Sonic Anarchy? Sonarchy?
Those of you that have a Sonic restaurant on every corner will appreciate this.
The first Sonic in the Milwaukee area (possibly in the state) opened about a month ago a few miles from our home. I figured it would be busy for awhile - Milwaukeeans love their food, new dining experiences, etc. I remember the crowds at the first Krispy Kreme opening here rivaling the original Woodstock for a few days. And those Sonic commercials are effective, especially when you don't have one. But I figured a month was enough for it to die down. So last night, when my daughter suggested we give it a try for supper (I've always been a "supper" vs. "dinner" person), I said sure and she, her brother and I hopped in the truck and drove down there.
Wrong.
The entrance to the Sonic itself is barricaded and protected by burly guards that take their job more seriously than the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld. On the approach, you are directed by signs through a maze of buildings to what is called the "Sonic Staging Area" - a roped off section of the parking lot of the adjoining strip mall. There you get into one of two lines - "Stalls" or "Drive Thru." At this point you are trapped - there is no third "F%*k This" option that allows you to turn around or maneuver around the others. The drive thru line (that is, the "staging area drive thru line", not the actual drive thru line itself) only had about 10 cars as opposed to the "stalls" line which had at least twice that, so drive thru it was. As a car popped out the far away exit, everyone in line stopped mid-sentence, locked eyes on the security guard and hoped he would replace the exiting vehicle with the next car at the front of their line. The mighty and powerful security guard would look over, and with a grand gesture or shout, indicate who the next lucky one was. I imagine it was kind of like waiting to get into Studio 54, Milwaukee style. At one point, the security guard walked away for a few seconds. My son declared "go for it! Sonic anarchy!" Of course we didn't because there were still half a dozen cars in front of us and Dad is a wuss, but it was almost an adrenaline rush moment. It also spawned conversation as to the discovery of a perfect band name for my son's band - Sonic Anarchy. Or perhaps Sonarchy for short. How cool would those be for band names? Apparently pretty cool, as a quick iPhone google indicated they were already taken.
We eventually got waved/directed/shouted into the actual drive thru line and the remainder went without incident. My son and I agreed the jalapeno cheese burgers were OK, but nothing special. My daughter's chicken strip meal was a chicken strip meal. The menu was kind of busy and hard to find things, but we pretty much took whatever was near the front out of fear of being ejected from line or penalized in some other way for not being ready.
Maybe we'll try it again later in the summer, but for now I'll leave it to the food tourists. Plus, I think a dozen more are opening soon. Until then, the Big Mac Wrap will be just fine, thank you.
The first Sonic in the Milwaukee area (possibly in the state) opened about a month ago a few miles from our home. I figured it would be busy for awhile - Milwaukeeans love their food, new dining experiences, etc. I remember the crowds at the first Krispy Kreme opening here rivaling the original Woodstock for a few days. And those Sonic commercials are effective, especially when you don't have one. But I figured a month was enough for it to die down. So last night, when my daughter suggested we give it a try for supper (I've always been a "supper" vs. "dinner" person), I said sure and she, her brother and I hopped in the truck and drove down there.
Wrong.
The entrance to the Sonic itself is barricaded and protected by burly guards that take their job more seriously than the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld. On the approach, you are directed by signs through a maze of buildings to what is called the "Sonic Staging Area" - a roped off section of the parking lot of the adjoining strip mall. There you get into one of two lines - "Stalls" or "Drive Thru." At this point you are trapped - there is no third "F%*k This" option that allows you to turn around or maneuver around the others. The drive thru line (that is, the "staging area drive thru line", not the actual drive thru line itself) only had about 10 cars as opposed to the "stalls" line which had at least twice that, so drive thru it was. As a car popped out the far away exit, everyone in line stopped mid-sentence, locked eyes on the security guard and hoped he would replace the exiting vehicle with the next car at the front of their line. The mighty and powerful security guard would look over, and with a grand gesture or shout, indicate who the next lucky one was. I imagine it was kind of like waiting to get into Studio 54, Milwaukee style. At one point, the security guard walked away for a few seconds. My son declared "go for it! Sonic anarchy!" Of course we didn't because there were still half a dozen cars in front of us and Dad is a wuss, but it was almost an adrenaline rush moment. It also spawned conversation as to the discovery of a perfect band name for my son's band - Sonic Anarchy. Or perhaps Sonarchy for short. How cool would those be for band names? Apparently pretty cool, as a quick iPhone google indicated they were already taken.
We eventually got waved/directed/shouted into the actual drive thru line and the remainder went without incident. My son and I agreed the jalapeno cheese burgers were OK, but nothing special. My daughter's chicken strip meal was a chicken strip meal. The menu was kind of busy and hard to find things, but we pretty much took whatever was near the front out of fear of being ejected from line or penalized in some other way for not being ready.
Maybe we'll try it again later in the summer, but for now I'll leave it to the food tourists. Plus, I think a dozen more are opening soon. Until then, the Big Mac Wrap will be just fine, thank you.