Dairy Queen (DQ) opened its first Manhattan restaurant in May 2014. Dairy Queen first introduced its Blizzard dessert (soft serve ice cream with mixed-in extras) in 1985. To celebrate the Manhattan opening, Dairy Queen introduced a Big Apple Blizzard of vanilla soft serve, pie crust pieces, granny smith apple bits, whipped cream and cinnamon.
 
Gothamist, reporting on May 20, 2014, said that the Big Apple Blizzard “tastes like apple pie on crack.”
   
“Big Apple Shake” is a menu item at the Johnny Rockets restaurant chain. “The Big Apple” is the name of an ice cream shake at Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce in Columbus, Ohio.
 
     
Wikipedia: Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, which also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The first Dairy Queen store opened in 1940 in Kankakee, Illinois. It serves a variety of frozen treats, such as Ice Cream. The company’s corporate offices are located in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, Minnesota.
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Blizzard
A popular Dairy Queen item is the Blizzard, which is soft-serve mechanically blended with mix-in ingredients such as sundae toppings and/or pieces of cookies, brownies, or candy. It has been a staple on the menu since its introduction in 1985, a year in which Dairy Queen sold more than 175 million Blizzards. Popular Blizzard flavors include Oreo Cookies, mint Oreo, chocolate chip cookie dough, M&M’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Heath bar, and Butterfinger. Seasonal flavors are also available such as October’s Pumpkin Pie. It has been argued that Dairy Queen drew its inspiration from the concrete served by the St. Louis based Ted Drewes. On July 26, 2010, Dairy Queen introduced a new “mini” size Blizzard, served in 6 oz. cups.
       
Twitter
Emily Orley
‏@emilyorley
Update: the Dairy Queen big apple blizzard has crunchy apples #dqbigapple #meetmeatdq
11:22 AM - 20 May 2014
 
Gothamist   
Photos: Inside Manhattan’s First Dairy Queen
Gothamist in Food on May 20, 2014 4:45 pm
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There’s a limited-edition “Big Apple Blizzard” that’s exclusive to Manhattan, and it tastes like apple pie on crack.
 
CBS-TV (New York, NY) 
Dairy Queen Opens First Manhattan Store
May 29, 2014 9:31 AM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A “blizzard” has hit Manhattan!
 
Dairy Queen opened its first store in Manhattan on Thursday.
 
The city’s first-ever DQ Grill & Chill is located at 14th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
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For its Manhattan debut, DQ has created a special Big Apple Blizzard, which has granny smith apple pieces in a pie filling mixed with vanilla soft serve and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.
 
DNAinfo New York
Dairy Queen Fans Line Up for Grand Opening on 14th St.
By Heather Holland on May 29, 2014 1:20pm
UNION SQUARE — More than 100 Dairy Queen fans lined up outside the national chain’s first Manhattan location on Thursday morning, in the hopes of winning a year of free Blizzards.
 
Customers started arriving at the brand-new Dairy Queen at 54 W. 14th St. at 7 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of the grand opening Thursday morning, waiting overnight so that they could receive a gift card that would get them one of the free soft-serve ice cream treats each month for the next year.
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Dairy Queen launched a new Blizzard flavor in celebration of the store’s opening called the Big Apple Blizzard, made with vanilla soft serve, pie crust pieces, granny smith apple bits, whipped cream and nutmeg.
 
“It really tastes like an apple pie,” said 20-year-old NYU student James D. “It’s very cinnamon-y.”
 
Daily News (New York, NY)
Eats Beat: Dairy Queen to rule New York City
BY GINA PACE Friday, May 23, 2014, 3:54 PM
New to the scene ...
It’s the only blizzard New Yorkers will embrace after this past winter. The Daily News got a sneak peek of the Big Apple Blizzard, a frosty treat to be exclusively offered at Manhattan’s very first Dairy Queen when it opens this week. The Big Apple’s tasty vanilla soft serve is packed with crispy pie crust pieces and apple, and is topped with whipped cream. Strong cinnamon and apple flavors stand out, and its legit apple pie taste makes the Blizzard worth a trip to the soon-to-open two-story shop at 54 W. 14th St. It’ll be just the second DQ location in New York City, following last summer’s launch of a spot in the St. George terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. The Blizzard puts posers like the McDonald’s McFlurry to shame, since the DQ treat is so thick that servers are instructed to hand it to you upside down. The national ice cream chain’s latest outpost near Union Square is set to open Thursday.
 
Twitter
Amanda Garrett
‏@agarrett_
@DairyQueen I got the Big Apple Blizzard and it was fantastic! pic.twitter.com/jhe6ST8nGN
1:22 PM - 4 Jun 2014