POUTINE ON THE RITZ
Canadian Dairy Belle upgrades to a new location in Dania Beach
Dairy Belle, the roadside poutine and soft-serve shack popular among Canadian snowbirds, has upgraded to new digs in Dania Beach.
At 312 E. Dania Beach Blvd., the new location replaces Dairy Belle’s aging midcentury stand on Federal Highway, operated since 1998 by owners Gilles and Ritane Grenier. The shop now occupies a stripmall storefront a half-mile southeast of the old Dairy Belle, across the street from the Casino at Dania Beach.
Longtime customers will instantly notice the stark contrast in venues. Unlike its old storefront with faded red-and-white awnings and a walk-up window, Dairy Belle’s new spot, which opened May 9, has the slick swagger of a fast-casual chain, with indoor market lights, stainless-steel beer taps and digital menus on flatscreen TVs.
“It’s triple the size of the old location,” says Francois Grenier, Dairy Belle’s managing partner and son of Gilles and Ritane. “I’m so grateful it’s open because I reached a breaking point with the old shop.”
Running the old Dairy Belle overwhelmed Grenier even before the pandemic shut his shop down. The old stand, falling apart for years, was invaded by termites. Its air-conditioning unit, constantly breaking, made the squat icecream parlor oppressively hot in winter or summer. And it lacked storage, forcing Grenier to store French fries and curds at home. Enough was enough.
“It was that bad,” says Grenier, who closed the old location March 29. “For the past 10 years we would lose so much mon