Sonic (Wyoming)
5521 Clyde Park Avenue SWAn early Saturday morning shift in Grand Rapids and not a lot of sleep. That always makes for a fun day.
I got up around 3:30 this past Saturday to get to Grand Rapids for a shift that started around 5:30. I don’t like rushing so I gave myself some time to get up, wake up a little bit then get on the road.
I wasn’t super excited about working a Saturday morning but it was an easy shift and it was all overtime. I can’t pass that up right now.
I got done around 10:00 and started the drive back towards Kalamazoo around 10:30. I hopped on US-131 to head south but I desperately needed to find a bathroom. I was out of the office all morning and didn’t go back before heading home.
I got to 54th Street and pulled off. There is a Meijer at that exit and I needed to grab something. I knew I’d also find a bathroom there.
When I finished up that trip, I realized I was hungry. I wasn’t going to go looking for something but there were a couple of restaurants across the street that I haven’t eaten at in a while.
I chose the Sonic on Clyde Park Avenue to the south of 54th Street in Wyoming. The restaurant sits right along a very busy stretch of road with a Target and Menards behind it and a Meijer across the street. I pulled in a little before 11:00 and had a decision to make.
Sonic’s gimmick has always been a drive in with car hop service. The business started as a root beer stand but the owner quickly realized he could make more money if he wired on speakers and became a drive in. That was in Oklahoma in the 1950’s. The concept quickly expanded in the area before it started to be franchised out. Now there are close to 3500 locations throughout the country.
The drive in is still a thing at all the Sonic locations. The still have bays you pull into and can receive car hop service. At this Sonic in Wyoming, those car hop bays are on the east side of the building. There is a large menu board in each bay with a speaker to put in the order.
Most people just use the drive thru nowadays. It’s essentially the same thing as pulling in to the bay but you don’t have to make someone walk out to bring you your food. The line was pretty short at the drive thru so I just pulled in there.
I’ve been to Sonic a few times over the years but it’s not a regular stop for me. When one of the first Sonic’s was built in Michigan, J and I came up with an excuse to drive to Flint. We lived in Lansing at the time and J missed Sonic. She ate there quite a bit when she lived in Idaho and this Sonic in Flint was the closest we had been to a sonic since moving to Michigan. Sonic has become a little more prevalent since that time and we’ve eaten at the Portage location a few times. Usually J just stops there with the kids for ice cream and Limeade’s tough so I can’t tell you the last time I actually had food from Sonic. I’m just realizing that I haven’t blogged about that Sonic on this blog in the 15 years we’ve lived here….that’s how little we’ve eaten there. I did blog about on Midmichigandining.com before we were totally moved in and I switched over here. Guess I’m probably going to have to change that at some point.
I put in an order for the SuperSONIC Bacon Double Cheeseburger meal. I made it a large with fries and a Coke. The cost was right around $13 because I didn’t mess around with the Limeades or ice cream. I just kept it simple.
I pulled around to the window and by the time I got there, my food was ready. They were handing it out the window as I was handing in my credit card to pay.
I could have just got on the road but on the other side of the building, they have stalls reserved for people who want to pull in and eat without doing the car hop thing.
There is no service on this side of the building so you literally go through the drive thru then come back around to park and eat.
I chose to park for no other reason than I could. This is usually something I’d just eat in the car but I pulled in to a spot knowing it would only take me a couple of minutes to eat.
I started with the bag of fries. I don’t have very high expectations for fast food fries. These fell right in to those not very high expectations. Simple frozen crinkle cut fries. They were fine and I polished them off pretty quickly.
The SuperSONIC Bacon Double Cheeseburger looked to be the biggest burger on the menu so that’s why I ordered it. It’s two beef patties with American cheese, bacon, mayo, lettuce, and tomato. As with most fast food, it looked bigger on the menu that it did once I got it. It was still tasty though. Like I said, I don’t get Sonic very often so I’ve never really had an opinion on their burgers. As far as fast food burgers go, they’re fine. It was tasty and what I really needed at that moment so no regrets stopping at Sonic.
Sonic is another fast food place. I know I didn’t go for the things that make them famous but as far as food, it was no better or no worse than any other place. It was a quick, cheap, easy lunch. That’s what I look for when I stop at places like this and that’s what I got.
SW Michigan Dining 