Upon discovering the West End Dairy Queen was leaving in place for Roti Modern Mediterranean, junior Anika Hanson said she was interested in learning more about the new restaurant.

“I’m upset that the DQ (Dairy Queen) is closing because I went there for ice cream a lot, but I’m excited to try the new place,” Hanson said.

According to Roti’s marketing manager Samantha Devermann, there is no set opening date but they are excited to build their program around the metro area.

“This is our second location in the Minnesota Minneapolis area. We’re very excited about it,” Devermann said. “We are still in the construction phase, which is really exciting for our team.”

Devermann said the company’s marketing team hopes to spread the word about the new restaurant.

“We’re looking at things we can do with social media influencers to build up the story there,” Devermann said. “Kind of pointing out the special touches about our food and our brand and bringing it to life there.”

Junior Aaron Sledge said he believes the Dairy Queen at West End provided a convenient place for families to go to after events.

“It gave an easy place to go ahead and get ice cream. It’s pretty close to baseball fields, and a lot of kids after baseball games like to go get ice cream,” Sledge said. “It’s what I did when I was young.”

Sledge said despite Dairy Queen’s contribution to the West End community, the restaurant’s moving would not be a big issue.

“It doesn’t seem that important to me,” Sledge said. “It seems pretty cool that Mediterranean is coming in, but there’s also a DQ off of Highway 7, there’s one in Maple Grove, so I think that it’s alright if people want DQ.”

Hanson said the new restaurant will bring something different to the West End area.

“I feel like the West End does a good job of having a variety of different restaurants, it’s not all American food,” Hanson said. “So I think this is something new that they don’t have.”

Sledge said he regarded the new restaurant as an opportunity for more cultural variety in the West End.

“I believe it will increase diversity in the West End, and it will bring in a different group of people, people who are more sophisticated in their taste,” Sledge said.

According to Devermann, Roti Modern Mediterranean will be open to the public in Park’s West End soon after construction is finished. Visit roti.com for more information on style of food, menu options and methods of communication with the company.