Sonic in a former Taco Bell

cjd
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 624
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 6:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Status: Offline

Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by cjd »

Most Sonics I've seen are new build locations. They have a large covered area for in car or picnic table dining, a small interior that is the kitchen area and restrooms along the outside wall.

However, the Sonic in my town opened up last year in a former Taco Bell which I think was probably a late 80s or early 90s build. Taco Bell had moved to a new building about a block away in 2016.

Anyway, Sonic surprisingly did not change the building that much. They added a covered area for in car dining but it's away from the building. Instead of outside picnic tables they kept the dining inside, and they also kept the drive thru! I've never seen a Sonic with all of this. I haven't eaten there, but it does seem like a bit of a safety issue for the car hops, because the side with the awning for cars is located on the same side as the drive thru window. So they presumably have to cross the street at the drive thru to get out to the cars.

Has anyone else seen Sonic conversions that are similar?

Also I wonder how well this location does. It was always packed for about 4 months after it opened. However Sonics in smaller towns here have closed recently.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by Super S »

Sonic still has a somewhat small presence in my area. And I will confess that I have never eaten there. But I have never seen anything but new builds from them.

An old Taco Bell doesn't seem even remotely close to a facility that would be ideal for Sonic. Many in my area (mostly older)are situated on small pieces of land which don't even lend well to expanding the building, let alone a covered area necessary for car hop service. It seemed like in the 1990s they went on a building spree in my area where they were cramming new restaurants into the smallest amount of space possible, with little parking, and I have seen a few where some longer vehicles have a hard time with a sharp turn at the end of the drive-thru, requiring them to back up and turn sharper. Some are literally on the edge of a property line, are situated awkwardly, and require you to cross the drive-thru lane just to enter the building.

The newest Taco Bells I have seen do not have these issues.
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by Brian Lutz »

Sonic has been slow to expand into this area, but all of their locations here so far have been new builds. One thing I did see at one point was that there were a few so-called "Sonic Beach" locations in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. These seemed to be larger Sonic locations with more seating (in some cases even indoor seating) than a typical Sonic, and which served beer and wine. There was also one across the street from Fort Lauderdale Beach which was basically a walk-up counter with a limited menu. As far as I can tell all these locations have closed, and there are currently no Sonic locations in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. There's still a website (http://www.sonicbeach.com/) but it seems to be orphaned. There have been no updates to their Twitter since 2015 and their Facebook page has been deleted.

My guess is that this was more of the work of an individual franchisee than anything from Sonic corporate.
BillyGr
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1579
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 7:33 pm
Been thanked: 58 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by BillyGr »

Brian Lutz wrote: November 5th, 2018, 11:56 am These seemed to be larger Sonic locations with more seating (in some cases even indoor seating) than a typical Sonic, and which served beer and wine. There was also one across the street from Fort Lauderdale Beach which was basically a walk-up counter with a limited menu. As far as I can tell all these locations have closed, and there are currently no Sonic locations in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. There's still a website (http://www.sonicbeach.com/) but it seems to be orphaned. There have been no updates to their Twitter since 2015 and their Facebook page has been deleted.

My guess is that this was more of the work of an individual franchisee than anything from Sonic corporate.
The first one they built up here in the Albany NY area (Latham) has indoor seating as well (which the one a few years earlier to our south around Kingston didn't have). No beer and wine, though (but that may depend on state rules more than anything as to the difficulty of such a license).

Haven't been by the second one (Troy) so I can't be sure if they have seating as well or not, though it would make more sense to add such in these areas with colder seasons that make outdoor seating (and even eating in the car) less likely.
cjd
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 624
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 6:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by cjd »

I finally tried this place for the first time today. I've been to a regular Sonic before but this one is interesting because it has dine-in, patio seating and then the drive in spaces which are away from the building, and the drive thru. There is a sign at the drive thru window that says "car hop crossing" where the servers cross the road to get to the drive in area.

The drive thru has the credit card reader below the window. I saw my total on the screen and tried my card twice but it wouldn't work. When the very nice lady came to the window she swiped my card and got it to work, not sure what I did wrong. The prices I was quite astonished that the cheapest combo was a little over $7, but the burger was huge for a fast food burger, and even a BK Whopper meal is almost $10 so I guess it wasn't too bad. I had the cheeseburger, tots, and a corn dog. All seemed pretty good. I'd go back if it was a bit cheaper.
cjd
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 624
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 6:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by cjd »

Decided to try this place again tonight. I've been a few times this winter, and generally go inside to order because I have not had good luck with the card reader in the drive thru window. I noticed nobody was inside at all so I thought maybe the dining room was closed so I went through the drive thru. Interestingly, the server came out a door near the drive thru and brought my drink and took my credit card to scan. She had some kind of handheld unit but I did not see what it was.

She did the same for the vehicle in front of me and I thought maybe it was because there was a hold up in the window (plus according to the screen when I pulled up to the speaker they had spent $40(!!) which isn't really a lot at Sonic).

But when I got to the window to get my food, I saw the aforementioned problematic (at least for several times for me) card reader below had been removed! So I guess they are taking credit cards themselves now.

Also oddly tonight, very little traffic, and it was only about 7:15. Nobody was eating at the tables outside and only one car pulled into the drive-in stalls while I was there. But a few cars were behind me in the drive thru. Usually Friday night at Sonic is packed out.
babs
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 762
Joined: December 20th, 2016, 3:08 pm
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 64 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by babs »

Up until recently there was a Sonic inside the Washington Square Mall food court. It was an odd fit. It essentially replaced a McDonald's elsewhere in the mall for those seeking cheap food.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by storewanderer »

A new Sonic opened in Reno recently on S. Virginia Street. It has two buildings- the main building with the kitchen and drive through, then a patio then in front of that a little building for dine in. For dine in you still order via a speaker and there is no order counter. If you need anything else while dining in I guess you have to do it through the speaker. I went and observed this operation and could not believe it. Why can't they just have a counter?

Years ago I went to a Sonic in I think Provo, UT which was built as a single building with a dine in area. The dine in area was quite awful atmosphere and it was the same you ordered through a speaker. I ordered a drink and could hear the order taker through the wall talking through the speaker as she took my order. I just didn't get it- so stupid- why not just cut out a window and let the ordering be face to face?

There was (is) a Sonic in Downtown Denver which obviously had a counter. There also used to be one in Roseville, CA inside a 76 station which had a counter but that one shut down.
cjd
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 624
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 6:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by cjd »

storewanderer wrote: February 13th, 2021, 12:01 am A new Sonic opened in Reno recently on S. Virginia Street. It has two buildings- the main building with the kitchen and drive through, then a patio then in front of that a little building for dine in. For dine in you still order via a speaker and there is no order counter. If you need anything else while dining in I guess you have to do it through the speaker. I went and observed this operation and could not believe it. Why can't they just have a counter?

Years ago I went to a Sonic in I think Provo, UT which was built as a single building with a dine in area. The dine in area was quite awful atmosphere and it was the same you ordered through a speaker. I ordered a drink and could hear the order taker through the wall talking through the speaker as she took my order. I just didn't get it- so stupid- why not just cut out a window and let the ordering be face to face?

There was (is) a Sonic in Downtown Denver which obviously had a counter. There also used to be one in Roseville, CA inside a 76 station which had a counter but that one shut down.
I don't think I've seen any other Sonics with dine in areas. I have been to another that was a new build, it had drive in spaces and a few tables under the roof at the main building, and another set of drive in spaces under a separate carport off to the side. It had a drive thru as well, but it did not have an actual window - just carry out service. The restrooms were "around the corner" just like an old gas station would have.

Maybe they are starting to do indoor dining in newer locations that are warmer, like Florida. Sonic to me would not work as well in Florida, especially in the summer, as eating inside a hot car isn't much fun. Outdoor dining isn't as big a thing in Florida either aside from bigger cities with urban style areas.
Romr123
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 693
Joined: February 1st, 2021, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 56 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sonic in a former Taco Bell

Post by Romr123 »

The nearest one to me in MI closed early 2020...hardly the climate for it. Kind of an interesting location with some access issues (backs to a railroad track) in an inner-ring suburban downtown. Across the railroad tracks at a viaduct is a McDonalds, and street-side in the downtown area are things like Noodles and Co and local places. Interesting, in this town there was going to be a Taco Bell concept with beer/malt beverages (Cantina at Taco Bell?) which was disallowed because of local liquor licensure (and the franchisee couldn't afford the lower volume of sales at a regular TB)
Post Reply