Blech. Next time I'll stick to In-N-Out Burger like some of the other Yelpers who feel the same way I do about this overrated place. It took us several different trips for us to try to get squeezed into this drive in. The first time we came was for the grand opening. We took one look at the line that spilled out onto the side street and said, "forget it!!" Then we tried to come back at odd hours of the day/week where we figured people would be at work in hopes of a shorter line or none at all. Still no cigar. Let's just say we're not patient people and can't justify waiting 30 minutes in line for some damn tater tots. Tonight we decided to cruise over a little past 9:30. We got in with no wait at all. Score!! You can only imagine the eager anticipation we had because of all the hype that surrounded this joint and because of all our failed attempts at getting in....boy was our excitement short-lived. The girl on end of the speakerbox was rude and rushed us through our order, then screwed it up in the end. Our food looked a mess, chili was everywhere but on the coney, the Toaster bacon cheeseburger was just ok and the tater tots had seen better days. The Molten Chocolate Cake looks good but is dry as hell. Go to Jack-in-the-Box or Carl's Jr. for fast-food chocolate cakes instead. Not impressed! read more

PEANUT BUTTER BACON MILKSHAKE, I am a fan! This milkshake had a fair amount of bacon too, My shake was sweet, salty, smooth and crunchy=YUMMY4MYTUMMY My first Sonic stop and I was reeled in hook, line and sinker. Just throw a milkshake my way that has bacon in it. LOL Add in the rollerskates. Corn dogs and tater tots. This place holds many simple joys. A corn dog on a stick, tater tots that have chili and cheese. Milkshakes of multiple flavors. Service on rollerskates and the coin changed that is so old school. I like how they have the old fashion way of being able to sit in your car at the drive in and eat. Place your order from your car. When I was a kid, going to the local A&W to get food delivered to your window was a BIG DEAL. Coming to Sonic is like a throwback to my childhood. The high tech way of ordering if you not in your car was a bit of an adventure. Push the button to speak into the mouthbox. Order you food and if you want pay with your credit card right there. I did this and it worked. The only down side is that I didn't have any cash on my so I couldn't tip my rollerskating friend who served me food and my milkshake. Brought me extra napkins and condiments. Sorry Josh with the #100 bracelet on. You totally rocked in service but I didn't have cash on me to tip you...an the mouthbox that you order from doesn't give the option to tip when you pay by credit card. read more

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The burgers here taste Like cafeteria food. Gross, bland, and nasty. They have tater tots. I always love me some tots! Eat them ruthlessly! The best things here are... Their super, duper cheap dranks! Goooo, cherry limeade! Half-priced drinks daily: 2PM to 4PM. YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? Dear Sonic Drive-In, Why you so far in Santee? I want dranks errrrday! But I guess now I Won't have to worry about Scary cavities... PS. Why does the background of the Sonic Drive-In website feature random pictures of customers? Does anyone else find this weird/creepy??? When I saw those pictures, I thought that the Sonic website had trolled my by sending me to some random netizen's blog. I guess at least those people have now gotten their 0.2347 seconds of fame... read more

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Like most people I shouldn't even be eating such high calorie junk food , so when I do it has to be delicious. Sadly, you won't find delicious high calorie food here at sonics . What you will find here is low quality food that is poorly prepared and tastes like you are eating food from AMPM. It's even cold like you bought it at AMPM. And to top it off this horrible food cost us 34 dollars for 4 people to eat gross low quality hotdogs and hamburgers. I don't get it ! But on a positive note the man serving us was really kind and fast , the kids enjoyed seeing the servers on rollerblades and our slushies were great on such a hot summer day . I recommend only grabbing a drink here . Don't waste your money and cheat day calories on this crap food ! read more

This was my first time here. What can I say really... Sonic is simply a guilty pleasure. I rarely ever hit one up, but when I do I can't help but order a cherry slush and some jalapeno poppers. I met a friend here the other day because I was craving a cherry slush. We hung out for a few to chat and it was nice. I have been to a few different Sonic locations and I have to say that this was the fastest and friendliest service that I have experienced. I also think it's real cool that they actually wear skates to deliver the food and drinks. I have noticed that not every Sonic location does that. I won't come here too often cuz it's a guilty pleasure, but I am excited to know that it is an option! read more

Sonic Drive-In - Burgers Near Me - Santee, California

I had a great experience this time at Sonic. On a drive home from dinner with my family, I suggested that we pop by Sonic for a little late night ice cream fix. I have a bit of a sweet tooth and I hadn't been to Sonic for a while. I generally drive by and consider getting into the line that protrudes from the driveway and spills over into Mission Gorge. Well, it was after 930 and there was virtually no line this time. We ordered a cake batter waffle cone and a custom order oreo cookie and butter finger master blaster. I love oreo cookies and I love butter finger candy bars. The fact that these guys will whip both up together with some ice cream and top it with whipped cream just makes my day every time I order it. LOL! Their waffle cones are good like they are at the fair. My wife really enjoyed the cake batter sprinkle ice cream. I had a bite, it was epic! I recommend this spot for dessert, primarily. The hot dogs are pretty good too, if you're craving a hot dog. I can't say much for their cheeseburgers, I never really thought of them as anything special. The toaster sandwich is the way to go, in my opinion. And who could forget about the slushys? You can order a slushy with nerds candy, and I love both of those things, especially candy! Get in the car and go pick up some dessert around 930 pm, you will not be disappointed! read more

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I went to this Sonic about midnight. I pulled up to the drive-thru teller and waited for a few minutes to be greeted but was never greeted. I said hello a few times into the teller but there was no answer. So I drove off and pulled into one of the stalls and hit the red button to order. I was told that they're no longer doing car hops and that I would have to go through the drive-thru. I told the guy that I was just at the drive-thru and there was no answer. He said the sensor must not have recognized my car and that I would have to go through the drive-thru. So I pull out of the stall and into the drive-thru to the end of a long line of cars that was now in the drive-thru line. I downloaded the app and figured I'd order online while I was waiting in line. I was unable to order online because rge app said tge restaurant was closed when in fact it was open. Once the car in front of me gets to the teller she has the same problem I previously had, there was no answer and the teller did not sense her car. She finally gave up after a few minutes and drove off. So I pulled forward to the teller and the same thing happened to me again, there was no answer. But I wasn't going to pull off again, not without calling first. So I called the restaurant from the teller and the phone rang and rang and rang. It finally went to voicemail so I just hung up and called again. Again it rang and rang but this time they finally answered the phone. I explained how I was at the drive thru teller and there was no answer. They already realized there was a problem with their drive-thru sensor and said OK, but didn't tell me they'd contact me at tbe teller. I heard this greeting come through the teller so I placed my order. The menu was a little hard to see because it's not as close to the teller as it should be. I ordered and pulled up to the window. It took a while for me to get my food, so I'd say the drive thru is slow at midnight on Saturday night. The order was accurate but I still had an unpleasant experience. And to top it off, the lid from my shake popped off and caused a mess in my car. The same thing happened the other night too. So those lids for the shakes suck pretty bad. Beware cause they may pop off and you'll have a mess everywhere. read more

3 stars feels about right. The food is generally pretty bad but it's crazy cheap so I can't be too hard on them. The tater tots are decent and the onion rings are pretty good. The corn dog is not bad, either. After all that, you are on your own with the rest of the menu. Service is fine and the novelty of ordering from and eating in the car is kind of fun. It's cheap, average food. read more

I love the desserts here. Yummy malts and lots of mix in choices. I recently had a cherry cheesecake MALT....ohhhhhh YESSS!!! The service though is rather slow and a bit rough around the edges. Every time I've been, the person taking my order seems to have a rather hard time paying attention....I ususally get a .."What was that again?" or "I got the hot dog, what else did you say?" Eh whatevs...most of the people running this joint are probably in high school working their first jobs...so I'll go easy on em....but there is a lack of customer service. Cheesy tots!....That's all. read more

the service is extremely slow, expect to wait a few minute even if there is one person in front of you. also, we have been a few times, and this most recent time all three of us ordering got custom drinks with syrups and fruits. they did not add any of the syrups or fruits but they still charged us all for them. very disappointing since i paid like 3 extra dollars just to get a (watery) large dr pepper... that said, the employees themselves are very nice and im sure they are just overworked because they work at sonic. read more

Sometimes my taste in food goes a little...astray...and sometimes those damn Sonic burger commercials get to you. Hundreds of slush combinations? Tons of interesting milkshake combos? umm YES please! However, their delicious drinks do not make up for the shitty food. And it's not just because its fast food, because there is some fast food that I do enjoy (Chipotle!!). But, if you have to go to Sonic, get the peach milkshake or a grape slush or my personal favorite, the hot fudge milkshake. Just do not get the cheeseburger or any other "food) (it will sit like a rock in your stomach for weeks), because you will immediately regret it and be ashamed that you ever came to Sonic in the first place. read more

First experience at a Sonics even though there's one closer to home. Was in the area and needed to grab a bit quickly and decided to try the place out. As a newbie Sonic customer I found the process of ordering at the car very nice... didn't feel the pressure to order right away and got a chance to look at the entire menu. Still a pretty large menu and it did take time and just pressed the button when I was ready. Got the tots, burger, and chili dog. The burger was a lot larger than we expected. thumbs up. Although I thought I read the menu thoroughly, we didn't see the junior or small burger in the deals area. Overall good experience... now just gotta try the shakes everyone talks about. read more

We have been to this Sonic several times. 1. They are alway so slow 2. My order has NEVER been right 3. No one ever reaches out when you have a complaint 4. The kid we had today was very pleasant, although he told us he would have been out a lot sooner with our order, but he had to help a new hire in the drive through. 5. Our food was cold, none of the extra we paid for (bacon, jalapeños) were on any of the burgers. Needs new management. We will not be returning to this Sonic! read more

Hands down worst fast food I have ever had! Fries were obviously reheated 2-3 times, salted 2-3 times, stale and just downright not worth it! Burger had hardened cheese on the out side, brown chunks of lettuce imbedded into the bun, literally refused to finish the meal! What a waste of money, will never eat here again! read more

After a very filling okonomiyaki dinner at Tajima, I was craving dessert and wanted to give Crepe World a try. However, parking in their lot, and in the area in general is a total nightmare and discouraged me from dropping in. Instead, I decided to take the opportunity to cruise out to Santee to try Sonic for the first time. Known for drink combinations numbering in the thousands, Sonic has been hyped up for years by their nonstop advertising in San Diego, despite not actually having any restaurants in the area. My friend and I decided to make the long trip out to Santee for some Sonic goodness. When we arrived, the drive-in stalls were all completely packed so we ordered from the menu board on foot. This place definitely attracts a larger [read: fatter] folk, and it's easy to get carried away with sides as you order. The average party of two appeared to order at least a half dozen items each. I decided to minimize the fattiness and stick with the Jr. Deluxe Burger and the Oreo Sonic Blast. The budget burger actually packed a decent amount of flavor but was completely slathered in mayonnaise which dripped in droves off the edges. The artery clogging Sonic Blast was extremely sweet and thick, and had large chunks of Oreo cookie throughout. In fact, it tasted like the whole thing was made out of the cream of the cookie itself! After getting about halfway into the Sonic specialty, I was pretty sick of it and wished that I went with something far less savory. After years of being teased by their commercials, I'm glad that we finally have a Sonic to try. While everything was decently good, it didn't come anywhere to being as good, nor as affordable, as In-N-Out. At 30 miles out of my way, I spent more on gas than I did on my burger and drink, further decreasing the value of going all the way out to Santee. I don't really see a reason to trek that far out to grab a late night burger and shake, especially with In-N-Out so nearby. Unless a bunch of friends are headed that way to check it out, or they open one up nearer to home, I probably won't be driving that far out for a long while. Food: 5/10 Service: 8/10 Price: $ Atmosphere: 7/10 read more

Sonic Drive-In - Burgers Near Me - Santee, California

Sonics is a-okay. After years of commercials.. and not a Sonics in sight.. it was about time it was here. Obviously this review is long overdue.. ANYWAY... this place is kinda far for me. Yeah, it's not like I'm driving to LA.. but it's a bit far just for fast food. ummm.. I'm impressed on their selection of drinks and they're good! I didn't try a burger or anything.. but I had the Chili cheese tots and um... they were disgustingly good. I'm glad it's far from me.. otherwise.. being a poor college student.. I'd eat here all the time. hah.. read more

My boyfriend, his dad and I went to this sonic tonight, and to say the least-we were not impressed. So we park our car, barely can read the menu, his dad ordered first, a bacon cheeseburger and a peanut butter shake. The lady was nice on the intercom, asked which kind of peanut butter shake, he specified just peanut butter. Next my boyfriend ordered an Oreo cheesecake shake, and lastly I ordered a cherry slushy. Surprisingly enough, it only took about 5 minutes of waiting to order, and another 20 to get our order brought out to us. She assured us that everything was all correct. Paying for this was a joke, I hand the girl $2 to contribute to the total, and my boyfriends dad told her to put the rest on his card. She looked at us in confusion, left with his card and fiddled with the machine at the menu, came back to us and said our order wasnt regestered or something. She said she ran it anyway and handed back his card. No receipt. Ok. Then we tried it, my boyfriends dads' burger and shake was good and tasty, my cherry slushy was cherry-riffic, but somehow my boyfriends "Oreo Cheesecake" became "Oreo Bacon" (the bacon cheeseburger was ordered first, so I dont know how or WHY it would be confused) and my boyfriend starts picking out bacon bits asking if hes crazy or not. I try it, no it's definitely bacon.. we bring it up to the girl who took our order to us, she denied the mistake and stated that it should be right and just booked it back into sonic. Our recipt (for the order, not for paying) said oreo cheesecake too, ok.... so some sweet girl who was cleaning outside came by, and we got her attention, she took the bacon shake away and laughed with us about how gross it was, and got a correct shake. We got home to check the bank statement (to make sure the right total was charged) and the full price was charged, the girl pocketed my $2 as a tip! Then as god or whatever force of nature demanded my boyfriend not to have a milkshake, the top came off and it fell on the floor in depressing slow motion. Well.... This was an unfortunate trip. read more

Sonic Drive-In - Our receipt said oreo cheesecake, our cup: oreo bacon.. - Burgers Near Me - Santee, California

Saw bad reviews before I went. I had a good experience and service was right on snd friendly

Bathrooms are disgusting. Like something you'd imagine in a movie for a truck stop bathroom. Barf-fest...

After all these years, it still never changes. You specify what you do and don't want on your burger and the boy on the other end of the speaker, of whom obviously isn't in a good mood, disregards everything you say. I ordered two #1's without mayo and get home to find BOTH with mayo. W T H!?!? What's worse is no one answers the phone. read more

Yum, if one is starving for a junk food binge.... I had the tatertots with chili cheese and onions and a cheeseburger. Burger was a solid B-, and Taters were an immediate threat to my cardiac well being. I'd give them a solid B. Good selection of milk shakes etc. but that isn't my deal. Had sweet tea and unsweetend, which for SD is a big deal, but overall the experience was just avg. read more

this will be our permanent stop on the way to the Santee Drive Inn's. #1 reason - nostalgia #2 reason - kids love it #3 reason - i don't have to get out of my car #4 reason - the onion rings are friggin amazing!!! seriously ..better than many gourmet onion rings #5 reason - the burgers are HUGE! seriously...i'm getting a kids burger next time. no this is not gourmet food...but when put in perspective as a fast food joint, it can hold it's own in comparison to other's... with the sudden influx of burger joints in SD (5 guys, smashburger, counter etc...) there is a lot of competition. Again, I wouldn't come here for a damn good burger, but i would choose this over any other fastfood, drive thru burger joint... so there... read more

Awful service. Didn't take order correctly and then got irritated when asking to fix it. Then when asking for sauces simply shoved them at us. Bunch of clowns working here. Food was awful and they missed one meal and screwed up 2. Last time I'll spend a penny here read more

Our first time here, took the kids for the experience of the car hoppers and drive up menu. After reading the reviews, I knew I wasn't going to be impressed so I didn't get my hopes up. We had kids corn dog and cheeseburger meals w/apples (surprised they didn't want fries of tater tots!) and watermelon slushes. Also a cheeseburger combo w/cherry limeade and fries. I had the chicken wrap w/bbq sauce, onion rings and watermelon slush. Our food seemed to take a little while (c'mon it's fast food!), and the atm thingy doesn't work (I had no idea I have never been here before). Kids were getting roudy, and you can hear everything in the car next door, so sorry who ever heard the kids fighting for that one window to watch the car hoppers out of. lol. They got a kick out of them. Food was just ok, my oldest raved about it...but my chicken warp had tons of chicken and barely any lettuce and a couple tomatoes, wow it was kind of sad looking. The onion rings are super thick cut and had a slight sweet coating, I liked them. The slushes stay slush for a long time, like a couple hours! (took me a while to finish it, it kept giving me brain freeze) Will we be back? Sure it's in our area, maybe for the drinks (tons of choices!) and onion rings and maybe to try the hot dogs. =) read more

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Got here at 12:15am knowing they close at 1am and did not order until 12:50am. They took forever to actually take everyone's orders.

Probably the worst experience I've had at a sonic. Not sure what the deal was since the place was not busy and there was plenty of staff (from all the sonic shirts I saw in and out of the restaurant). We ended up ordering at the sit down bench area. The intercom system seemed to be working but we had to wait for someone to come out to take our order for some reason and then pay through the screen (very odd). The tables were sticky and dirty. The food came out and the drinks looked like they overflowed and had it running all on the sides. My order was really jacked up (not the right sauce, not the right size, and these were all questions/details that were answered in person). There must have been a shortage of napkins as the three of us received one napkin each to use. I didn't get any utensils for my food. Very disappointed with the quality and service here, won't be back. read more

Third time's a charm. When this place first opened it was great. Food was good. Burgers were always hot and fresh. Over the years they have steadily gone downhill in quality. The last couple of years in particular have been extremely lame. The last three times I ate here, were the last nails in the coffin. The last couple of times I got a burger that clearly had been made and sitting for at least 30 min to an hour. It was cold, dry, and all stuck together, the bun was not toasted or grilled, the lettuce was wilty and soggy, and the tomatoes were mushy and dry. My soda literally tasted like carbonated water (I hope they're making lots of money on the classic scam of watered down sodas). I threw the burger out and made a tuna sandwich. Dumped the soda out and chewed the ice. Galactic failure. I won't be back. There are too many other good choices for burgers in Santee. read more

The food is good and the drinks are good but this place is always filthy inside and they hand you your drinks with residue all over them. I don't know who manages this place but there's seems to be no protocol in keeping the place sanitary and clean. read more

Sonic app order ahead what a great idea! Placed order at 5:38pm - got kids order from BK Checked in at 5:48pm - screen displayed my name how awesome! Pressed red button at 5:58pm - "I've been here 10 minutes waiting for my order. "You had the ... repeats my order" yep that me! "Ok we will have it out to you shortly" can I get a drink carrier? Yes ... Pressed red button 6:08pm - "can I get my four drinks I've been waiting 20 minutes for that I ordered 30 minutes ago?!?!?! " oh yes let me check on that Carhop approaches at 6:10pm - "we show you just checked in I'm sorry did you need a drink carrier?" Me - IS IT GOING TO TAKE 20 MINUTES TO GET IT?!?!? read more

The wait was super long, service was horrible. They handed me a drink with the lid popping off so it spilled on me and my car. Not happy

Very good. Not as good as in Texas but this is California. Still a great burger and Tots!! Best iced tea in town, so far. I live in the other end of town so I don't get here often. I am glad I got to come by. read more

Holy Customer Service, Batman!!! This place rocks regarding service. They had issues with their POS computers.... Then, I was told that they were giving me my order for free... as it was not my fault that their system was down and that should not stop me from enjoying my Sonic Experience... Wow.... This should be the ROTD! True customer service has found it's way to Sonic in Santee! Spread the word! read more

Jaden had excellent customer service and was on top of everything. In my opinion a very nice and respectful young man! :)

Lovin the half price shakes after 8pm! Buuuut my simple order just seems a little complicated... oreo shake, no whip 2 cherries. Got my shake no cherries so the nice young lady said she'd bring me some. Stir my shake around and I'm not seeing any oreo. I loathe sending food back but this was entirety unacceptable. She politely said she'd bring me another and the second one was perfect! Don't expect much as far as order accuracy, but the customer service is good. read more

I love this place! I went there tonight and had the pineapple upside down cake shake and it was AMAZING! Just when I thought it couldn't get better, at the bottom were tons of little cookies! YUM! The car hops are always so helpful and friendly too! The tots are heaven! The service is fast and efficient! read more

Showed them my check-in coupon but had to pay for it anyway!!!!!!!! At least Abby was a nice gal. read more

So I live in the area, a burger was sounding good for dinner. Never having one of their burgers I thought I'd give them a try as I like a majority of their other menu options. I ordered the following for my family and I: Chips ahoy chocolate master shake, Oreo cheesecake master shake, #3 bacon cheeseburger no mayo/tomato with mozzarella sticks (for me), #4 jalapeño double burger with ched'r peppers (for my fiancé) and Asian sweet chili wings with onion rings (for my sister) So I got my food after waiting about 15-25 minutes, drove home and realized the following: The chips ahoy shake that was supposed to be chocolate cake out vanilla, the #3 BACON cheeseburger had NO BACON! And when I called in to inform them, they had no remorse with very little correction to be offered. I will not be visiting this Sonic again. Oh! And by the way...I just found hair in my shake NEVER AGAIN! read more

This review is solely for their drinks. Happy hour! 2-4pm everyday for half off drinks. Park in one of those spaces, order, and someone will bring it to your car. I got a small lemon-berry slushie and my BF got a strawberry slushie. $1.09 total for a refreshing slushie on a nice warm day. And I like how the ice was blended really well so it's easier to drink. For cheap slushies, they are really good even though it tastes like artificial juices blended with ice. Also, you add extra flavors to your drink for 10 cents each additional flavor. I still need to figure out what the ocean water is... but the cherry limeade is really good. And for some reason, they give you a mint for every order. read more

Sonic is all the same from state to state or location to location and I frequently eat at Sonic. On this visit I was warmly greeted by my carhop Hallie at the Santee, CA. Location. She was happy and enthusiastic about her job and it shows. Hallie has that extra something that makes for a great leader. Sonic ya need to keep her around. When your product is the same as the next location the only extra you have is the people making and serving it, and she is making the most of it all. Hallie job well done! read more

I wish I can give this please 0 stars after ordering we waited 20min and when I asked for our order they lost it because they could not handle the "rush" those where her own word talk about unprofessional after asking for a refund all they said was sorry like sorry makes it ok I think not I should have listen to my son and just gone to McDonald's they are more organized than Sonic and that's alone says everything.... good bye Sonic forever read more