moon.

You can still find some of the old tubes and sleeves online that individual restaurants would use to make and freeze them on-site in bulk, much like they used to pre-make and freeze novelty items like Dilly Bars. Since they were cheap, many people bought them in multiples. In fact, locations often had special discounted prices for buying multiples and would often include a free one.

Beyond being a nod to the pre-moon-landing space race craze, D.Q. Jets were nothing special. Perhaps they were a more fun way to eat ice cream than in a cup if you didn't want an ice cream cone. But with nobody excited about jet packs and moon landings, there's literally no reason to revive them.

Dairy Queen has had a couple of iterations of bubblegum dipped cones in countries besides the U.S. In 2020, Mexico had a chicle (bubblegum) dipped cone to help mark the "SpongeBob to the Rescue" movie that came out that year. Later, in 2024, Canada got a bubblegum dipped cone. They were both limited-time-only flavors. Interestingly, though, they came in different colors. The Mexican one was bright blue, and the Canadian one was bubblegum pink.

This is one of those flavors that likely appeals to kids more than adults, as evidenced by D.Q. Mexico putting it out with a kids' movie in a small cone size. A reviewer on social media who tried it in Canada said that their family (including a kid) tried it, and, while it tasted like bubblegum, none of them thought it really worked well as a dipped cone flavor paired with D.Q. ice cream. As such, it seems like the type of novelty topping that people would try once and then be done with it.

We think bubble gum is likely better in a Blizzard than as a dipped cone topping. That way, you get small bits of edible gum instead of just the flavor of gum as a shell. Some people fondly remember a Bubble Tape Blizzard that came out in 2003. We also think a multi-colored bubblegum Blizzard might be fun, like the ice cream flavor Braum's used to have.

In July of 2018, Dairy Queen released a Star Spangled Blizzard for Independence Day. This was a Blizzard with far too much going on. We'll admit that it was a work of art, but consuming it was a task. This was a three-tiered treat. The pinkish-red-colored Blizzard base was cherry-flavored and infused with blue rock candy. Then, there was a solid mound of white ice cream with the classic D.Q. curl that was sprinkled with more blue rock candy. Finally, a red-white-and-blue-striped, star-shaped StarKiss novelty treat on a stick was stuck into the Blizzard, with its stick pointing upward.

This treat only came in a mini size, which might have seemed small until you realized that you had to eat the StarKiss quickly before it melted. Then, the size made more sense. The red stripe in the StarKiss was cherry-flavored, but otherwise, reviewers didn't find it that interesting. The rock candy added an interesting crunch to the Blizzard part, but reviewers didn't think the cherry flavor in the Blizzard tasted very realistic.

While some people on social media seemed to like it, most who remember it thought it was a complete disaster. Employees found it a mess to make, too. Plus, unless you were sharing it with someone, it wasn't the easiest thing to eat. We think the Stars & Stripes Misty Slush Float that the chain made for the 250th birthday celebration of the U.S. in 2026 was the better, simpler idea of the two.

Blizzards are one of the best fast food ice cream desserts, and Girl Scout cookies sell well every year, so their collaboration in a Tagalong Blizzard seemed like a good idea. After all, chocolate and peanut butter Tagalongs are the third-most popular Girl Scout cookie in yearly cookie sales. The first year Dairy Queen put out a Girl Scout cookie Blizzard was 2009. That year, we got both a Tagalongs Blizzard and a Thin Mints Blizzard. However, only the Thin Mints Blizzard made several returns (in 2021 and 2022).

Chocolate and peanut butter are an enticing combination. However, the Tagalong Blizzard had to compete with the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard, which has been on the menu as a classic standard since the 1980s (and we think it's the very best Dairy Queen Blizzard). Plus, maybe it just wasn't created in the best way. It was supposed to have pieces of real Tagalongs. Unfortunately, reviewers online who were looking forward to the treat found that the peanut butter overwhelmed the flavor profile, and the cookies were blended too finely. It seems that those who had it made with chocolate soft serve ice cream might have enjoyed it better.

Honestly, the Girl Scout Blizzard we'd most love to see is a Samoas (or Caramel deLites) Blizzard, representing the Girl Scout cookie we rank highest and the one that usually comes in second place in sales. Maybe those would go over better.