Steveats: Good Sonic brunch burger, bad food quality

This feature went away for a while, but now... IT'S BACK! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

Before I moved to Texas, Sonic was really pushing its brunch burger. For $2.99, you got an order of tots and the burger, which was topped with an egg, bacon and cheese. And let me tell you – The burger was a delight!

An egg on a burger is always a delicious decision, but many other places screw it up by keeping all of the other fixings, like lettuce and tomato, on there. The result is typically a slippery burger mess. But the Sonic burger was surprisingly put-together, and it was great value, as far as fast food burgers go. Because I've been such a slacker with this feature, the burger debuted in March 2019 and I'm only writing about it now, but my lethargy means its probably returning soon!

Now that I've recommended the burger to y'all, let me also share – On my last trip to Sonic, well, they served me a moldy bun.

This was in November, at the Cinco Ranch branch in Texas. I was looking for a quick bite after a football game – one of the few they didn't offer food at – and decided on Sonic, since my last experience with the brunch burger was so positive. I got a standard burger, and a hot dog.

The service was slow, and on top of that, I got about halfway through my burger when I saw that there was mold on it. GREAT. Obviously, I survived, but I was grossed out. To make matters worse, I tried to get a refund for it, and basically hit a dead end with Sonic's customer support. I even had a picture of it, which I have not put on this entry, for reader benefit.

Sooooo. I will probably go to Sonic again at some point. Like, stuff happens. You get a shipment of items late, you get an employee that doesn't care or notice, and so on. Steve gets served a moldy bun. But, I'm probably not going to go to THAT specific Sonic anytime soon, plus, there are so many other options in Texas that I need to check out that a return visit to Sonic isn't high on my list. 

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Making the pilgrimage to Sonic

[Left] The spoils of my trip.

Labor Day was especially, uh, special to me this year, because I finally completed one of my life's goals. No, I didn't make it with a lady, and how DARE you for thinking that. I got to visit my first Sonic, since one opened up in Peabody, Massachusetts about two weeks ago.

Firstly, the reports of the traffic jams around the restaurant are no exaggeration. My friend Amanda went with me - you might know her from a few past entries - and we sat in traffic from 4:15 p.m. until about 5:45 p.m., when we finally made it to the drivethru order box. The traffic literally stretched about a third of a mile back down Route 1 North, and that isn't counting the line for the pull-up service, which stretched down an adjacent street and behind a nearby hotel.

Anyway, before I get the comment that the food isn't that great - Yes, I knew that going in. But after getting besieged by clever, quirky advertising for Sonic for years, I really felt the need to go now that one was (relatively) close to me. Some of the food also seemed interesting enough to intrigue me, as did the wide drink selection.

So on the advice of my friend and blog commenter Kristi Coleman, I did try the cherry limeade, even though I don't normally do fancy drinks. This was the highlight of the visit, even though it was just a sharp cherry cola, with a lime, and plenty of crushed ice. It was strangely delicious - Maybe they added another ingredient that I didn't realize it?

The rest of my meal was somewhat ho-hum, though. I got Sonic's version of a big double cheeseburger, except it was $4 for something about the size of a McDonald's double cheese, except with pickles, lettuce and tomato on it as well. (It was about the size of two Wendy's Jr. Cheeseburgers.) Amanda and I both got tater tots, but they barely filled our cartons. I also got a steak, egg and cheese burrito - I decided to go big, because how often was I going to be visiting Peabody? - which was passably delicious.

However, as some old white guy probably once said, the journey matters more than the goal sometimes. Yes, the actual food was only average, but I was finally able to visit a medium-quality fast food restaurant that had been blitzing me with effective advertising since I was 17. What could be better than that?

Storytime with Amanda Meyer: Crazy roomies, FreeCreditReport.com and Sonic

Back in the day, when Johnny Carson went on vacation, he would have Joan Rivers fill in as the guest host. Well, in an effort to lighten my writing load from seven entries a week to six, former Tag Team participant Amanda Meyer will be doing an entry every Saturday about the various crazy stories she has. I'm also not opposed to farming Sunday out, so if you're interested, shoot me an e-mail at sgre6768@gmail.com.

Here is my crazy roommate story as promised, which has somehow turned into a rant about Free Credit Report ads...

Anyone with cable has probably heard at least one of the many FreeCreditReport.com ads. You know, that geeky guy sings really awful jingles about how he didn't know that his "credit was whack." I find these songs very annoying, although catchy, and really hate when they get stuck in my head all day as they often did for a whole year while I was living in East Boston.

You see, my roommate did not find these annoying, she somehow found them awesome. I am sad to say, I now know each by heart...

She loved them so much they were on her iTunes, and she would sometimes start playing them during parties. This was always an awkward situation to explain to friends, and generally, they all ended up thinking she was crazy. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have odd luck when it comes to roommates.

However, in this situation I actually went from finding these ads annoying to downright wanting to throw objects through my television when they came on. Not only is the character singing clearly being dubbed over, he looks like he almost never showers and tends to make beyond-goofy facial expressions, which are a huge turn off from an advertising standpoint.

Furthermore, these are misleading ads and that is one of the first things pointed out when you visit the actual website. Why do I have to be subjected to a man singing about renaissance fairs, delinquent fiancees and credit roller coasters when all three major credit bureaus are required by law to give me my report once a year (and it's actually free)?

In another note entirely. SONIC.

Thanks for the entry Amanda! The last line is in reference to the great, wonderful news that a Sonic has finally opened in New England, which apparently is so popular it is affecting the traffic pattern, and the current plan is for me to visit it with her on Labor Day. I'll let everyone know how that turns out.

I also find myself humming the Free Credit Report songs, even if they are crass commercialism at its worst.