Six weeks or so ago, maybe more (oh how time flies) I finally made my inaugural trip to Sonic. I've been seeing ads for Sonic since the Summer of 2003, if not earlier, with their advertising especially heavy on ESPN. Watching late night broadcasts of Sportscenter, me and my friends couldn't help but get excited by the prospect of another entrant to the fast-food market. The only drawback was that, at that time, there wasn't a Sonic further north than Virginia, which wasn't doing us much good over in Jersey. In the last couple of years Sonic ads found their way on to network television and that's when it got to be too much. By this time, Sonic had made it's way to Jersey but well South, in a town that I believe is named Millville and where a film like Napoleon Dynamite could have been filmed.
People quickly forget that New Jersey is a lot more than the dirty turnpike factories of the north, the rundown cities of Camden, Newark and Trenton, the ritzy 'burbs of Bergen County, and the Jersey shore. It goes without saying there is plenty in between that and, along with middle-class suburbia and even farm country, there is what a lot of people would call the boonies. I'm saying Millville qualifies, no offense Millville. To be fair though, I really didn't make it through town as the sole destination was Sonic, and first impressions can be deceiving. The rest of Millville may be quaint and pretty for all I know...I actually stopped at this Sonic after a trip to Atlantic City, but it had nothing on the true experience of the maiden voyage that landed me in Bensalem, PA. Like parts of South Jersey, Pennsylvania is, in general, a whole other world from where I am in Jersey, despite reasonable geographic proximity. But that was a great thing here.
The service could hardly have been more pleasant and you are served by chicks on rollerskates or, if they're feeling frisky, rollerblades. I've been back to this same Sonic since and I have to say, all of their servers have personality and that goes a long way. I enjoyed my sandwiches, my tater tots, my sweet tea, my milkshakes, even something called a frito chili-cheese wrap, but the deal sealer is the service. It's just a happy environment and that's what I'm really looking for when I go out to eat. I can eat unhealthy almost anywhere, so please bring a smile. McDonald's used to say they loved to see me smile, but my servers there are always the most miserable people in the world (and I am not saying I blame them).
Plus, on my last trip, through some errors, I ended up with two free drinks and they even let me put my chicken sandwich on texas toast for no additional charge. Now if that doesn't make you have a super-Sonic day, I don't know what will. So go there for the "t's": texas toast, tots, tea...and stay for the service. Thanks Sonic, I'll be back.
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