Miamians have wondered for over 15 years what the Sonic experience is all about. Often times during televised sports games, a Sonic commercial would come up. Friends and I would discuss how cool the idea of having 50's like service would be in this era. How when you drove-in people on rollerblades come and take your order.
Well I can lay that dream to rest now. Homestead got its taste of Sonic this past week. As the fast food chain opened a new restaurant off the Campbell expressway exit and 152 Ave.
Driving by on Monday's opening day the place was packed. So I decided to wait until the middle of the week. I went on Wednesday instead, and it was pretty packed at 2 p.m. I waited in line for about 40 minutes, while there were only 11 people ahead of me. The service was slow, but I also saw that there were over 30 cars waiting in the Drive-Thru lane and the about 15 others parked in the Drive-In section.
When it was my time to order I ordered the number three: SuperSONIC bacon double cheeseburger, medium fries and a medium soda. The burger has 1,370 calories, 860 from fat, and 96 grams of fat. For something that is so harmful to your health, it is definitively not big. The fries have 330 calories, 120 from fat and 13 grams of fat. It all came out to $7.49 with taxes.
I ordered the biggest and most unhealthy burger, because those are the ones that usually taste better. Most things with cheese and bacon taste good, especially with fast foods.
While sitting there waiting for my order one can't help, but admire how much effort they have put into this store. They have 10 large flat-screen television sets in the front, open sitting area. The TV's are usually set to sport channels and different news networks. They also have oldies music blasting through the concealed speakers set around the open eating area.
I waited about 10-15 minutes before getting my food. This was to be expected since it seemed half of Homestead was going to eat here.
Once the food arrived, I opened the bag and noticed that the bacon slices were rather small and that they put a small amount of lettuce in my burger. One thing I did like was the fact that they placed individual slices of cheese in between each patty.
This is where my dream came down to a scratching halt. Once I bit into the burger, I noticed that there was nothing really out of the ordinary about it. Maybe I was hyping it up in my mind. All the years of seeing the commercials, and wanting to eat here, but never could because of the distance.
The beef tasted a lot like a McDonalds' beef patty, while the rest of the burger was more like a Checkers/Rally's burger.
The fries were ok, too. Nothing really stood out about them either. I was hoping to try their milkshake, but decided I'd had enough fast food for the day.
This place gets 5 stars in design. The flat-screens, plus the sofas and the design are just great. Sadly, the food taste did not blow me away like the restaurant's structure and design did. The food gets 2.5 stars. The number three is eatable, but nothing to drive a long distance for. Service was pretty decent. The girl who was my server never came back to check if I wanted anything else or any other condiments.
The Good:
1. Place is pretty awesome and could become a hangout for those who want to see sporting events.
2. This Sonic is actually pretty and has different accommodating sitting areas.
3. Their menu also has hot dogs, shakes, fruity drinks, and ice cream.
4. They have two dine in areas and one Drive-Thru.
The Bad:
1. Taste, it's just ok. I was expecting a lot more.
2. Price does not justify food quality and could be a bit cheaper. read more