DAIRY CHEF
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★
District: Millard
Drive-In with Soft Serve Ice Cream and Diner Classics
Perfect For: Baked Goods/Desserts; Casual Dining; Takeout
Standout Dishes: BFF Storm; Cookie Sandwich; Bacon Cheeseburger
The two takeaways you’ll have on your first visit to Dairy Chef will both likely be size related:
- This place is extremely popular, so there’s likely to be an extensive line spilling into the parking lot.
- The size of the frozen concoctions are enormous. Order a large cone and you’re getting a tower of soft serve taller than your head.
But, unlike at many restaurants, quantity isn’t used as a gimmick to mask a low-quality product. Dairy Chef has been perfecting its product since 1969 (when it was known as Dairy Sweet), and one visit is all it takes to understand why this is a beloved Omaha institution.
The parking lot to this shack-sized building is typically filled, especially on a hot summer day. Though there are a few tables inside, it just doesn’t feel right unless you wait in line, order at the window, and dine at one of the picnic tables on the grass.
Even if you have no history with Dairy Chef, it evokes a drive-in nostalgia that makes you just want to linger there.
And while the lines are long, Dairy Chef’s two windows and quick service ensure the line, intimidating at first, moves fairly quickly.
Most patrons come for Dairy Chef’s signature product: its soft serve ice cream. The base product is run through a machine that incorporates more air and doesn’t allow the ice cream to harden as much as its scooped brethren, creating a smooth, silky texture. You have a choice of two flavors: sweet, perfume-y vanilla or rich chocolate.
That delicious, melty soft serve comes in about any form imaginable at Dairy Chef. From the basic cones to those dipped in chocolate or cherry, ice cream bars, sundaes, malts, and banana splits, the options are seemingly limitless.
The king of Dairy Chef’s menu is its mix-in option: the Storm. Once you choose from Dairy Chef’s 34 options of candies, sauces, drizzles, and shells, the shack empties a dump truck’s worth of it into your cup and mixes it evenly, ensuring no bite is missing the mix-in.
I’d be willing to bet a Regular (not a large, mind you) size of the M&Ms Storm contains over 150 mini M&Ms. It’s enough to make your dentist gasp in horror, but the flavor is so spectacular you couldn’t care less.
The BFF Storm (pictured in the header photo) is one of Dairy Chef’s signature offerings for a reason. Laced with sea salt caramel and broken chunks of chocolate shell, it achieves the perfect balance between salty and sweet. And the Make-Up Storm, flowing with chunks of crunchy Oreo and soft brownies along with fudge, has brilliant chocolatey richness with varied textures.
Dairy Chef also offers monthly specials announced on social media, and these creations are worth monitoring. For example, take the S’mores Storm. This concoction combines sweet, aromatic vanilla and rich chocolate ice cream, then fills it with marshmallow cream, Golden Grahams, and bits of chocolate shell. The result is a cold dessert that has that undeniable roasted s’mores flavor; it’s a mind-bending contradiction that only special places like Dairy Chef can bring to life.
Another legendary staple is Dairy Chef’s Cookie Sandwich, which smushes about a quarter pint of ice cream between two soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies and rolls it in the candy of your choice. As long as you eat it frozen before it melts, the ice cream stays inside the sandwich without erupting out the other end at first bite.
That’s the one downside to soft serve ice cream; because it’s served at a higher temperature, it melts quickly. And given that most diners are eating outside during summer in Nebraska… well, you’d better eat fast or you’ll have a mess on your hands. Fortunately, the ice cream is so delicious, you don’t want to come up for a breath between bites.
Whatever you order, bring a bit appetite and your stretchy pants. Dairy Chef’s portions are gigantic; cones erupt out of their base like the Eiffel Tower on the French skyline, and a “mini” Storm is more than a pint of ice cream.
While Dairy Chef is best known for its ice cream, it also features an extended roster of American diner classics as well. Diners flock for hot dogs, shaved roast beef sandwiches, loaded tots, and chicken tenders.
No dish embodies a drive-in like the cheeseburger, and Dairy Chef’s version is excellent. There’s nothing elevated or chef-y about this burger; imagine a burger at a backyard barbecue, but cooked to perfection. The Bacon Cheeseburger highlights the well-seasoned patty with crispy, salty bacon, fresh, crispy vegetables, creamy American cheese, and a hearty potato bun. If “American barbecue” could be summed up between two buns, this would be it.
The Philly Cheesesteak might be even better. The roast beef, which is sliced daily, is thin, tender, and has a great savory flavor with just the right amount of salt. The beef is complemented by gooey provolone cheese, sweet sauteed peppers, and a buttered, toasted bun.
The French Dip uses that same delicious roast beef, but it’s a bit plain. A melted cheese or some type of pepper would help to boost this sandwich, though dunking it in the jus adds a nice beef-y punch.
If you’re with a group, definitely consider sharing an order of Super Tots, which are basically the evolved form of ballpark nachos. The construction is super simple: Tater tots are loaded with nacho cheese, chili, and diced pickled jalapeños. But the flavor balance is really smart, with rich, creamy cheese matching the savory heat in the chili and peppers. And the tots are crispy and popping with salt.
The side dishes are acceptable, yet not spectacular. The Onion Rings are heavily battered, mixing the fat from the deep fry with the sweetness of the onion for a very tasty ring. The French Fries are less successful; these soft offerings lack crispy texture and necessary salt.
But these minor gripes don’t diminish the overall experience. If you’re looking for a nostalgia bomb, a fun place to take the kids on a hot summer afternoon, or just an excellent place for ice cream, Dairy Chef is your answer.
Ignore the lines. Embrace the calories. Enjoy the flavor.