Fail » Daniel M. Hendricks

Sonic Drive-in

We went to the new Sonic restaurant that went up on the East side of Appleton today. Generally, we’re excited when new businesses come to the area – having more selection is never a bad thing. However, we weren’t impressed with our inaugural trip to the restaurant. Our experience:

The place was busy when we got there. Upon pulling in (we were on our bikes), we weren’t immediately sure where to order. We pulled our bikes up to one of the drive-in stalls, but then Wanda noticed that they had outdoor seating and a place to order for those eating outside. No problem so far – it was our unfamiliarity with the store.

We were disappointed, however, that there was no indoor seating. We were on our bikes, so eating outside wasn’t a big deal, but generally we would go there in one of our vehicles. I don’t really want to eat my meal in the car in general, but I can’t imagine eating in the car during the winter! Who wants to lick chili dog drippings off of their steering wheel?

There were also no bike racks. Since we were outside, we just parked our bikes near our table. However, since it was busy, our bikes frequently got in the way of others. Oh well.

We were ready to order. They had two order stations outside, though one of them was out of order, which was odd for a new store. Wanda got in the rather short line for the functional unit (I watched the bikes). There were only two couples in front of her, but it seemed like it took a long time to cycle through the orders.

Once Wanda ordered for us, she joined me at the picnic table (which was clean). Our order came relatively quickly, which I suppose is expected of fast food. The order was also accurate, which is good. Sadly, ketchup (or any other condiments/supplies) seemed to be in short supply, requiring the carhops to ration them. We asked for ketchup for our fries, and was initially given 3 packets. We asked for more right away, and was given an additional 3. Would it be so hard to have a condiments bar? I hate the packets. By the way, what do the carhops do in the winter? Rollerboots and snowmobile suits?

We were ready to dig in. Lacking a tray, I emptied the ketchup packets onto the paper bag for the fries. Wanda got a grilled chicken sandwich on a wheat bun, and I got a SuperSONIC Cheeseburger. Wanda’s sandwich was bland and dry, much like the Premium Grilled Chicken sandwiches at McDonalds. My cheeseburger was very decent, however, it tasted very much like a Whopper.

We were finishing up, and I wanted a refill on my soda (I always get a refill). DENIED! They don’t do soda refills. Epic fail! $1.89 for a large, non-refillable fountain soda that I could have gotten at the gas station for $0.99. At least the syrup and seltzer ratio tasted correct.

We left with the feeling that Sonic offers a similar menu to McDonalds and Burger King, but at a higher price, no indoor seating, no soda refills, and no convenient condiment access. Where’s the value compared to other chains??

PS, Wanda’s Java Mocha Chiller was decent, but Wendy’s Frosty-chino is better.