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Dairy Queen
Discontinued: 2000
It’s 1965, and you roll up to a Dairy Queen carhop. Instead of ordering a plain Coke, you ask for a Wild Mountain Blackberry soda.
Soda water, flavored syrup, soft serve ice cream, and a crown of whipped cream.
These were drinks from the soda fountain bygone age.
With flavors like eggnog, pineapple, and coffee, DQ captured the adventurous spirit of America’s drive-in golden age. For 40 years, they served up magic that today’s fountain drinks can’t match.
Discontinued: 1976
Meet DQ’s forgotten mascot. Mr. Maltie. A cheerful snowflake who smiled from pail-shaped treats for 15 years.
Born in St. Louis, officially launched in 1963, Mr. Maltie was ahead of his time. Low-calorie treats? In the 1960s? Revolutionary.
At $1.10 for a 10-pack in 1976, families could stock their freezers with these chocolate malt popsicles.
Sadly, his trademark expired in 2005, never to be seen again.
Discontinued: Late 1970s
Space age meets ice cream!
When America was racing to the moon, DQ launched its own rockets. Frozen ones. These push pops looked like they belonged on a NASA launch pad, complete with DQ’s signature curly-Q top.
Kids could be astronauts while eating dessert. Pure genius.
When a heartbroken fan asked what happened to Jets, DQ’s response was brutally honest: “That was a novelty item from the 1970s with no plans to bring it back.”
Discontinued: 1980s
Frozen banana + chocolate coating + stick = happiness.
The name? Pure marketing genius.
These treats inspired such devotion that one DQ employee got fired for eating too many. His solution? Replace them with chocolate-covered hot dogs.
That employee? Future comedian Stewart Huff, who turned his Monkey Tail mishap into comedy gold.
You can still find these vintage treats at the legendary DQ in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Discontinued: 1990s
The Dilly Bar’s little brother deserved better.
“Chocolate covered D.Q. sittin’ on a cookie” — that’s how DQ marketed this ice cream sandwich hybrid. For two decades, the Dillywich lived in the shadow of its more famous sibling.
Never achieving icon status, but earning quiet loyalty.
A few devoted DQ locations still make them by hand, but profit margins caused the discontinuation of this ice cream sandwich.
Discontinued: 2022
Twenty-nine years of faithful service. Fifty calories of guilt-free chocolate bliss.
This was not your grocery store fudge bar. The DQ Fudge Bar featured a distinctive malty taste that set them apart. Originally 89 cents, they quietly satisfied customers who wanted indulgence without the guilt.
When DQ axed them in 2022, one devastated fan declared war: “Dairy Queen no more. I’m officially boycotting DQ.”
Discontinued: 2022
Genius or madness? You decide.
An 8-inch dessert “pizza” with fudge crust, soft serve “cheese,” and candy toppings. “The only pizza that tastes better cold.”
For $4.99, it served eight people and sparked countless conversations.
“Did you just order a pizza at Dairy Queen?”
Twenty-eight years proved that sometimes the craziest ideas work best.
Discontinued: 1996
Even royalty can have a short reign.
Layers of soft serve, chocolate cake, and hot fudge, crowned with your choice of cherry, strawberry, caramel, or butterscotch. “Where hot and cool connect” — the tagline was perfect.
The cake survived less than a year before being dethroned by the bigger, bolder Fudge Cake Supreme.
Discontinued: 2003
Hollywood tie-ins usually taste terrible. This one was different.
Inspired by the blockbuster movie “The Rock,” this $2.29 treat delivered “the deepest, darkest, chocolatiest treat ever concocted by DQ.”
Hot fudge foundation, soft serve middle, almonds, more fudge, all wrapped in a magic shell coating.
Discontinued: Early 2000s
When you put “Great” in the name, you better deliver.
After a successful test-market in St. Louis, DQ was confident enough to go big. This cheesesteak-inspired sandwich represented their bold push into serious hot food territory.
Ambitious name. Big plans. Short life.
Discontinued: Unknown
DQ’s greatest mystery.
Crushed Oreos. Mountainous brownies. Vanilla soft serve. Hot fudge waterfalls. A fan base rivaling that of the Beatles.
Why did they discontinue it? Nobody knows. DQ never explained, making this one of fast food’s great unsolved mysteries.
Some say you can still order it as a secret menu item, but you’ll have to find out for yourself.
Discontinued: 2009
The shortest love story on this list.
Despite Girl Scout cookies’ popularity and the successful Thin Mints Blizzard, Tagalongs arrived and were gone the same year.
One year. Twelve months. 365 days.
Discontinued: 2017
DQ’s 75th anniversary gift that became a cautionary tale.
Nine items. Artisanal sandwiches. Snack melts. À la mode desserts that showcased hot-and-cold mastery.
The Triple Chocolate Brownie à la mode was perfect. The Fudge Stuffed Cookie was genius.
But forcing every franchise to buy new ovens? Expensive mistake.
Poor profit margins killed these baked desserts.
Discontinued: 2015
An old-fashioned soda fountain classic that DQ kept alive longer than most.
Walnuts swimming in maple syrup. On simple sundaes.
A 2015 TripAdvisor review praised DQ as “one of the few places that still serve wet walnut sundaes.”
Then economics ruined everything. Walnut prices rose 40% due to ecological concerns.
Discontinued: 2023
DQ’s shortest burger experiment in decades.
Part of the “Stackburger” revolution. This was Dairy Queen’s first burger menu expansion in 20+ years. The burger featured A1 sauce, American cheese, onion rings, and Applewood bacon across three patties.
Strong sales. Happy customers. Two-year lifespan.
But sacrificed to make room for the Backyard Bacon Ranch Burger.
Discontinued: 2022
The Dilly Bar family’s refreshing cousin couldn’t survive hard times.
While classic chocolate Dilly Bars remain untouchable, mint proved too niche for modern DQ mathematics.
Their discontinuation sparked passionate fan revolt, but it wasn’t enough to bring Mint Dilly Bars back.
Discontinued: Limited Time Only
Mixing candy designed to make you pucker with creamy soft serve shouldn’t work.
This Blizzard became weirdly beloved.
Limited-time Blizzards showcase DQ’s experimental spirit. Sometimes the strangest partnerships create the most memorable flavors.
Weird doesn’t always mean wrong.
Discontinued: Limited Time Only
When DQ goes big, they go monster big.
This Blizzard featured M&M’s with peanut butter in monster cookie form. A candy store in a cup.
Discontinued: Unknown
DQ’s answer to the famous Chipwich revolution.
Vanilla soft serve between chocolate chip cookies, mini-chips coating the edges. The DQ Chipper Sandwich captured the 1970s ice cream sandwich boom.
Like many items on this list, it survives at the iconic location in Moorhead, Minnesota.
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