The Dairy Queen franchise brand is offering franchisees up to $200,000 in lump-sum cash payments to open new Grill & Chill prototype units, the company announced on May 27, 2026. The program applies to U.S. and Canadian franchise agreements signed through the end of 2026 and aims to spur growth of the Grill & Chill franchise concept, which has added only 18 net locations during the past three years of expansion.
Up to $200,000 for On-Time Openings
Under the program, a franchisee who opens a Grill & Chill unit on schedule receives a lump-sum payment of $150,000. If that same operator opens a second freestanding Grill & Chill location within 18 months, an additional $200,000 becomes available. Both payments are contingent on signing qualifying development agreements in the United States or Canada before December 31, 2026.
Total development costs for a Grill & Chill unit range from $1.5 million to $2.6 million, according to Dairy Queen’s franchise disclosure document. At those figures, the $150,000 on-time opening bonus represents between 5.9% and 10% of the total capital required to bring a unit to market.
“This initiative is designed to support franchisees who are ready to grow with the brand and have a solid development strategy in place,” said Gregg Benvenuto, VP of franchise development, U.S. and Canada.
A Format That Has Grown Slowly Since 2023
The Grill & Chill is Dairy Queen’s flagship restaurant prototype, pairing a full food menu with the brand’s ice cream and frozen treat lineup under one roof. The format counted 1,967 locations at the start of 2023 and reached 1,985 by the end of 2025. That net addition of 18 units over three years reflects the slower build pace the incentive program is now designed to address.
Dairy Queen operates just over 4,100 restaurants across the United States as of year-end 2025, making the Grill & Chill prototype roughly half the domestic footprint. The brand’s broader expansion strategy now appears focused on raising that share through a financial incentive that directly offsets early construction risk for developers.
The program announcement follows a period of franchise system activity in which construction costs and financing conditions have shaped development timelines across the quick-service restaurant sector. Cash bonuses tied to opening milestones are one mechanism operators and brands have used to keep new-build pipelines on schedule, according to reporting by Restaurant Dive and Nation’s Restaurant News.
Unit Economics That Underpin the Push
Average gross sales at freestanding new-build Grill & Chill locations reached approximately $1.5 million in 2025, a figure roughly 7% higher than 2022 results. Average manageable profit margin for the format stood at 27.3% for the same year, according to data disclosed in Dairy Queen’s franchise documents.
Across the broader U.S. Dairy Queen system, average unit volume rose 4.5% to $1.2 million in 2025. The combination of improving per-unit economics and a cash incentive for timely openings positions the Grill & Chill program as both a recruitment tool and a performance signal aimed at existing multi-unit operators.
The announcement was made via press release on May 27, 2026. Dairy Queen has not disclosed a minimum number of units required to qualify, nor a cap on total incentive payments available under the program.
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