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Dairy Queen Grill & Chill — at 1145 Montauk Highway in Mastic — will swing its doors open for the first time on Tuesday, April 4.
Smack in the middle of the area’s high school spring break, owners are preparing for an immediate boom in business. The news comes via Brookhaven Town Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico, who announced the opening on social media.
Panico said the opening is a tribute to the resilience of the owner Ben Bathija, whose daughter Tanya, 32, also an entrepeneur, died in an early morning house fire in Dix Hills in December. Tanya Bathija’s motivation to operate a business — she owned a Dunkin’ Donuts in Bellport — came from her family.
She previously told greaterlongisland.com in April 2022, “I want to be my dad.”
Panico said Dairy Queen’s opening is a testament to Ben Bathija’s “incredible resilience” in the face of an “unimaginable tragedy.”
“(Ben) would like to schedule a ceremonial ribbon cutting once (the weather) warms up and he finishes the landscaping …” Panico posted. “It is my hope that many will attend that ribbon cutting and provide the kindness that this world needs to help heal their hearts.”
As a Dairy Queen Grill & Chill, the shop will sell hot meals along with its frozen treats.
The Mastic location is the seventh Dairy Queen on Long Island. The most recent DQ opening happened in Nesconset back in 2020.
Top photo: Facebook
