|
tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Sonic
Drive-Ins Drive-ins are dead. When was the last time you
saw an A&W drive-in? Sure, they
used to be everywhere, then they disappeared.
A&W drive-ins died, so drive-ins died. Sure there’s the occasional local legend that lives on, but
certainly no organized chain would ever go the drive-in route, right? Truth is, the biggest national player just keeps getting bigger. In 1953, Troy Smith was a
Shawnee, OK restaurateur who had already done a couple of other ideas and who
planned to open a steakhouse. The
steakhouse lot was shared by a walk-up hamburger/root beer stand called the
“Top Hat”. Smith kept it
running as sort of a side business, but its solid performance made it much more
than that. In 1954, Smith saw a
hamburger stand in Louisiana that had homemade intercom speakers that let
customers order from their cars. Smith
contacted the speaker maker and asked him to do the same for his drive-in.
Smith added a canopy for cars to park under and hired servers to deliver
food directly to customers’ cars. The
idea was a huge success. A second
“Top Hat” was opened in 1956 by a former Safeway manager who at the same
time became Smith’s partner. Two
more Top Hats opened. At this
point lawyers advised the partners that Top Hat was already a trademarked name,
so the fourth Top Hat in Stillwater changed its name to Sonic, chosen because of
its space-age attraction and a sensible coincidence (Top Hat’s slogan was
already “Service with the speed of sound”).
That Stillwater Sonic is still open today. The 165-store chain went public in 1973 through a deal put together by key franchisees. Sonic went though the 70’s and some of the 80’s in less-than-stellar health, as most drive-in related businesses did, ending up in a chain of effectively independent operators doing their own thing. But Sonic restructured and came roaring back as 2000 approached with a new menu, a new look, and an overall makeover that brought back consistency at all locations. Expansion has been explosive. Sonic now has more units than Hardee's or Jack in the Box, bringing year-round drive-in service to 30 states and Mexico. That makes Sonic the number four hamburger chain in the country (unless you count Dairy Queen as a hamburger chain). The drive-in dead? Hah! Today’s Sonic has a few different configurations that always includes year-round carhop service under brightly lit canopies in a fun and colorful neon atmosphere. Park, read the menu, push the button, and order. You can even pay for your food with a credit card right at the menu (it has a card reader). Drive-thru service is available at many modern locations, though I’ve
seen brand new locations going up without it. That’s surprising
considering over half of most major fast food chains business comes from the
drive-thru. You will occasionally
find a configuration with indoor seating as well, but even the indoor seating
requires ordering from the speaker and carhop service. But it's Sonic's menu that makes them a success. Burgers, burgers on toast, tenderloins, chicken sandwiches and strips, wraps, chili dogs, onion rings, tater tots or fries (topped in cheese, chili, onions, or all of the above), an absolutely obnoxious variety of drinks including flavored sodas, slushes, cream slushes, something called "Ocean Water" (it's actually Sprite with a shot of coconut flavor), and possibly their most well-known feature...limeades. Sonic in recent years has stepped up advertising focusing on the drinks ("Your morning drink stop"). Sonic was MY morning drink stop before said advertising ever began...a Route 44 Strawberry Slush went a long way through the morning for me. Sonic has an extensive dessert menu featuring frozen treats and shakes. Every Sonic I've been to claims to make anything you can dream up as long as they have the ingredients on hand. My favorite custom non-menu item is a Chili Breakfast Toaster. Simply request the breakfast toaster sandwich with chili, egg, and cheese. Another fun idea is to do the grape add-in to a limeade, effectively creating an Arctic Circle-like Lime Rickey. Sonic launched a breakfast menu chain-wide in 2003 after a couple of years of experimentation. Breakfast includes the best breakfast sandwiches in the business on Texas toast. They also have a really good breakfast burrito. They used to have a Pancake on a Stick...a corn-dog-like concoction a sausage link deep fried in a buttermilk batter...and I continue to mourn its departure. You can get the breakfast items all day long, not just at limited hours...or you can get a burger at 7am. The whole menu is available all day. Sonic is also pretty good at subtle marketing. I occasionally get a surprise visit by the carhop with what is known as the Sonic Courtesy Tray, asking if I'm okay, need any napkins. As it happens, she's got several tasty looking sundaes on her tray. But she didn't really stop by on the way to deliver them to another car...They're props. Teasers. Sneaky. Winter doesn't kill the business. If your local Sonic has a drive-thru, you're still fine. And I've been known to have a Sonic lunch parked in the drive-in with 20-degree weather and lots of wind. Don't forget to tip your carhop.
Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road
food consumption
|
