Sonic Chillers & Bundt Cake Sundae

Sonic has 2 new limited time menu items this month.

The first is the Sonic Chiller. They taken their famous (and beloved by me) Cherry Limeade and blended it with vanilla soft serve. It is topped with whipped topping, a fresh lime wedge and a cherry.

But you don't have to limit yourself to my favorite... all the limeade flavors can be made as a Sonic Chiller, like Strawberry Limeade or Classic Limeade.

Speaking of Cherry Limeade, when you order a Sonic combo meal you get a free Route 44 drink upgrade (also limited time only).

The second new menu item are Sonic's n Bundt Cake Sundaes.

Sonic's mini-sized chocolate Bundt cakes are filled with warm hot fudge and covered with vanilla soft serve, whipped topping and a cherry.

The Bundt Cake Sundaes come in 3 varieties:  the Molten Chocolate, The Strawberry with hot fudge or the Turtle with caramel and lightly salted pecans.

Ideas for Hot Dog Month and the 4th

July is National Hot Dog Month and the 4th of July is traditionally a big day for hot dog consumption.

Here's a few fast food ideas for your holiday hot dog cravings...

Krystal's has the Chili Cheese Pup and the Corn Pup:

Carl's Jr. has a Jumbo Chili Dog:

Sonic, of course, has their famous Extra-Long Chili Cheese Coney and their Corn Dog:

And if you happen to have a Wienerschnitzel nearby you have a whole variety of hot dogs to choose from including the Pastrami Dog (far right in this photo):

Wienerschnitzel's newest dog is the "Angus Chipotle Chili Dog"!!  Sure to give McDonald's Angus Third Pounder a run for its money!

btw, National Hot Dog Day is a little later in the month, July 18th.

Sonic's Banana Pudding Shake

Sonic Drive-In wants you to take a trip down memory lane this October with their Banana Pudding Shake.

The shake has Nilla wafers and fresh bananas blended into soft serve ice cream.

It will be available for a limited time only.

New Sonic TV Ads Mimic 'The Hills'

Sonic Drive-In has 14 new TV ads that mimic the MTV drama The Hills. The Sonic miniseries is called The Stalls and Pete and T.J. are still the standard characters in their customary seats in their car at Sonic.

The first ad in the 14 week series is below. The ads end with "to be continued." According to AdWeek, "in subsequent [ads] Pete and T.J. discuss banana pudding shakes some more and decide to move to Los Angeles to pursue romance, only to discover they've fallen for the same woman."

The Stalls even has its own web site (www.thestalls.tv) with complete episodes, cast bios, and 'food from the show!'

From the 'season' promo on The Stalls site: "This season on The Stalls: the drama heats up for T.J. and Pete over a couple of Shakes and Blasts. Who knows what will happen on each episode. But one thing's for sure, intensity is definitely on the menu."

Sonic sponsors "Backchannel." The game that you can play while watching The Hills on MTV. Sonic also sponsors The Hills Finale Fantasy Sweepstakes which gives the winner a trip to The Hills finale and $1,000 cash.

Sonic's Angus Bacon Cheeseburgers

Sonic Drive-In is offering 3 hamburgers made with 100% Angus beef.

The new Sonic Angus Bacon Cheeseburgers are available in Hickory, Jalapeño and Classic.

They're served on a ciabatta bun.

The Angus burgers are presently a 'limited time only' menu item.

The Classic Angus Bacon Cheeseburger has 760 calories and 52 grams of fat. Complete nutritional information:

I've already mentioned the Sonic Angus burger, regarding an unfortunate photo of a banner for it, but I didn't have the nutritional details until now.

Frightening Fast Food: Sonic Banner Photo

A recent submission to our Flickr group, Frightening Fast Food, shows the unfortunate positioning of a banner and pole from at least 1 point of view:

Now at Sonic Drive-In, get the new Anus Bacon Cheburger!!

Thanks to Carla on Flickr for submitting the photo to FFF. Here's another shot she took from farther away.

Sonic adds String Cheese to Kids' Meal

Sonic has added String Cheese (the first fast food restaurant to do so) to their Wacky Pack kids' meal in an effort to help kids get their calcium.

Sonic also plans to begin offering bananas to the Wacky Pack in October.

"SONIC believes in the importance of healthy lifestyles and supports a balance of nutrition and exercise," said Paul Macaluso, vice president of marketing for Sonic, America's Drive-In. "String cheese is a perfect food item to maintain a healthy balance, especially if your kids are picky about what they eat. Kids love string cheese and it's a fun way to help them get the calcium, protein and other nutrients they need as part of a balanced diet."

You can listen to a podcast from Sonic about this featuring Tamara Stanley, director of marketing at SONIC, and Melissa Dobbins, registered dietitian with the Midwest Dairy Association:

McCain's daughter loves Sonic

from McCainBlogette.com:

"On Wednesday, we traveled from New Orleans to Baton Rouge where Dad conducted a townhall with the Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal. After the townhall, we traveled to Tampa, Florida for a finance event. The girls and I ended the day going to one of my favorite restaurants, Sonic. I am obsessed with their burgers and cherry limeade." -Meghan McCain

via A Hamburger Today
photo from McCainBlogette.com

Sonic's Banana Split Blast

For National Ice Cream month (July), Sonic is now serving a "Banana Split Blast" for a limited time.

The Banana Split Blast includes bananas and strawberries blended into vanilla soft serve and drizzled with chocolate syrup, whipped topping and a cherry.

The 14 oz. Banana Split Blast has 560 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of fat, 10 grams saturated fat, .5 grams trans fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 98 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 76 grams sugar, 7 grams protein.

The 20 oz. Banana Split Blast has 790 calories 190 calories from fat, 21 grams fat, 13 grams saturated fat, 1 gram trans fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 141 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 109 grams sugar, 9 grams protein.

Sonic's XL Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak

My wife and I stopped at a Sonic Drive-In over the weekend for a couple Cherry Limeades (yum!) and we noticed this sign on the drive-up menu board:

I was transfixed by the enormity of the sandwich (and its name), but my wife noticed the calorie saving hint in smaller print at the bottom: "Even better with a Diet Coke and fresh lime."

If you're going to eat something like that, why bother with a DIET coke!?!? Just go for it and get the regular Coke (or at least a Cherry Limeade).

I was guessing at least 1000 calories for this bad-boy, but it totals a mere 710 calories (complete nutritional data below).

The Extra-Long Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak is a "limited-time" menu item at Sonic. Their description:

What, you think you have to go to Philadelphia to get a quality cheesesteak? Just swing by any SONIC® (including the Philadelphia locations) and order a big, hearty, meat-lovers sandwich—juicy steak smothered with smoky cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, grilled onions and mayonnaise. Only SONIC® makes it extra long. Because we know that the regular amount of flavor just won't cut the mustard ... I mean mayo. There's no mustard. Forget I mentioned that.

As we were driving away, sipping our excellent Cherry Limeades, we made another observation: no other fast food restaurant comes anywhere close to offering the variety of drinks that Sonic does. We love it.

Sonic Drive-In's Extra-Long Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak has 710 calories, 360 calories from fat, 40 grams fat, 13 grams saturated fat, 1 gram trans fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 1030 mg sodium, 52 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 7 grams sugars, and 35 grams protein.

Spicy new menu items from Sonic

Sonic Drive-In has added 3 new spicy menu items for the hottest month of the year.

The new side item (pictured) is the Crispy Jalapeno Strips. Sonic didn't give a detailed description in their press release, so we're left to assume that they're deep fried strips of Jalapeno peppers...makes sense. They come with a dipping sauce of your choice.

The Crispy Jalapeno Strips are an essential part of the other 2 new items, because they, along with a new chipotle sauce, are being added to a couple Sonic standards.

The new burger is the Spicy SuperSonic Burger: two beef patties, two slices of pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, some of the aforementioned crispy jalapeno strips and chipotle sauce.

Finally, the new spicy breakfast offering is the Southwest Breakfast Burrito. You guessed it, it's the regular breakfast burrito with Crispy Jalapeno Strips and chipotle sauce added!

Fast food drink options to grow

Have you noticed the rapidly growing number of soft drink varieties at your grocery store and c-stores? Coke Blak, Berries and Cream Dr. Pepper, Diet Pepsi Jazz Black Cherry French Vanilla... the list goes on and on (and the names get longer and longer!)

And have you also noticed that at many fast food joints the choices are still limited to the same 5 or 6 choices that they've offered for 15 years?

Well, according to a Brandweek article I read today, the lack of choice at fast feeders is already changing quickly.

McDonald's is already testing coolers filled with a variety of bottled Coke products. Wendy's and Jack now offer bottled water. And Subway led the way be adding Coke coolers at 95% of their locations late last year.

Subway says half of their cooler sales are noncarbonated beverages. Dasani is the top seller (33%) followed by Coke Classic (17%).

So not only are the selections increasing, but the format, too: individual bottles of soda.

The exception, of course, is the drink selection king, Sonic Drive-Ins. Sonic clearly offers the largest selection of fountain drinks with 168,894 possible flavor combinations. According to the article, Sonic will be promoting themselves as the "The Ultimate Drink Stop" this year.

And while the chains increase the options, the manufacturers will continue to flood the market with more flavors. From the article:

Coke has been working with the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y., to create new drink recipes for casual dining restaurants using its fountain drinks. "Coca-Cola Specialty Beverage" recipes include the Coca-Cola Hot Tamale (Coke, fresh lime, black pepper, Worcestershire and hot sauces) and other unusual variations on old favorites.

Sonic announces yet more drinks

Sonic today announced two new drinks to their enormous drink selection. So this is the perfect time for a few words about said selection.

On a hot summer day here in Texas, a Sonic on the horizon is practically an oasis and the reason is the drink selection. According to Sonic there are 168,000 possible drink combinations. And everyone I know has their favorite. Mine is the Diet Cherry Limeade; Route 44 size (that's big!).

Also of note are the cups and the ice. The Route 44 cups are made of styrofoam that might not be environmentally friendly, but that keeps my drink cool a long time. And the ice at Sonic is that little pellet ice that just can't be beat.

The 2 new drinks announced today, by the way, are flavored teas: red raspberry and peach.

Fast food's 'holiday' references

The controversy over "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" seems to have really heated up this year. I actually got invited to a "I'll call it a Christmas Party if I Want To" party! thrown by someone who said they're sick of all the "religious correctness." Many people are being careful not to offend; many of the 'Christmas' cards I got this year did not mention Christmas at all. And of course there's been boycotts against many retailers who've been accused by Christian groups of not including specific Christmas references in their stores, websites, and holiday marketing.

With this in mind, I decided to take a look at some fast food restaurants' web sites today, with Christmas only a day and a half away, and see what sort of 'holiday' references I might find.

The following sites had no mention of the holiday season whatsoever: Burger King, Carls Jr., Chick-fil-a, Church's Chicken, Del Taco, In-N-Out, KFC, Long John Silver's, McDonald's, Panera, and Taco Bell.

One thing about that list really surprised me. I was surprised that Chick-fil-a didn't have a "Merry Christmas" on their site, since they promote themselves as a Christian company every week by keeping their restaurants closed on Sunday.

I didn't see Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza mentioned specifically anywhere, but here are some holiday references I did find:

• Dairy Queen is promoting a "Merry Mint Chip Blizzard" on their site, but doesn't mention Christmas or the holiday season specifically.
• Hardee's had a "Big Holiday Rockin' Good Promo" (an LCD TV giveaway) on their site two days ago, but interestingly, today (12/23), it is just called the "Rockin' Good Promo." Hmm.
• Jack in the Box has special Holiday Antenna Balls.
• Sonic Drive-Ins has a Holiday Scratch & Win Game and a Gingerbread Blast (aka a gingerbread shake).
• Subway has a special section on "Surviving the Holiday Hunger" written by their staff dietician.
• Wendy's homepage promotes and links to some holiday related topics at the Dave Thomas Foundation including a Hallmark Adoption Ornament and a television special that aired Wednesday (12/21) on CBS.

Hundreds Of Fast-Food Restaurants Closed by Hurricane Katrina

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dow Jones)--Hurricane Katrina left hundreds of fast-food restaurants closed or damaged in its devastation.

More than 200 McDonald's Corp. (MCD) restaurants remained dark in the storm's path as of midday Wednesday. Burger King Corp. said about 120 of the 180 restaurants initially hit were still closed.

"We're assessing damage to our restaurants, but transportation, power and the lack of communication make it difficult," said McDonald's pokesman Bill Whitman.

McDonald's has dispatched an assessment team to the Gulf Coast to "get a firsthand account of what we need to do to help our people as well as others in the disaster area," he said. The company also has contacted the American Red Cross, although Whitman indicated that McDonald's hadn't determined what assistance it might render.

"Our first priority is to locate all of our employees and insure their safety," he said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York City, the chain trucked in food and water to the Ground Zero area, for residents as well as those involved in rescue and recovery.

Burger King has marshaled a half dozen semitrailer trucks loaded with everything from canned goods and water to bug spray and diapers to assist those in what a spokeswoman called "the Burger King family." That would include franchisees - most of the restaurants along the Gulf Coast are franchised – and their employees.

Those trucks are "staged" and waiting for word that it is safe to enter the storm's zone.
"We also will provide cash assistance" for emergency housing and similar basic needs, said Edna Johnson, a senior vice president at the Miami-based hamburger chain.

More than 4,000 restaurant workers have been affected by the storm, she said, adding that "we're still trying to account for all" of them.

Because of operating difficulties and disrupted supply lines, many of the Burger Kings operating in the ravaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were serving a limited menu.

Johnson said at last count 57 Burger Kings were closed in Louisiana, 52 in Mississippi, 15 in Alabama and six in the Miami area.

Among restaurants hardest-hit in and around swamped New Orleans was AFC Enterprises Inc.'s (AFCE) Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits chain, which has 43 stores in that market, according to the company's Web site. It also has eight restaurants in and around Biloxi, Miss. All told, Popeyes operates at 153 locations in Louisiana and 56 in Mississippi.

Popeyes spokeswoman Alicia Thompson said the Atlanta company was pulling together information on the situation and couldn't elaborate.

"With so many employees in the New Orleans market we've been making sure they're OK," she said. "Now we're starting to assess, as much as we can, where we are."

Other chains hit by Katrina's fury include Sonic Corp. (SONC), which said it has about 60 drive-ins affected in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. A spokeswoman said the Oklahoma City company was seeking to determine the extent of damage and wasn't prepared to comment further. Sonic has about 3,000 stores nationwide.

There was no immediate word on storm damage to restaurants in the Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) portfolio, which include KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W and Long John Silver's.

Unlike some other retailers that may be able to eventually capture sales postponed because of the storm, restaurants have no such opportunity. Once a meal period is passed, revenue is lost, and so an economic impact is inevitable for franchisers and their franchisees, who pay a percentage of every sales dollar rung up.

from Cattle Network News.

Sonic Opens 3,000th drive-in

The 52 year-old Sonic, the nation's largest drive-in restaurant chain, had a ceremony celebrating unit number 3,000 yesterday in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the location of the first Sonic Drive-In. Sonic opened its 2,000th unit 1999. --Yahoo

UPDATE (5/2009): This blog post (from 2005) has become a popular place to discuss Sonic Drive-In locations, particularly in New Jersey (but everywhere else, too).

Feel free to add your thoughts and Sonic Sightings below.

Trying to find a Sonic? Try Sonic's Restaurant Locator or Sonic's Trip Planner (for finding all the Sonic's along your route.