Sonic Drive-In

SLOWEST DRIVE THROUGH EVER!!! If you plan on coming here in a hurry, don’t waste your time. It takes a good 10+ minutes just for a shake and a burger. The food is good but not worth the 15 minute wait. Try another location and you will be in and out within 5 minutes. DONT COME HERE IN A HURRY!!!

This location is super slow compared to the other locations. Nonetheless the sonic blasts were delicious! They have some tables outside where you can also order from so it’s convenient if you don’t want to sit in the car. I also don’t think they expect a tip here when they walk up to your car, as I know there are some locations that do.

I’m frequently in Dallas Fort Worth. Sonic is usually my first stop after landing, I was so excited when they built one here. During a dozen visits I experienced screwed up orders, cold food, food that looked like it was in a fight, poor service, so I gave up on the Bartlett location. I’m still a customer in Dallas.
In that intersection better choices are BAO Chinese, Smokin Pit BBQ and Dogfather.

I am very disappointed in the length of time to order two shakes, at FULL price, only to receive a less than full container amount of product.
If sonic wants to delivers value, they need to give customers what they are paying for!

The croissant dog is just a hot dog on a nice bun. There is nothing flakey or croissant-​like about it. So, where we were expecting a unique experience all we got a a nice hot dog on a bun.

Wish I could put zero stars. Waited a few minutes after pushing the red button. Server said she would be with us. Waited again. Wanted a simple order of chicken sandwich without a bun and a grape slush. Asked her for a fork and knife (gluten free) and the server said in a snotty tone «wait a minute!» It’s lunchtime and we were sassed.
No thanks.
Manager, please explain to your staff they are in the service industry. We were not being obnoxious and didn’t deserve this.

Terrible. Waited over 17 minutes and the people were not nice about it being so late. Definitely not fast food. Sonic is not worth waiting this long, especially if you are looking for a quick bite too eat!

We love going to this Sonic Drive-​In! One of the main reasons is that we can bring our dog to dinner without it bothering anyone else. We typically use the drive in portion and eat in our vehicle while having a nice conversation or reading a book together. We enjoy multiple items on the menu– chicken strips, hot dogs, and toasters. My husband’s favorite dessert is the cherry ice cream slush, and mine is the strawberry banana molten chocolate cake sundae. The employees are always super friendly and all of our orders have been correct. This is a great fun place for a family meal of fast food :)

I went and waited 2 hours for my food. I finally went to the window and asked and they simply said we forgot. I asked for my money back and left. I advise all of you to go to the drive through. Its better

It’s a typical Sonic restaurant. If you like Sonic, then you will enjoy this location. I find the food to be too greasy for my taste. I try to avoid going here for food because of that reason. I am specially referring to their mini hash brown bites. The grease seeps right through the bag. I am not a fan of that.

I love Sonic. It’s always delivered to your car fast, and the cream slushes are delish! My favorite thing to get is the chicken tender sandwich which is less than two bucks a pop, and the mozzarella sticks. Mmmmm…

Just did their 5 for 5.95 burgers (with the requisite orange cream slush and all of the burgers had a stale bun. What, does the bum truck come on Wednesday and you have to unload the old ones fast?

Pretty cool place/​concept to have in the area, but the food isn’t the best. Can’t compare to other Sonics, as this is the only one I’ve been to.
Definitely fun for the kids.

Everyone,
My own imposed rules for any Chain Restaurant review:
1. Must visit at least three times. Two of which must be distinctly different formats; i.e. one weekday night and one weekend night.
2. Since the food should be the same everywhere, with the exception of regional items, the food category will only be judged on the quality of the expected food (i.e. temperature, consistency, and amount).
3. Ratings are based on a 10 point scale with 5 being average, which does not mean bad. What a score of 5 means is that the category meets expectations for that establishments format.
Thanks.
Sonic Drive In — Bartlett
Location/​Layout — ⁴⁄₁₀: Sonic is located on the southwest corner of Stearns and Route 59 in Bartlett. The location is slightly hidden behind a Mobil and next to a Home Depot. The issues do not end with the locations visibility from the street. While I understand that this is a drive in, which is great 3 months a year in our area, they are open year round and only one location in the Chicagoland area offers indoor seating and this is not the one. Furthermore, the parking stalls are made for Smart Cars and once in them you can not open your doors? There are a limited number of picnic seats but they are only usable during certain seasons and are usually very sticky, as if they are covered in drinks and/​or soft serve drippings. If you are looking to avoid these issues and eat indoors they do offer a drive through in order to take the food home.
Service — 6.510: The staff is always very responsive when you hit the «magic» red button to place your order and request any service. Associates are fairly quick to respond and come to your car or your table. When they do arrive they are very friendly and accommodating.
Food — 3.5÷10: Orders are usually very fast and served warm. The tots for us are the main stand out, especially the chili cheese tots. Most of our orders have been correct even when requesting something special. On times when there has been an issue with the food, they have always been very quick to correct the problem. The food options are actually fairly limited for a fast food establishment but on the other hand the drink selection is massive. They offer amazing combinations of soft drink flavors along with shakes, slushies and limeades. Pricing on all items is slightly high, especially given that they do not have a store to heat, cool, and maintain for customers to use. But ultimately the main issue with Sonic in general is that there are no refills on any drinks including the standard soft drink options, which to me is mind boggling.
Overall Experience — ⁵⁄₁₀: The Bartlett location is a solid option if you enjoy Sonic’s food and flair. Moreover, if you enjoy a selection of unique drink combinations and do not mind dining in your car and or on picnic tables this is a solid option for you. If you are like me and enjoy not having to risk condiment and food spills in your car, along with refills on beverages you will need a compelling argument to frequent a Sonic; which for us is an occasional chili cheese tot craving.

Breakfast sandwiches are to die for. Always tasty and real fresh. Great chicken and burgers also. The mini shakes hit the spot.

This Sonic in Bartlett is far better than Streamwood.
Never had a problem here food always fresh.
Take the extra drive to Bartlett, its better service and food.

All your cherry limeade are belong to my belly. With extra cherries.
Also the mocha java chiller, which is pretty much a zillion times better (rough estimate) than a Frappuccino, especially if you add a shot of coconut to it. And it’s also less expensive, so you can buy your friend one, too. BONUS.
Tots are good. Fried pickles are good. Food is OK, for fast food. But the real reason you go here is the ice cream-​based stuff and the drinks. For that, Sonic is great. I’ve never had a bad experience here, and I’ve gone to this location since it opened.

I stopped here for a quick dinner with my husband before heading out for the night.
Though my husband grew up in the area, we don’t live there now. Usually, we’re only nearby when visiting my in-​laws’ family, so we don’t stop here often.
We took forever deciding what to order, but were never rushed. I was glad to see there is a red button to press when you are ready to order, so I didn’t feel bad for all the time we needed to peruse the menu.
We ended up getting 2 burgers, a drink, tots, and a small strawberry-​chocolate shake. Service was fast and friendly. I’d say it was only a few minutes before our order was delivered to the car. No roller skates to be seen though.
The burger was good, but I knocked a star off because they didn’t follow my specific request. I ordered a cheeseburger, no tomato, no onion. There was tomato.
The shake was great! I let it sit for a little to warm up to the proper consistency. The strawberry and chocolate combination was delicious.
I have a groupon and had no problem using it. They just took $ 10 (the amount of the groupon) off our bill and charged us the remaining couple bucks.
Not the highest quality food there is, but it definitely did the job. Plus, it was kind of fun to eat in the car. It wasn’t too busy, so that could account for the fast service. It was a Saturday around 6 though, so somewhat prime dinner time.
I will definitely be back.

Restaurant Review
This is sonic after all! For all you haters, remember you are eating fast food so what do you expect. I recently had a chance to head over to sonic and use my groupon which was a steal for the amount of food you got for 10 dollars. I ended up getting the double bacon burger with a side of tots, mozzarella sticks, and banana split. The burger itself was a good size and tasted way better than mcdonalds, however bacon makes everything taste better. You can taste the beef in this burger. It was not too messy as it is served in a small envelop that prevents making a mess in the car. Unlike other burger placed, tater tots are the sides. I can’t say that I was loved or hated them, but they were a nice change. Crunchy and fresh. The mozzarella add on was perfect, if only they gave you more marinara sauce. On to dessert, now this is quite a challenge and easy to make a mess inside your care. While having our meal, the banana split slow melted in the plastic container. As you open it up and try to eat it, dripping can be a common occurrence and it is super hard not to drip on your shirt of pants. Be careful!
The ordering system here is great. You drive up to your stall which has a perfectly placed menu that blocks the view of other diners. Press the button when you are ready to order and the waiter brings out the food. You should tip them even though alot of other people don’t. 1 – 2 dollars is not too much to ask.
Pro– wide selection of burgers and hot dog, easy to order, unique dining in your car
Con– can be messy at times, not a good choice during winter
Hidden deal– Happy hour drink specials. Sign up for sonic cruiser club to receive coupons for BOGO coney dogs etc through email. Free food on your birthday!

Sonic is really growing on me. I was about to type «no pun intended», but if I keep going here, I think that I will have no choice but to have the «pun intended».
After visiting a few times here and there over the past year or so, I have found that this is quickly becoming one of our go-​to spots for dinner. My 14 year old son, is definitely a fan. We tend to go on the nights that my husband is working.
Sonic uses crushed ice. This may not sound like something worth mentioning, but I like crushed ice and I can’t think of another local place that uses it, so the ice gets a «mention». :-)
Sonic always has some pretty nice employees. Mainly kids, but an adult here and there to balance things out. I am picky (fans already know this), so I know that I cause headaches when ordering. The employees here never give me a hard time and always get it right the first time. BONUS!
Some favorites include the vanilla cone (it’s only $ 1), the footlong hot dog, the bacon cheeseburger toaster (#4) with fries and a Dr. Pepper and the French Toast Sticks. Please do NOT try eating all of this at one time. I would guess that you won’t feel well and might try to blame my review. Moving along…
This is a great location at Stearns Road and Route 59. Easy to get in and out of without a hassle. Stop by and give them a try. You’ll likely become a fan, too.