Sonic Drive In's

A while back a 2nd hand store about 2 miles away from my home was demolished. i figured they were going to put another sort of retail store seeings how it is a very highly trafficked area. but days after the demolition they had put up a sign that a "Sonic Drive In" was coming. i had no idea what a Sonic was and really didn't care. then the advertisements started. anyone who watched television would be bombarded with adds about all the awesome stuff you could get at a Sonic Drive In. so then things started coming together. a buzz started about a month after the commercials started airing about how awesome Sonic was. i even heard stories about people driving two hours to Los Angeles to eat what seemed to be a regular old fast food joint. given my love of fast food i started getting interested in this new Sonic Drive In. then about 5 months after the demolition of the 2nd hand store, the Sonic opened. it was packed and every time i passed by i couldn't help but think if waiting an hour in line for a parking spot was worth it. so i didn't. i waited about 6 months until today to finally have "Sonic Drive In" and this is how it went.

i pulled up to the line for the drive through, about 9 cars, before i noticed that they didn't have a sitting area. instead they had several stalls all along side the building and parking lot. each stall has its own back lit menu and ordering speaker. there were people on roller skates taking food to the cars in the stalls and it hit me. Sonic really isn't about the food. people probably come here for the experience of eating in there car and having someone cater to them via roller skates. and the line of nine cars seemed to go pretty quickly. i ordered a combo #5 (Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster) large size with a coke and a Jr. Deluxe Hamburger from the value menu. the combo came with the option of fries or tater tots. tater tots? this is the first time i have ever seen tater tots on a menu at a fast food place. i ended up getting the fries. after waiting in line for about 5 mins, behind what seemed to be an irritated customer who refused to take her food and leave, a guy came to my car window on skates and apologized for the inconvenience. he game me my food and ran my card right there and in no time flat the transaction was done. he said he added some ranch and that i should try it with the fries. i noticed that instead of giving me a flimsy plastic cup they had given me my large coke in a thick Styrofoam one that was tapered on the bottom to fin in my cup holder. and that instead of cubed ice they gave me crushed ice. here it is about 2 and a half hours later and my cup still has ice in it. how cool is that. thats what i would call quality. the fries were amazing. they tasted like meaty potato chips and that ranch dressing reminded me of the house dressing you could get at mom and pop delis. the $0.99 Jr. Deluxe Hamburger wasn't great but far superior to the $1 hamburgers other fast food places offer. the Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster was pretty darn good. kinda hard to justify spending $4 on though. if it were $2 then i would order it every time i passed by sonic. they used toasted bread instead of a bun and toasted it on the skillet so it kinda had a French toast feel to it. the bacon was kinda old and hard. like pre-cooked bacon left under a heater. and the burger itself was a bit thin. but all together it made a decent burger. HERE is a link to a scan of my receipt. i guess $8.15 isn't that bad for lunch but i definitely could get the same amount of food at "Jack In The Box" for half the price. but then again at jack they wouldn't have given me the awesome customer service that Sonic did. six minutes at the end of a 9 car line is not too shabby. i doubt that any other fast food place could have expedited the process as well as Sonic did today. thats why im giving them a 10/10 for service. 7 for food and 8 for value. i do urge anyone who regularly partakes in fast food to try Sonic Drive In.

Introduction and Taco Johns

In This Blog I talk about fast food. Theres an old saying that if you want the shortest way to point b then you ask a one legged man. and if you want to know where the good food is you ask the fat guy. well i have eaten just about everywhere and i feel i can contribute to the world, if nothing else, my take on fast foods. I'll start with Taco Johns.







I went on a road trip back in 03 shortly after i turned 21 to Wyoming (long story) and i was told by multiple people about this place called Taco Johns. according to these advice riddled people "Its the best Mexican Food ever". there slogan is even "A Whole Lot Of Mexican". so i tried it. after 24 hrs of almost nonstop driving i was pretty damn hungry and was looking forward to "..The Best Mexican Food Ever". i walked in to the Cody Wyoming branch and ordered a whole mess of food. one thing i noticed was that they seemed to use potatoes instead of rice as there standard filler. once i got my tray to my table it was very apparent that this wasn't going to be "..The Best Mexican Food Ever". i don't think they should even refer to this as "Mexican" food. i mean, it made Taco Bell look like genuine Mexican food. there shells were form fit baked corn compound and there meat was like a gooey paste with a hint of actual meat like product. the burritos were cold and flaccid. a huge disappointment after all the hype i had experienced. i figured that i would give the franchise the benefit of the doubt and try another location. the next day i was in Powell Wyoming and orders considerably less food. again, i was let down by the overall quality of the food. it seems to me that people in the Midwest don't know what "Real Mexican Food" is and that my concept of Mexican food is tainted by living in San Diego my entire life. if i were to somehow forget everything that i know about traditional Mexican food and go to a Taco Johns, i would most likely enjoy it. i guess its comparable to basing your entire knowledge of world culture on the Disneyland Ride "Small World". "Hey, This Baked corn wafer perfectly molded in the cartoonish shape of a taco shell with fried potatoes and red beef paste and cheddar cheese covered in watery chili sauce is great". you know what though. there is an Easy fix for this problem, Remove the word "Mexican" and any variation of from there business. you can still use taco and burrito and such. just don't claim to be Mexican food. i mean, even Taco Bell calls there food "Mexican Inspired".



if you're ever in These areas and feel like "A Whole Lot Of Mexican" then give it a try. don't let my opinion detour you from Taco Johns




i promise you i am not always this negative toward food. i mean, how could i be? as of now i'm 314lbs and i got that way by eating. not that i'm bragging, just pointing out that my love for food is great and i will have several more fast food reviews to come. most of them will be positive. have fun and "Thank You Come Again!"
-Jesse A Bishop