Q: Any news on what’s happening with the Dairy Queen that was supposed to be going up next to Texas Tony’s in East Naples? So far, no work has begun. I hope it’s not been scrapped. — Wanda Erickson, East Naples
A: A DQ Grill & Chill is still in the works at 4535 Tamiami Trail E. in East Naples. The local franchise owner is working to obtain the necessary permits so that construction can begin on the drive-thru restaurant.
“The permitting process can take a long time. We had like one little snag that was actually a couple of months ago and I think we’re past that. We’re just kind of waiting, but I think this is the last stretch of it,” said Marco Island resident Jim Dolan, who co-owns the new DQ franchise with his wife, Cathleen.
Dolan is expecting to have the final permits in hand within the next month so that he can put the project out to bid. It’s possible that the new restaurant could still open in 2023, he said.
“I think it could still happen before the end of the year because all the timelines for construction we’ve heard from everyone, the max is like five months,” Dolan said. “Though, I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t get pushed into next year because everything else I thought was going to happen has taken a lot longer, so that one probably will too.”
The project’s site development plan was approved by Collier County in March but a preconstruction meeting still must be scheduled after companies are hired. There’s still another government hurdle involving the U.S. 41 entrance into the new business.
“The thing we’ve been waiting on is the Florida Department of Transportation has needed to approve the turn lane entrance to the property going northbound on 41,” he said. “That’s the last thing I think we’re waiting on. I think there is a meeting that they have to approve everything, but I think all the permits are done except for the turn lane, and that’s the one we’re waiting on.”
The lot for the future Dairy Queen abuts the southeast side of Texas Tony’s Rib & Brewhouse property, which is owned by Naples-based Phelan Family Brands. “We actually bought that lot from the Phelan family,” Dolan said.
In addition to the Dairy Queen building, which plans show will be about 2,200 square feet with an outdoor patio, the Dolans eventually want to have a miniature golf course behind the 70-seat restaurant on the 1.84-acre vacant commercial parcel.
“That was kind of the concept because the lot that we ended up acquiring was bigger than we needed. Like everything else the last couple years down here, it’s hard to find exactly what we wanted, so we ended up getting a lot that was a little bit bigger,” Dolan said. “So, the plan was to kind of utilize that, something that would go well in tandem with Dairy Queen. And so, we’re thinking like mini golf, you know, something that is not the hardest thing to operate, as well, but also goes really well with ice cream, the treat business. So, we thought that would be kind of a good synergy there.”
The plan is to open the restaurant first and get it established before adding miniature golf during a second phase of construction, Dolan said. “We wanted to get the store up and running and then add that in next,” he said.
It’s not the Dolans’ first hospitality business. They also own a Gino’s East pizzeria franchise in northeastern Illinois.
“This will be our first Dairy Queen,” Dolan said. “We own a deep-dish pizza franchise in the Chicago suburbs and we moved down about two years ago with the intent of opening a Dairy Queen.”
Dairy Queen has had locations in the Naples area for 60 years. The original opened in the early 1960s about five miles north on 41 in a small building that featured the brand’s classic A-frame. That nostalgic landmark is home to Turco Taco today.
The old franchise of the soft-serve ice cream chain relocated a few blocks north to a larger building in August 2012 so that it could expand into a DQ Grill & Chill. It’s the only DQ open now in Collier County. Another longtime former DQ franchise at the food court in Coastland Center mall closed in April 2015.
After operating for decades in Golden Gate, another Dairy Queen franchisee permanently closed its drive-thru on Golden Gate Parkway in spring 2021. That location is now Coldstone Creamery and Planet Smoothie.
Truckin’ on
Q: What’s going on with Mother Truckers? Closed for a month now. No activity. — Peggy Josephs, East Naples
A: Mother Truckers Cafe, which launched in early January on the corner of U.S. 41 East and Catalina Drive in East Naples, was forced to temporarily close until renovations could be made, but owner Rick Berec said he plans to definitely reopen.
The local restaurant’s dilemma centers on its kitchen—a colorful food truck permanently parked on the southern side of the building at 4811 Tamiami Trail E. The converted step van extended the commercial space of the more than 2,000-square-foot building.
Berec has an oven inside the Chicago-inspired restaurant to make deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas, but other menu items, such as Italian beef sandwiches and all-beef Vienna hot dogs were made on the truck and passed through a window at the counter-service eatery.
“The Greater Naples fire department came in and said our truck needed to be 15 feet away from the building, so I sold the truck,” Berec said. “I’m adding four parking spots and putting a kitchen inside.”
A Collier County code enforcement case documents the violation of state mandates requiring that mobile or temporary cooking operations be separated from buildings or structures, combustible materials, vehicles and other cooking operations by a minimum of 10 feet.
“The restaurant ‘Mother Trucker Cafe’ has a mobile cooking vehicle (MCV) within 10 feet of the structure. The Florida fire prevention code (FFPC) states the MCV cannot be utilized within 10 feet of a structure. Furthermore, the site plans given to us by the county fire reviewers show the MCV has to be 15 feet from the structure,” according to the case file.
Once mandatory alterations are made, Berec hopes to reopen Mother Truckers later this summer — without its namesake food truck, of course.
“We were hoping it would be less time and we’d be open already by now. But it looks like it could take another month or so,” he said. “We’re going to just mirror what’s in the truck inside the building behind the pizza oven. So, it’ll just be inside now. So, no more truck.”
Berec said it will take CaptiveAire a week to 12 days to install the range hood and exhaust system for kitchen ventilation. “I already pulled the permit, so it might take three or four weeks just to get the permit in hand. I already ordered the equipment.”
Berec realizes it may not be the best time to schedule last-minute, post-season work.
“It’s hard right now,” he said. “This is when people usually do all their stuff as far as residential and restaurant-wise. So, it could be a month and a half. I really don’t know. All I know is the permit’s pulled, and the minute that we’re done and inspected we’ll definitely reopen with the same staff. Everybody’s ready to come back to work. It’s just that there’s not a whole lot we can do.”
Berec is hoping he can start up where he left off at the restaurant.
“We had a killer season. We had a lot of great reviews, a lot of good action, a good spot,” he said. “They just kept bothering me about the parking, and then the truck and my hands were tied.”
The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.
