Iconic restaurant closes

The closing of an iconic restaurant in Portales has saddened area residents who say it was more than the food, it was a community staple.

The Portales Dairy Queen closed its doors for good on Oct. 4. Owner Susan Houtchens said it was a hard decision to make but family health issues took priority and pushed her to retire.

"We've had it in our family for over 25 years," Houtchens said. "The experience has been a wonderful blessing to the whole family."

Christina Calloway: Portales News-Tribune

Community members are sad to see the Portales Dairy Queen close its doors for good after being in Portales more than 25 years. Owner Susan Houtchens said she loves the community and will miss the connections she's made with people through the restaurant.

She decided to put the restaurant on the market about a year ago in hopes that she could sell it as a Dairy Queen because she said the restaurant has a special meaning in her family and the community.

"Franchises are hard to pick up and get into," she said.

With no buyers interested in purchasing the property, Houtchens said they are forced close it down.

"We prayed about it and just decided," she said. "Some of the most special people in our lives are people we met through the restaurant."

Houtchens said she's received an overwhelming amount of support from the community about their decision.

"We have gotten so many letters and cards," she said.

She says they have played an important role in the community by sponsoring local sports teams and watching celebrations take place at her restaurant. She also donated food to community events.

"One young man played for a team we sponsored came by and wanted a last Blizzard and it was just very emotional for me," Houtchens said. "I have employees who met at the store and got married."

Sabrina Johnson, a former resident of Portales, is sad to hear the restaurant has closed. One of her cherished memories was meeting actor and Eastern New Mexico University alumni Ronny Cox at the Dairy Queen in the mid-80's.

After watching Cox on-screen in Clovis, Johnson said she returned to Portales to enjoy ice cream at the Dairy Queen when she ran into Cox and his family ordering food.

"We told him we had just seen him in Beverly Hills Cop II and asked for his autograph," Johnson said, "He signed a DQ napkin. He was a very gracious man and it was pretty cool to see him within an hour of seeing the movie."

Jessica Meeks of Portales said the Dilly Bar, a Dairy Queen ice cream novelty, has been one of her favorite treats since childhood and something that she's passed on to her children. She is also sad to see the restaurant close.

"My mom and dad used to buy Dilly Bars by the dozen and give them to me and my brother Terry as a treat," Meeks said, "I carried on the tradition with my oldest. My favorite was the cherry dipped Dilly Bar and my daughter Julyssa is chocolate all the way."

Here is what people are sharing about their Dairy Queen memories on the Portales News-Tribune Facebook page:

• Janice Hardin said: I will miss Suzie and her husband. They are such great people. My memories are going to be taking my 100-year-old grandmother to eat every Tuesday there.
• D'Anne Vidaurri said: I loved the atmosphere, my mom worked there for a while. When she would get off of work, we would get ice cream and talk about our day.
• Becky Lynn Merrill said: Suzie was always very supportive of Boy Scout Troop 18 — always willing to help us out in whatever way she could; definitely going to miss her support. And the ice cream cakes, no one does ice cream cakes like DQ.
• Wendel Sloan said: Our office would send a student there on Friday afternoons to bring back mini-Blizzards for each of us. It is the one time each week that we all stopped working long enough to spend a few minutes just visiting.