Went to Sonic yesterday.

The limeades are fantastic, nice that one can get diet.

Tried a few things.

Fritos chili cheese wrap with onions, let's just say I'm still blaming the dogs, I could imagine loving these back after a binge night of drinking.

The burger was quite enjoyable, I don't think I'd go out of my way for it, but will certainly look forward to having another if in the area.

Onion rings seemed made there but were VERY greasy, much more than they should have been. I'm guessing with the surge of customers being one of the first opening weekends the fryer was in heavy duty use and not getting up to proper frying temp.

I actually got "in line" for a car stall at 10:50am, there were 7 cars ahead of me, at 11:10am I was in a stall. When I left at 12:30 there were at least 16 cars in line.

--

Went to Sonic Aurora yesterday en route to the Chelsea Outlet mall. There was a 30 minute wait for a stall. We ROTFLOAO and left. Went to the Papa Bear down Farnworth across from Chase branch. Fabulous hot fudge shake with real ice cream for 3 bucks. ^

That must have been something to see. Hope you had the brake on.

That's probaby a good guess. They don't normally taste like that.

Another favorite of mine there is the tater tots. Nice and crispy.

If you find yourself going there regularly, search eBay for "sonic cards" and limit it to the Gift Certificate category. I find that most Sonics seldom collect the coupons (especially if you pay for the rest of your order with a gift card), so you can often use them over and over again. Also, get a Sonic gift card (just ask for a $5 one when you place your next order). When you register it online, you get a coupon for a free item. Then with each $15 or $25 reload, you get a coupon for another free item. Oh, and don't forget MakeTJDrink.com for a half price appetizer. Enjoy those half price drinks from 2-4pm!

I rolled up Sunday at 5:30 PM and there was a 45 minute wait for a stall. As disappointing as this was, I wasn't going to wait THAT long for fast food. Given this long a wait for a friggin' drive in burger, I'd say that Sonic waited far too long to open up a location in Chicagoland. I called several years ago asking about franchising and was told that "Chicago is too cold and snowy too much of the year to support a drive in". I asked "And DENVER isn't cold and snowy enough for you in the winter?" Typical southern state native who thinks that everything north of I-70 is the acrtic circle. Not as bad, though, as the SoCal natives who think that everything east of Pasadena is the Atlantic Ocean.

Off again this morning, back Friday, will try it again. Anyone know the hours of operation?

--PP

6am-11pm

After going, I'd suggest waiting until after the hype has died down as I personally don't think it is worth the wait time. I don't wait well and the only reason I did this past Saturday was because of the Do.

--

We're driving to Marion, Il this weekend. Looking forward to Sonic cuisine. We're sure there won't be a wait for a stall any time we choose to stop.

Sunday 8/31 9:30 PM, 30 minute want for both the drive in stalls and hte druve thru takeaway lane. This is the fourth time I have packed the crew into the car and driven up there to find an unacceptable wait time. Next time I want to attempt to go I'm going to just call them and ask what their current wait time is, I'll post of they tell me or if they refuse to tell me.

--PP

Monday 9/1/2008 Labor Day, 4:40 PM

Called the restaurat, they report there is "about an hour" wait. I wonder how long it wil be before there's an acceptable wait for a stall (I would tolerate 10 minutes)? None of the Sonic locations that I hae ever been to EVER had a wait of ANY kind for a stall, and the most I've ever seen at the drive thru is 3 cars.

ATTENTION SONIC: Just think of how much money you could have made over the years if you had opened up a Chicagoland location years ago if almost a month after this location opened there are people waiing an hour to eat there?

--PP

It's 2 weeks tomorrow and only the second weekend and a holiday weekend. Yeah, there's demand, but we're still in the opening nuttiness.

We need to open our own Sonic! I'm in for $10, anyone else? I think we need about a Million.

Do remember that they have been advertising Sonic in the Chicagoland area for three or four years. Considering that there is nothing similar in the area, huge crowds are to be expected.

OTOH, the ones we have visited in Nashville this weekend have been quite busy in the morning and at weird times like 2 pm.

Most Sonics are pretty busy from 2pm - 4pm with Happy Hour (half price drinks and slushes). I've seen some around us (and in our travels) that were near capacity during that time, but have never seen a wait for stalls like they're seeing in Chicago. I don't think I would ever wait more than 5 minutes. It's not that good.

Specifically http://www.sonicdrivein.com/business...AFranchise.jsp

Cash is easy.
Good help is hard to find...

I'd pretty much agree with that. As much as I like Sonic, there's no way I'll be going near that location for at least a couple more weeks; I can't even imagine trying to get in there this past weekend. (Thankfully my upcoming travels will allow me the opportunity for Sonic elsewhere. :) )