Monday, July 4, 2011

Eating Out: Sonic Drive-In

Even though I enjoy cooking and prefer a homemade meal, I must say that I do like fast food.  Sometimes I crave it.  In fact, on occasion I’ll get a taste for something stuck in my head and can’t focus on anything else until I’ve eaten it.  I’m like my neurotic Chihuahua when I pull out her favorite toy… gimme gimme gimme!!!!

When my husband and I lived in Hawaii, I used to be tortured with the commercials for Sonic.  Yes, I enjoyed the local Hawaiian fast-food-goodness of Zippy’s, and got to experience the deliciousness of Jack ‘n’ the Box (we both grew up where Ronald McDonald is king & Jack is nowhere to be found), but the ice cream and drinks from the Sonic commercials haunted my dreams. 

Okay, that last bit was a little dramatic, but I really did get semi-upset that I didn’t have access to one.

When we were moving back to the mainland, we joked that we were only going to move where there was a Sonic.  Of course, my husband, being the intelligent and practical one in our marriage (I supply the spontaneous excitement and goofiness), wouldn’t stick to the Sonic plan and moved us back to where we grew up, the Chicago area.

About a year after we moved back, a Sonic opened up about 30 miles away.  It was around the street from where my husband worked, was in a horrible location, and had long lines.  I just never made it over that way since I couldn’t justify driving all that way for fast food.  And then about 2 months ago, about 2 miles from our home, we noticed a new building going up.  A sign arrived a month later… it would be a Sonic.

And I did a happy dance.

It opened last weekend and the lines were ridiculous.  Again, as much as I wanted to try it, I’m not willing to sit in long lines for fast food.  However, after working all day on July 4th and not wanting to cook, I went in search of a quick meal.  Every place was closed, except Sonic, and since it is the holiday, there wasn’t even a line.

Jackpot.

What was eaten:  Double Bacon Cheeseburger

We decided to do the Drive Thru since we had some things we had to finish at home and above Chihuahua along with the two Pugs were left to roam the house unsupervised.  Since I had never been to one before and we hadn’t planned on going, I had no idea what to order.  I went with my old standby, a double bacon cheeseburger.  I actually ordered the fries, but the girl rang them up as Tater Tots (she was a tad surly when I suggested that I ordered fries) and I decided just to let it go.  Who doesn’t love tater tots?  Finally, I finished it off with a chocolate sundae for dessert.

The burger looked fantastic.  I’m used to the squished look of most fast food burgers, but it looked delicious and “just made”.  As for the taste, it was pretty good.  The patties weren’t juicy, but the bacon was crisp and it was loaded with condiments.  Would it be my first choice if I am craving a burger?  Probably not, but if someone suggested a trip to Sonic, I probably wouldn’t kick up a fuss.  The tots were deliciously crisp and my fear is that it will be my new craving – thank God they’re “open ‘til midnight or later.”  The chocolate on the sundae was so fudgy… my complaint is that there wasn’t enough of it compared to the ice cream.

What was eaten:  New York Hot Dog

Just before we left, my husband was cleaning the kitchen and accidentally dropped my celery salt on the floor.  It shattered and left our kitchen smelling like a Chicago-style hot dog.  Now we originally left to find me food and he was only going for ice cream, but I guess he too had a craving stuck in his head.  He’s a Chicago Hot Dog connoisseur, but I guess he felt like sauerkraut tonight and went for the New York Dog.  He got a side of tots and a Double Stuff Oreo Blast for dessert.

The hot dog was disappointing looking – smushed and sad.  He said it didn’t taste bad, but the “sauerkraut to mustard” ratio was all off. 

Let that sink in a little.  Don’t worry, I laughed at that too.  In fact, it was why I decided to write this blog post tonight.

He also enjoyed the tots, and the Oreo Blast was heavenly (I got to sneak in a couple of bites).  Sure, it isn’t thick like custard (our original destination was Culvers so he could get a Concrete Mixer but they were closed), but the mixture was good with a lot of whipped cream.

Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Sonic.  Everyone we encountered (with the exception of the girl who took our order – I think she really wanted to be enjoying her 4th of July instead of working) was really happy and nice.  It was incredibly well organized and they were prepared for large crowds by having cones set up for traffic and plenty of staff.  I’m sure we’ll be going back again.

Sonic Drive-In
1299 Torrence Avenue
Calumet City, IL 60409

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