If you are a high schooler in Ames, it’s easy to admit that the town doesn’t have much to offer when it comes to entertainment. Often acquiring the nickname “Lames,” it’s no secret that the bar is set low for this town. If you go out with friends, it’s most likely that you will end up getting something to eat. So I set out to review what seems to be one of the most popular places to go in Ames; the renowned Dairy Queen.

I started my journey after a grueling 7 hours in school, hungry as ever. I made the short drive to the North Dairy Queen and was welcomed by the sweet smell of ice cream, and the not-so-sweet smiles of the workers. Small attitudes aside, the workers had my food ready and on my table in under 5 minutes. Being a high schooler, it’s obvious that I don’t have a lot of money to spend on buying food. But for just 5 dollars, I got 3 chicken strips, fries, a sundae, and a large drink. Compared to a medium blizzard which is $4.38, this truly is a bang for your buck.

My chicken strips and fries came out steaming hot and perfectly crispy. My sundae had the perfect amount of hot fudge drizzled over the creamy vanilla ice cream. With a nice drink to wash it all down, it was honestly a fantastic meal. With my spare change, I even bought a silver butterfly necklace from the toy machine.

As I was eating, I noticed that 7 out of the 9 customers were from Ames High. This made me realize that Dairy Queen’s popularity is not only growing as a hang out spot, but on social media as well. Starting about 2 months ago, some sort of fad started where people would give Dairy Queen a shoutout on twitter for their “#Chickenstache” campaign.

Ames High Sophomore Bailey Newbanks tweeted “My life goal is to get #ChickenStacheSwag from DQ.”

Dairy Queen responded by saying “We can help you out with that!”. A few days later, Bailey received the merchandise.

“The shirts made me love DQ more because they’re the only restaurant that will do that and that’s pretty cool,” said Newbanks. Many more students besides Bailey collected shirts from Dairy Queen as well.

With a small variety of places to go in Ames, I think that Dairy Queen has the potential to become a powerhouse in this town. Extending it’s popularity through social media, highschoolers are being drawn there now more than ever. Although the workers are not always nice, and the jewelry in the toy machine is only plastic, they have quality food and a comfortable atmosphere. I would definitely recommend Dairy Queen for people that are hungry, bored, cheap, or just looking for a good time. In my opinion, their slogan “Fan Food not Fast Food” is very fitting.